PITTSBURGH — Another failed challenge for goaltender interference, another short-handed goal against, and another shootout was certainly not the formula that would seem to equal success, but somehow the Pittsburgh Penguins (35-18-16) still managed to down the Winnipeg Jets (28-29-12) 5-4 in a shootout at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Penguins have feasted on the Central Divisions with an NHL best 8-2-3 record against Central Division foes and an impressive 16-7-6 against the Western Conference.

On just their second shot of the game, the Penguins opened the scoring when Egor Chinakhov (15) took an Evgeni Malkin pass and then did the rest, turning Winnipeg defenseman Dylan Demelo inside out and taking a sharp left turn across the slot, wristing the puck past off-balance Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to give the Penguins an early 1-0 lead just 1:06 into the game. It was Chinakhov’s 100th career point in the NHL.

In the middle of the announcement of the Chinakhov goal, and on the very next Pittsburgh shot, the Penguins struck again. Rickard Rakell (14) took a beautiful Bryan Rust pass and tapped it past Hellebuyck to put the Penguins up by a pair. The goal came just 56 seconds after the Chinakhov goal.

The frantic pace to start the game continued when Winnipeg scored a controversial goal. After a failed point shot from defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, the Jets took off in transition the other way. Erik Karlsson gave chase as Jets forward Brad Lambert got a clean shot on Penguins netminder Arturs Silovs. The resulting rebound landed on the stick of Winnipeg’s Morgan Barron. Barron’s attempted shot then popped up in the air just as Karlsson caught up to the Winnipeg forward. As the puck popped high in the air Karlsson, Barron, and Silovs all collided with each other, leaving Silovs well out of the net. As all that was happening, the puck dropped to the ice and into the net. It appeared that Barron had pushed Karlsson into Silovs, so Penguins’ head coach Dan Muse challenged the call for goaltender interference. However, the call on the ice stood and the Penguins were assessed a delay of game penalty. It was the Penguins eighth unsuccessful challenge for goaltender interference this season (0-8). “We felt that one was by the book in that their player pushes (Karlsson) into (Silovs).”

The Penguins got their first power play opportunity of the game, but it would be the Jets that would score. Karlsson took a shot from the point that got deflected and popped up in the air and onto the stick of Adam Lowry who broke in two-on-one with Cole Koepke (6). Karlsson being the only man back tried to break up the two-on-one, but Lowry floated a pass right between the legs of Karlsson to Koepke, who then deeked Silovs to tie the game at two. It was the 11th short-handed goal allowed by the Penguins this season.

While Karlsson could not prevent the short-handed goal, he made up for it by continuing his torrent scoring pace to put the Penguins back ahead, 3-2. After a spectacular tic-tac-toe passing display between Chinakhov, Parker Wotherspoon, and finally Karlsson (10), the Penguins’ defenseman absolutely wired a wrist shot off the left post and in at 15:22 of the second. “He’s been unbelievable,” remarked Penguins head coach Dan Muse.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued into the third period. First it was Jets defenseman Neal Pionk (3) wristing a puck from the point off the right post to knot the game at three at 4:04 of the third. It then appeared that the Jets took the lead just 35 seconds later when Mark Scheifele wristed a puck off the crossbar and in, but the Penguins challenged again, this time for a high stick on the puck. The challenge was successful this time, as it was determined that Winnipeg forward Alex Iafallo had touched the puck with a high stick prior to Scheifele scoring and the score remained 3-3.

While the Jets thought they had taken a 4-3 lead earlier in the period, they actually did go ahead 4-3 on a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the slot off the stick of Winnipeg’s Brad Lambert (2) that alluded Silovs’ glove at 8:36 of the third.

The pesky Penguins continued to press and Karlsson continued his elite play with another perfectly placed shot to tie the game once again. Taking a Rust drop pass, Karlsson (11) unleashed a wrist shot from the right circle that tucked inside the left post to knot the game at four. It was his fifth goal in his past three games and second-consecutive two-goal game. Since February 28, only the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon have as many points as Karlsson’s 19.

There would be no more scoring in regulation and for a 22nd time this season, the Penguins headed to overtime. Pittsburgh dominated play to start the extra frame, including a failed two-on-none and a wide-open look for Sidney Crosby, but they could not solve Hellebuyck. The Penguins even got a power play in overtime, but could not convert, sending the Penguins to a dreaded shootout for a twelfth time this season.

Almost shockingly, the Penguins bested the Jets in the shootout with Silovs stopping all three Winnipeg shooters, while Crosby and Rakell scored for the Penguins, “improving” their shootout record to 2-10 on the season.

The Penguins will have little time to celebrate the victory, as they will be back in action on Sunday afternoon against the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. It will be the third meeting between the two teams in the past 13 days.

Notes

The Penguins’ lines on Saturday afternoon were as follows:

Forwards

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Egor Chinakohov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin

Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau

Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari

Defensemen

Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson

Sam Girard – Kris Letang

Ryan Shea – Connor Clifton

Additional Notes

Bryan Rust played in his 700th career game and extended his points streak to six-consecutive games, tying his longest points streak of the season.

Defenseman Ryan Shea exited the game in the second period with an apparent upper body injury after taking a high hit from Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry.

Tags: Egor Chinakhov erik karlsson Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby Vince Comunale

Categorized:Penguins Postgame