PITTSBURGH — For the second straight game, the Pittsburgh Penguins (14-7-7) got a fourth-line goal, a Tommy Novak tally, and gave up the tying goal against the extra attacker. And for the second straight game, they lost in a shootout.
The Penguins blitzed the Anaheim Ducks (19-10-1) and seemed to have the game won with a late third-period power-play goal. Still, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson deflected a shot into his own net with his hand with 0.1 seconds remaining. Beckett Sennecke got credit for tying the game 3-3.
Like clockwork. Death. Taxes. The Penguins inevitably lost in a shootout, falling to Anaheim 4-3 at PPG Paints Arena. Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs stopped one of two shootout shots, but the Penguins again failed to score.
The Penguins were one-tenth of one second away from victory. The goal was also shorthanded, and the Penguins’ power play continued into overtime, to no avail.
The Penguins have made a habit of outplaying teams but finding themselves behind on the scoreboard. The same happened Tuesday as the Penguins outshot the Anaheim Ducks and significantly outchanced them, but managed to trail 2-1 late in the second period until Tommy Novak tied the game in the final seconds of the middle frame.
The Penguins maintained pressure for most of the period. Still, they failed to score until Anaheim goalie Ville Husso took a late penalty for holding the stick, and seconds into the advantage, Anthony Mantha (9)’s pass across the crease deflected off Husso for the game-winning goal at 16:05 of the third.
After a stellar performance, that was seven seconds between the penalty and the goal that Husso would like to do over.
The Penguins began, sustained, and continued to play well for most of the game. And for the second consecutive game, the Penguins got a fourth-line goal. After sustained offensive zone pressure, the Penguins’ fourth line got a rare offensive zone faceoff, which Noel Acciari won.
Then, Acciari (1) pounced on the loose puck in the left circle, quickly snapping it past Anaheim goalie Ville Husso at 9:49 of the first period.
The Penguins clearly had the better of the play in the first period, largely controlling territory and outshooting Anaheim 18-8.
However, as has happened far too often this season, the Penguins’ control materialized into a deficit.
Early in the second period, the Penguins seemed to ease up, and Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe swooped around the left wing and, from the goal line, chipped a shot over Silovs’s shoulder at 5:19.
The Penguins again drifted off later in the second period. Anaheim top-line winger Troy Terry collected a bouncing puck in the Penguins’ zone and glided uncontested toward the net, sniping a corner wrister past Silovs at 15:40.
On Sunday, Penguins winger Tommy Novak told PHN that playing with Sidney Crosby “was wild.” He scored a beauty of a goal Sunday, and scored again Tuesday in his second game on the top line left wing.
Novak grabbed his own rebound late in the second period, and from behind the goal line banked his shot off the mass of defensemen and Husso to tie the game, 2-2 at 19:41.
Novak also has seven points over his last five games. He and Penguins winger Rutger McGroarty tied with Beckett Sennecke to lead all players with four shots each after two periods. The Penguins peppered Husso with 29 shots through 40 minutes, but once again entered the third period in a close game.
The Penguins set their season high with 40 shots in regulation. Silovs stopped 25 of 28 and one of two in the shootout.
The Penguins had a glorious chance to win in overtime, but Connor Dewar hit the post with a yawning cage. The puck hit the open post, hit Husso’s outstretched paddle, caromed off the goalie, and lay in the crease, but Crosby could not get his stick free to push it past the goal line with 1:38 remaining in the extra period.
The Penguins had eight more shots in overtime.
The Penguins lost their fifth shootout this season. Novak, Crosby, and Ville Koivunen failed to score. Leo Carlsson beat Silovs with a backhand deke. The Penguins are 0-5 in shootouts this season, and were 1-6 last season.
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