The Penguins got behind early, as the Blackhawks struck just 28 seconds into the game. They pressured Penguins defenseman Declan Carlile behind the net, forcing a turnover. From below the goal line, Anton Frondell found Teravainen in the slot. His shot was perfectly placed, and the play happened so fast, there was nothing Murashov could do.
With just under seven minutes to go, the Penguins got it back with Crosby’s first of the year. After getting a great pass from Erik Karlsson, Crosby looked off Rickard Rakell before burying a shot far side.
Special teams dominated the rest of the first period, and Chicago won that battle pretty handily. The Penguins haven’t found their footing on the man-advantage, unable to take the lead on a power play assessed just under 13 minutes into the frame. After that, the penalty kill – which had given up just one goal on 17 opportunities coming into this game – couldn’t keep Roman Kantserov from converting for Chicago.
The Penguins went back to the power play early in the second, with Erik Karlsson throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the net, to no avail.
“We understand it’s huge,” Malkin said. “Again, nothing easy. Just play hard and support each other, do the right things, goals coming.”
Kantserov then found another goal about midway through the period, but Pittsburgh’s fourth line gave the team some much-needed life a couple of minutes before the horn sounded. Blake Lizotte made one heck of a play to poke the puck loose before Spencer Knight could freeze it. Nick Robertson picked it up and put a shot through to get the Penguins within one.
Then, just over nine minutes into the final frame, the Penguins tied it up. Crosby had hopped over the boards for Blake Lizotte and ended up getting a rebound off a shot from Connor Dewar, once again putting it over the line.
Chicago then retook the lead on that tough bounce before icing the win with an empty-net goal.
“I think that we played a little bit to the type of game that I think they want to play in terms of making it a track meet,” Muse said. “There were times there, I think, in terms of with the puck, opportunities to possess it, opportunities to come up ice together, work for the neutral zone together. When you miss those opportunities, you’re missing opportunities to be in the offensive zone, and you’re leading to more time defending, and so, there’s some structural pieces that we need to continue to look at and work at and get better at.”