RALEIGH, N.C. — Noel Acciari and Bryan Rust scored late goals as the resilient but depleted Pittsburgh Penguins (32-17-14) mounted a miraculous comeback to force overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center.
The Penguins did little with a late power play in OT and survived a last-second two-on-none when Anthony Mantha dove from behind Carolina defenseman K’Andre Miller to break up the pass and force the shootout.
Ben Kindel scored in the first round for the Penguins. Seth Jarvis scored in the second round for Carolina. Jackson Blake scored in the third round, and the Penguins’ heart-pounding comeback became yet another heartbreaking shootout loss when Anthony Mantha was stopped in the third round.
Carolina won 5-4 in a shootout, but the Penguins got a valuable point while losing their 10th shootout in 11 tries.
Trailing 4-2 with just over two minutes to go, the Penguins seemed dead in the water. Carolina dominated the third period, including scoring a pair of early third-period goals 59 seconds apart to claim a one-goal lead.
Then Carolina rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin also scored on the first of two 5v3 power plays at 11:21 of the third period for a 4-2 lead. And it looked like a coasting Carolina win.
However, with the extra attacker, Rust’s shot deflected off Noel Acciari (7) with just 2:08 remaining to close Carolina’s lead to 4-3. Then Rust scored his second goal of the game at 19:24 for the shocking comeback.
The Penguins had made the game competitive, but Carolina bombarded the Penguins in the third period, and the Penguins did their part to help by giving a trio of overlapping power plays, resulting in a pair of 5v3 Carolina advantages.
Former Penguins center Mark Jankowski scored on a second-chance rebound at 2:49 of the third, then Andrei Svechnikov poked a loose puck past Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton to spring Seth Jarvis (28) for a breakaway goal at 3:48.
A 2-1 Penguins lead quickly became a 3-2 deficit, as the Penguins played their third game without the suspended Evgeni Malkin and their eighth game without injured captain Sidney Crosby. They were also missing winger Justin Brazeau, who is now out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and defenseman Sam Girard, who is out day-to-day.
It was also a glacially slow Penguins start.
They needed over 11 minutes to get their second shot of the first period, but eventually found their equilibrium after Carolina raced to an 8-1 shot advantage.
Carolina scored first after Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner served a juicy rebound that the Penguins could not handle. Penguins defenders failed to clear or move the puck away from the net before Carolina center Logan Stankoven (12) snapped a high wrist shot past Skinner at 7:46 of the first period.
The Penguins’ great awakening came later in the first period when their third line, centered by Ben Kindel with under-25 players Elmer Soderblom and Avery Hayes, ignited the first real offensive attack.
Kindel sprang the newly acquired Soderblom on a breakaway and seconds later, Soderblom had another scoring chance near the crease, but Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen stopped both. However, their shift put the Penguins on a game-changing power play.
The Penguins did not score but used the man-advantage to wrest control of the game. In the last minute of the first period, Ville Koivunen covered at the blue line. His simple pass to Anthony Mantha in the slot set up the Penguins’ equalizer. Mantha (24) ripped a shot past Andersen at 19:04 to end the first period tied 1-1.
After getting an 8-1 shots advantage, the final first period shot clock was 11-9 in Carolina’s favor. And after a scary injury to Carolina winger Nikolaj Ehlers in the first period, which looked like a knee injury and required him being helped off the ice, Ehlers returned for the second period.
Somewhat miraculously, the Penguins landed on the right side of a few judgement calls in the second period, resulting in three power plays.
After a couple of dull missed opportunities, the third time was indeed the lucky charm. Following a penalty against William Carrier for closing his hand on the puck, the Penguins applied heavy pressure, leading to Egor Chinakhov threading a pass through a small passing lane to Bryan Rust on the right wall.
Rust (22) stormed the net and roofed a wrister over Andersen at 11:44 for a 2-1 lead.
Skinner had to make a bevy of difficult saves, stopping 39 of 43. Skinner also made a lunging save on Jarvis. Andersen had an easy third period until the end, as the Penguins had just one shot on goal in the first 15 minutes. Andersen stopped 24 of 28.
Chinakhov and Erik Karlsson had a pair of assists. Rust led the Penguins with three points (2-1-3).
The Penguins are now 3-2-3 without Crosby and gave up one point to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Penguins now lead Columbus by three points.
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Categorized:Penguins Postgame