The Pittsburgh Penguins have pledged all the typical platitudes in response to all typical queries about playing without the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s \u201cnext man up\u201d and \u201ceveryone has to contribute more\u201d and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n
Those are unoriginal cliches, to be certain.<\/p>\n
But they are also an authentic reality for this threadbare lineup deployed by the Penguins.<\/p>\n
Such was the case Saturday as they claimed a resolute 4-3 comeback victory against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n
With Crosby still sidelined as a result of a presumed right leg injury he suffered while skating for Canada in the Olympics last month and Malkin suspended, the Penguins improved to 2-1-2 while skating without both of their superstar forwards.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s game was the final segment of Malkin\u2019s five-game suspension for slashing Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin\u2019s head on March 5.<\/p>\n
Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner\u2019s record was lifted to 20-13-8 after he stopped 26 of 29 shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really showed how resilient this group is,\u201d Skinner said to reporters in Salt Lake City via audio provided by the Penguins\u2019 media relations department. \u201cWe really responded well as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther scored the first two goals of the contest, first striking 5:06 into regulation with his 32nd score of the season.<\/p>\n
After Penguins forward Blake Lizotte was unable to cleanly handle a bouncing puck in the neutral zone, Guenther overwhelmed him with pressure, took possession and surged into the Penguins\u2019 zone on the right wing. Approaching the right dot, Guenther pumped a near-side wrister past Skinner\u2019s glove. There were no assists.<\/p>\n
pic.twitter.com\/nWAq6YBjtE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Guenther doubled up during a power-play sequence 91 seconds later.<\/p>\n Off some passing around the perimeter of the offensive zone, Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev clapped a one-timer from the center point wide to the right of the cage. The puck clunked off the end boards and deflected to the right of the crease, where Mammoth forward Barrett Hayton backhanded off the near post. As the puck bounced off of Skinner\u2019s left leg and trickled loose in the blue paint, Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton tried to play it out of danger, but not before Guenther crashed in and directed it into the cage. Officials initially ruled the score to be invalid before a video review overturned that decision. There were no assists.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/r5PbHJvLox<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Penguins forward Anthony Mantha got his team on the scoreboard during a five-on-three power-play scenario with his 25th goal at 14:48 of the second period.<\/p>\n Operating with plenty of open real estate in the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson took a pass above the right circle, considered his options then offloaded to Mantha low in the near circle. With Mammoth defenders collapsing around the crease and not applying pressure, Mantha had an acre of ice and a calendar of time to survey the net and snipe a wrister by goaltender Karel Vejmelka\u2019s blocker on the near side. Karlsson and forward Egor Chinakhov collected assists.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/YiksGNBinA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n The Penguins tied the contest at 17:26 of the second frame via forward Tommy Novak\u2019s 15th goal.<\/p>\n From near the visiting bench, Mantha handed off the puck to Novak, who rushed into the offensive zone on the left wing, traversed across the high slot and drove deep into the right corner. Pulling up on Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt, Novak turned to his right and slid the puck toward the left point, where onrushing Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon cranked a one-timer that was blocked at the upper left hashmark by Mammoth forward Kailer Yamamoto. The rebound deflected to the lower right circle, where Novak leaned down to chip a fluttering forehand shot past the blocker of a scrambling Vejmelka. Wotherspoon and Mantha merited assists.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/J4chyQRcgd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Penguins forward Bryan Rust supplied his team with its first lead of the contest by scoring his 24th goal during a power-play opportunity 84 seconds into the third period.<\/p>\n After gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Mantha offloaded the puck to defenseman Kris Letang, who advanced to the top of the near circle and fed a pass low to the left of the cage for Chinakhov. Holding the puck for a moment, Chinakhov forced a pass intended for Mantha in the left circle. Mammoth defenseman MacKenzie Weegar blocked the pass, but the puck took a fortuitous hop to the front of the crease, where it hit off the stick of Penguins forward Rickard Rakell and deflected to the lower right circle. From there, Rust gathered it and snapped a wrister past Vejmelka\u2019s left skate. Assists were registered by Rakell and Chinakhov.<\/p>\n TANGER’S GOT 800 POINTS ???? pic.twitter.com\/Jp04mAw101<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Former Penguins defenseman Ian Cole\u2019s third goal tied the game again at 4:17 of the third frame.<\/p>\n Rust lost possession of the puck at the center red line, then tumbled into the boards between the penalty boxes. That allowed Mammoth forward Alex Kerfoot to claim possession and gain the offensive blue line on the right wing. Pulling up above the near circle, Kerfoot fed a pass to the high slot for a trailing Cole, who fired a wrister from above the upper left hashmark past Skinner\u2019s blocker on the near side. Chinakhov appeared to inadvertently screen Skinner on the sequence. Assists went to Kerfoot and forward Kevin Stenlund.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/03fYAGUExp<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n The Penguins persisted and regained a lead when forward Noel Acciari accrued his eighth goal at 8:03 of the third.<\/p>\n From in front of the home bench, Penguins forward Connor Dewar flipped the puck into Utah\u2019s end boards. Former Penguins defenseman John Marino was a bit too casual in recovering the puck and allowed a forechecking Acciari to claim possession, then bank a pass off the right-wing boards to the near point for Karlsson. Holding the puck for a moment, Karlsson offloaded across the ice to Wotherspoon. Waiting for a lane to open, Wotherspoon directed a wrister to the far side of the net, which was denied by Vejmelka\u2019s right leg. Acciari outbattled Schmidt for the rebound and mashed a forehand shot into a mostly vacant cage as he fell to his knees. Wotherspoon and Karlsson claimed assists.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/l70mztWnVw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cRight now, it\u2019s about finding a way,\u201d Penguins coach Dan Muse said. \u201cAnd we did that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins were 2 for 7 on the power play, including 1 for 1 with a five-on-three sequence.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins were 2 for 3 on the penalty kill.<\/p>\n \u2022 Karlsson (155 points) surpassed forward Bob \u201cBattleship\u201d Kelly (154 points) to move into 59th place on the franchise\u2019s all-time career scoring list.<\/p>\n \u2022 Skinner (9-5-4) surpassed Jocelyn Thibault (8-17-5) to move into 38th place on the franchise\u2019s career goaltending wins list.<\/p>\n \u2022 Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves was formally designated to injured reserve Saturday, two days after he was sent to Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton of the American Hockey League for conditioning purposes. Graves\u2019 landing on injured reserve was a procedural formality related to his conditioning assignment. He was in Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton\u2019s lineup on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n \u2022 Penguins forwards Justin Brazeau and Kevin Hayes, as well as defenseman Sam Girard, were scratched due to undisclosed injuries<\/p>\n \u2022 Penguins defenseman Alex Alexeyev was a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n \u2022 Cole scored a goal against the Penguins for only the second time in his 16-year career. His previous goal came as a member of the St. Louis Blues against goaltender Thomas Greiss in a 4-2 home loss at the venue then known as the Scottrade Center, Feb. 21, 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n