![\"NHL:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/NHL-Pittsburgh-Penguins-at-Carolina-Hurricanes-28533449.jpg\")
Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: James Guillory-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
RALEIGH, N.C. \u2014 The storylines were a study in contradiction. Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner was brilliant, but allowed six goals. The Penguins overcame four Carolina Hurricanes leads. And defenseman Erik Karlsson <\/a> delivered some jaw-dropping moments and another three-point game. <\/p>\n And yet, the Penguins succumbed to the same fate they have 10 straight times at the Lenovo Center, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Penguins lost in overtime for the sixth time in those 10 games, 6-5 Wednesday. <\/p>\n After the cameras left, Skinner agreed that was probably the best game of his life when giving up six goals. <\/p>\n The third period began 2-1 in Carolina\u2019s favor. And then the Penguins finally attacked. But Carolina rallied. And the Penguins attacked more. And Carolina rallied more. And the game exploded into an offensive brawl with great goaltending; the sheer intensity and excitement made up for the plodding slog that was the first 40 minutes. <\/p>\n The exciting loop ended with Carolina defenseman Sean Walker\u2019s winner with just 28 seconds remaining in overtime. <\/p>\n This season, the Penguins are now 4-6 in OT games. Combined with the 1-10 shootout record, the extra time has been deadly for the Penguins, who are now 5-16 when the game goes past regulation. <\/p>\n Wednesday was another division battle, and the Penguins are keenly aware they could see Carolina again in the playoffs. In fact, there is a growing chip on the players\u2019 shoulders. Make no mistake, they want to face Carolina in a game not decided by 3v3 OT but when it\u2019s 5v5 to the end.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re a fast, hard, deep team. They played well with all four lines, but I think we\u2019re similar\u2014we roll our lines over the boards,\u201d said Rust. \u201cWe have guys from top to bottom who can make plays and score some goals. And I think, I think it\u2019s a good measure (to play them).\u201d<\/p>\n To say Karlsson was exceptional might be an undersell. He thoroughly deked perennial Selke Award contender Sebastian Aho, that he had 10 feet of space to blast his second goal of the game. In a game in which the Penguins\u2019 defensemen were left holding the bag for the forwards\u2019 disconnect, and the Penguins\u2019 breakouts were at best pedestrian, Karlsson\u2019s ability to push the play forward stood out. <\/p>\n A few other Penguins stepped forward, even as others wilted under the intense Carolina forecheck. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a combination of things. Some of it was execution. Some of it was the puck support, too\u2013getting into good areas. Some of it was the speed of (the game), too,\u201d said coach Dan Muse. \u201cThere were times I thought we had the right pieces in place, in the right spots, and we were just taking our time. This is a fast team, and giving that extra second of that pause, time and space are going to close up on you or your options. We definitely felt like that was an area we could do better at.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the Penguins\u2019 chip on their shoulder for playing the Hurricanes in the playoffs got a little bigger, too. <\/p>\n I mean, overtime (in the playoffs), it\u2019s five-on-five, so it\u2019s completely different. I think they had a lot of speed today \u2026 I thought we managed the OT really, really well. I thought maybe we definitely had the majority of the chances in OT,\u201d Skinner said. \u201cWe were able to give ourselves a chance to win. But yeah, they were able to kind of make a good play at the right time \u2026 but that\u2019s the fun part about playoffs, is that it\u2019s five-on-five. There\u2019s no three-on-three, no shootouts. So it\u2019s real hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n Penguins Analysis<\/p>\n In the simplest terms, the Penguins began the game on their heels. Carolina\u2019s forecheck pinned the Penguins in their own zone, and Carolina did not let up. <\/p>\n Several defensemen were especially underwater, including Kris Letang and Ryan Shea, but also Connor Clifton and Ilya Solovyov. The pairings were out of sorts with the puck and thus left to defend against an increasingly aggressive Carolina attack. <\/p>\n Jackson Blake\u2019s goal late in the second period looked like it could be a decider as Solovyov went swimming in the middle of the zone and Blake merely skated around him to the net. <\/p>\n The third pair, with Solovyov and Clifton, were plagued by an inability to connect with the forwards to get the puck moving in the other direction. At times, they played glacially slow. <\/p>\n Turnovers plagued the Shea and Letang pairing. <\/p>\n Tactically, one crucial thing the Penguins failed to do was to provide some cover for the defensemen. Against Carolina, the forwards need to get back and get in the forecheckers\u2019 way\u2013giving defensemen an extra moment to play the puck. <\/p>\n The Penguins did not do that with any success Wednesday. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d say we didn\u2019t work hard, but we didn\u2019t make fast decisions, which allowed them to get in your face,\u201d Rust said. <\/p>\n As has been the case this season, when the Penguins\u2019 breakouts connected and they generated some speed out of the defensive zone, they have been able to break Carolina\u2019s defense. <\/p>\n Sidney Crosby returned to the team\u2019s lineup after 11 games; the Crosby line got into the corners and played around the net. The fourth line, centered by Connor Dewar with Elmer Soderblom and Noel Acciari, was also forceful down low and outworked Carolina\u2019s defense. <\/p>\n However, the Penguins\u2019 middle six were a wild ride of big moments but far too many mistakes and defensive zone play. <\/p>\n Penguins Report Card<\/p>\n Team: D+<\/p>\n Don\u2019t let the result provide any misgivings that the Penguins played well. Carolina horribly outworked and outplayed them for most of the first 40 minutes. Their goals in the third period resulted from finally getting onto their toes and playing with emotion, but it was a back-and-forth third period, not a period in which the Penguins dominated. <\/p>\n Stuart Skinner: A<\/p>\n A goalie who allowed six should not get an A+, but Skinner was exceptional. Pad saves on breakaways. Glove saves on point-blank chances. And a diving stop when all hope appeared lost. <\/p>\n \u201cI felt really good. I think that\u2019s why I\u2019m really annoyed right now because I let in six goals. Wouldn\u2019t have expected that, but it\u2019s a hard game. It\u2019s a hard league,\u201d said Skinner. \u201cThese guys know how to score goals. They know how to make plays, and they got lucky on the six-on-five goal. And sometimes luck kind of goes another team\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n Erik Karlsson: A+<\/p>\n Perhaps no Penguins defenseman in the last 30 years has played as well as Karlsson is performing. He\u2019s controlling the game like no one in a Penguins sweater since Paul Coffey. His 5v3 power play goal was a shot that would have broken glass if it missed. He single-handedly launched the Penguins\u2019 attack.<\/p>\n Bryan Rust: A<\/p>\n Rust looked to be in playoff form. He blocked shots and scrapped for pucks like he needed them. His breakaway goal was a gritty and skilled individual effort. He had five shots on goal. <\/p>\n Ryan Shea-Kris Letang: F<\/p>\n The Penguins needed their second pairing to provide some cover, but the second pairing was far too generous with the puck and too scrambled in the defensive zone. They were on the wrong end of a lot of Carolina\u2019s zone time. <\/p>\n After a stellar road trip, Shea had a rough go. Letang was fighting uphill the entire game and had a few turnovers in the first period alone. <\/p>\n Ilya Solovyov: Ouch<\/p>\n Solovyov had a pair of sketchy games against Carolina on the trip. It\u2019s not a good matchup for him; his strength is clearing the net and playing hard in the battle areas, but Carolina forces him to play fast and the forecheckers caught him too many times. <\/p>\n Tommy Novak: F<\/p>\n In a playoff-type game, the Penguins needed their second-line center to control the puck and get to the offensive zone. Novak\u2019s line with Egor Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin had just six shot attempts. Novak was not impactful in a game in which they badly needed him to settle the tempo and play in the offensive zone. <\/p>\n Justin Brazeau: F<\/p>\n Center Ben Kindel rose to the challenge in the third period, but Brazeau was invisible. The big winger had two shots in the game, but neither was dangerous. Brazeau neither caused trouble near the net nor was hard to play against on the walls. <\/p>\n Soderblom-Dewar-Acciari: A<\/p>\n The Penguins had 12 shots in the first period, and seven were from this fourth line. They weren\u2019t on the ice for any goals-for, but they earned plenty of chances. Soderblom is not a hard player, but he used his size well, creating space and chances for Connor Dewar and Noel Acciari. The line got the puck deep, forced the lighter Carolina defensemen to play deep in the defensive zone and generated 10 scoring chances. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> Penguins Analysis<\/a> Penguins game<\/a> <\/p>\n