PITTSBURGH \u2014 The surreal has become the norm.<\/p>\n
In one of the most peculiar, embarrassing weeks in franchise history, the Penguins pulled off the unthinkable by blowing a lead in dramatic fashion for the fourth time in eight days. This time, they lost to the Utah Mammoth 5-4 in overtime Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really know what to say right now,\u201d Rickard Rakell said.<\/p>\n
Neither does anyone else.<\/p>\n
Not even Sergei Murashov could prevent another Penguins meltdown. In fact, while Murashov was sensational through two periods, he didn\u2019t do his team any favors in the third.<\/p>\n
Justin Brazeau, Ben Kindel and Bryan Rust scored to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead through two periods.\u00a0The Penguins, however, were badly outplayed in those two periods. Some opportunistic offense and some brilliance from Murashov were the only reasons for the 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Then, disaster struck. Again.<\/p>\n
The Mammoth scored twice in the first 82 seconds of the third period, which ushered an immediate feeling of dread into the building.\u00a0Utah\u2019s first goal was a blown defensive assignment from Rutger McGroarty, who is normally outstanding in his own zone. McGroarty let Nate Schmidt sneak behind him and score on a rebound.<\/p>\n
Utah is on the board! pic.twitter.com\/XnDaUwKReQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The next goal, scored by Michael Carcone, came courtesy of a Murashov mishap.<\/p>\n Carcs gets one \ud83d\udd25 <\/p>\n 3-2, Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com\/UOpN7Vr8uP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n In the next four minutes, Sean Durzi evened the score at three and Carcone scored again to give Utah the lead.<\/p>\n Michael Carcone for the lead! But picks up his first @NHL<\/a> point with the assist! <\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8 4-3, Utah! pic.twitter.com\/Ja2EFpEzgY<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The crowd at PPG Paints Arena showered the Penguins with boos for much of the third period.<\/p>\n Somewhat remarkably, Brazeau scored again to even the score, sending the game to overtime. But overtime, much like protecting leads, has not been the Penguins\u2019 friend. And it wasn\u2019t on this afternoon. Dylan Guenther needed only 42 seconds to take a feed from John Marino and beat Murashov.<\/p>\n Gunner doing what he does best! OT Winner!!! \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/Q5YsH4DEZO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Afterward, the Penguins\u2019 locker room felt about as somber as you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson and Bryan Rust sat there in silence, like they always do after difficult losses. So did Murashov. And Rakell. Two of the team\u2019s prized rookies did, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how to say it,\u201d McGroarty said. \u201cEach game is an individual thing. I know the same problems keep happening. They get those two quick ones. I don\u2019t even know. I wouldn\u2019t say there was a pit in our stomach or anything like that. It just made me hungry to go out there and do what you can to make things better. There\u2019s a lot of that in this locker room. We\u2019re all competitors in here. There are a lot of competitive souls in this locker room. And right now, this sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n The Penguins have become a scene from \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d this week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done enough to win games and just haven\u2019t closed it out,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cWe just need some plays that are going to do that. Those can be a lot of different things. But we got to get through a game here where we have a lead and close it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Karlsson, always the optimist, doesn\u2019t think all is lost.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more a mindset right now,\u201d he said. \u201cThe good thing about that is it\u2019s controllable. I don\u2019t think it has anything to do with systems or X\u2019s and O\u2019s. It\u2019s within ourselves. We\u2019ve got to find a way to regain that trust individually and as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n 10 postgame observations\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 I suspect that a team has never had a week like this in NHL history. That\u2019s no hyperbole. Let\u2019s look at what has happened.<\/p>\n Last Sunday, the Penguins played their best game of the season and led, 2-1, late in Dallas against the outstanding Stars. Then, the Stars tied the game with an empty-net goal and won it in a shootout.<\/p>\n Two days later, the Penguins led Anaheim, 3-2, in a game in which they played quite well. They were given a power play with 18 seconds remaining. As everyone knows by now, 19-year-old Beckett Sennecke then skated through Rust and Kris Letang, and slid a puck toward the net that went off Karlsson\u2019s glove and into the net with precisely 0.1 seconds remaining. Naturally, the Penguins lost in a shootout.<\/p>\n Then, on Thursday, the Penguins\u2019 game against Montreal was delayed by 30 minutes because a traffic accident north of Pittsburgh prevented some of the players from arriving on time. They played one of their worst games of the season in a loss to Montreal.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Penguins traded their No. 1 goaltender, Tristan Jarry, to Edmonton. Later that day, general manager\/team president Kyle Dubas, when speaking with the media about the trade, made it very clear that he thinks his Penguins can make the playoffs this spring.<\/p>\n On Saturday, they led 5-1 in the third period against the San Jose Sharks. It was 5-2 with less than six minutes left. They lost in overtime, 6-5.<\/p>\n By the time Sunday rolled around again, the Penguins were already more fragile than a pane of glass. And it showed in their third-period meltdown.<\/p>\n I have never seen anything like it.<\/p>\n \u2022 You could absolutely feel it happening in the building. The feeling of dread was everywhere.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what happens when a team is fragile. It rubs off on the fans in the building. Everyone in that building was expecting a meltdown, and they got one.<\/p>\n \u2022 The story of the game, though two periods, was Murashov. He was absolutely brilliant in the first two periods.<\/p>\n I visited with former Penguins Ian Cole and Olli Maatta after the game, and both went out of their way to say how impressive Murashov was. The truth is, Utah dominated all day and only Murashov kept the Penguins in the game.<\/p>\n Still, Murashov didn\u2019t look so great in overtime, and certainly didn\u2019t on the second goal. I\u2019m encouraged by what I\u2019m seeing from him. Make no mistake, he\u2019s the future. I\u2019m not so sure he shouldn\u2019t be up for good now. It\u2019s easy to say he shouldn\u2019t be exposed to playing behind these Penguins right now, but I don\u2019t necessarily agree with that. If he\u2019s not mentally tough enough to deal with defensive lapses, then he\u2019s probably not the guy. And I think he is.<\/p>\n Still, he needed to be better in the third period.<\/p>\n \u2022 This team\u2019s inability to handle adversity is a real concern. I agree with Karlsson that Xs and Os aren\u2019t really a problem. The Penguins get tighter with a lead than any team I can recall seeing. It\u2019s painfully obvious watching them in their zone some during those moments. And it needs to stop.<\/p>\n \u2022 It may have been the worst game of the season for Crosby. He had nothing. Just an off night for him. Fans showed up hoping to see him break Mario Lemieux\u2019s franchise point record of 1.723, but he remains two points behind. His next chance to do it will come on Tuesday against Connor McDavid and the Oilers. Lemieux was in the building on Sunday and is expected to be there on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u2022 Dan Muse looked like a coach feeling a lot of heat following the game.<\/p>\n I refuse to blame him for all of this. The Penguins have been horrible at protecting leads for years. A lot of bad habits. But it\u2019s up to him to figure out, and he better do it quickly.<\/p>\n \u2022 Several Penguins\u2019 defensemen have been struggling in recent weeks. The third pairing wasn\u2019t good on Sunday. At all.<\/p>\n Ryan Graves was simply bullied in front of the net when Utah evened the game in the third period. He turned the puck over right before the goal. Just rough.<\/p>\n Durz makes it 3-3!<\/p>\n Things are getting exciting here in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com\/vb1fdKQJut<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 I hated the challenge that Muse made at the conclusion of that play. It reeked of desperation. There was no goalie interference on that play and Utah scored on the subsequent power play, which everyone in the building saw coming.<\/p>\n \u2022 Looking for good news? Kindel scored a pretty goal.<\/p>\n Another look at Kindy on a break \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n The 3rd period starts now. pic.twitter.com\/7sQZM1mehZ<\/a><\/p>\n