It wasn\u2019t quite like many of the terse postgame press conferences Mike Sullivan would stage during his decade as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins following losses at Consol Energy Center-turned-PPG Paints Arena.<\/p>\n
And it wasn\u2019t even in the same stratosphere as that tour de force Michel Therrien infamously offered nearly two decades ago within the cramped media room at Mellon Arena when he utilized the adjective \u201csoft\u201d in a fashion few others would dare to.<\/p>\n
But first-year coach Dan Muse was angry Saturday. And he made no effort to hide it.<\/p>\n
Following the Penguins\u2019 3-2 come-from-ahead overtime home loss to the Seattle Kraken at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday \u2014 which came less than 24 hours after a bowling shoe-ugly 5-0 defeat at home to the Minnesota Wild \u2014 Muse was blunt in assessing his scuttling squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just came out of this weekend here with only one out of four points,\u201d Muse seethed. \u201cThat\u2019s not good enough. Was our process better? It was. But we need to get points.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kraken got the full set of two points Saturday thanks to a goal by defenseman Brandon Montour in overtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to sit here and say that\u2019s good enough,\u201d Muse said. \u201cIt\u2019s not. We\u2019re past that. We need points right now. We have a weekend here where the game was no good (Friday), it was much better today. But if you go through this month, there\u2019s been too many games here where I\u2019ve said there\u2019s positives to take from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the calendar flipped to November, the Penguins are 2-4-3 in their past nine games. That rate of success equates to only seven out of a possible 18 points.<\/p>\n
The Penguins exited October as one of the league\u2019s top teams and in second place of the Metropolitan Division with an 8-3-2 record.<\/p>\n
Following Saturday\u2019s setback, they\u2019re 10-6-5 and sit outside of a playoff-worthy position in the standings as it pertains to the wild card (albeit, with five months of regular season play to go).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t afford here to be just giving away points,\u201d Muse said. \u201cThere was a lot of good. I\u2019m not going to go past that and say that there wasn\u2019t. The brand of hockey that we played today was better. But I\u2019m not going to keep coming in here and saying that one point is good enough. It\u2019s not. We\u2019re better than that. Our standard needs to be better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
If nothing else, Saturday\u2019s game was better than Friday\u2019s outing. Then again, another bankruptcy declaration by the franchise would be required to be worse than what they offered against the Wild on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Penguins outshot the Kraken 32-21 and controlled most of the play in the overtime period.<\/p>\n
They even had a lead relatively late in regulation before allowing the tying score as well as the winner in overtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe carried the play,\u201d Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. \u201cWe gave ourselves some chances and unfortunately, it didn\u2019t go. It\u2019s how it goes sometimes. We had the lead there and just couldn\u2019t close it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the immediate aftermath of Friday\u2019s clunker, Penguins rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov offered a vow, stating there would \u201cbe a really good response tomorrow (Saturday)\u201d and he mostly backed up his portion of that boast by stopping 18 of 21 shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone can get better, said Murashov, whose record slipped to 1-1-1. \u201cMe, myself also can improve my game. Overall, I think efforts were there. We just maybe get some luck and keep working.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following a scoreless first period, Kraken forward Mason Marchment opened the scoring with his second goal this season 84 seconds into the second frame.<\/p>\n
Penguins rookie forward Ben Kindel tried to lead a rush out of the defensive zone and made a weak pass attempt to the right wing intended for linemate Sam Poulin. Marchment snatched away the puck with ease and converted that charity by ripping a wrister from the left circle to the far side under Murashov\u2019s blocker. Marchment provided a bit of levity for the home fans by tripping to the ice while celebrating on the near boards. There were no assists.<\/p>\n
1-0 #SeaKraken<\/a><\/p>\n Marchment takes the puck back twice and fires beating Murashov pic.twitter.com\/TfHKBoZbEC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alison (@AlisonL) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Crosby got the hosts on the scoreboard with his team-leading 13th goal at 16:16 of the second period.<\/p>\n Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer settled a dump-in behind his net and tried to rim a backhand pass along the left wing boards. The only problem was the puck wound up on the stick of Penguins forward Connor Dewar, who immediately centered a pass to the top of the crease where Crosby buried an easy forehand shot into a mostly vacant cage. Dewar was deemed worthy of the only assist.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/1gAs9KzYd4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c(Dewar) made a great play to forecheck and find a lane there,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy. A nice pass by him for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n The Penguins took their first lead of the contest during a power-play sequence at 5:56 of the third period via forward Evgeni Malkin\u2019s sixth goal.<\/p>\n Accepting a feed low to the right of the cage, Malkin forced a pass attempt to the front of the crease intended for Penguins forward Bryan Rust in the far circle, but Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson slid down to block the puck. After Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren was unable to clear the rebound, Kindel and Malkin each jabbed at it within the blue paint before the latter was able to guide a forehand shot past Grubauer\u2019s left leg. Kindel and Crosby collected assists.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/2dH6273EFV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n After failing to score on their first four power-play opportunities of the game, the Penguins finally converted on their fifth chance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kind of simplified it,\u201d Rust said. \u201cYou saw the goal in the third, we just got pucks to the net and kind of created a scramble and scored. Just try to take a five-on-five mentality and get pucks to the net.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kraken seemed to employ the same mentality on the tying goal by forward Matty Beniers – his third of the season – at 12:36 of the third frame.<\/p>\n Off a cross-ice pass from Marchment, Beniers surveyed from the right circle of the offensive zone and elevated a wrister over sliding Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves and past Murashov\u2019s left shoulder on the near side. Marchment and defenseman Ryker Evans registered assists.<\/p>\n Matty Beniers with a lethal finish. Marchment’s 200th point is a pretty seam pass that sets up 10’s shot #SeaKraken<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/90cQprvp33<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alison (@AlisonL) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n In overtime, the Penguins had plenty of chances to score. Most notably, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang put a wrister off the right post only 55 seconds into the period.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/N2LKZYdZkL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EN Videos (@ENVideos19) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Montour buried his team\u2019s first and only shot of overtime at the 4:10 mark. It was his fourth goal this season.<\/p>\n Driving the puck up the left wing into the offensive zone, former Penguins forward Freddy Gaudreau pulled up above the circle, drew in Crosby and Letang, then fed a pass to an approaching Montour. With an ocean liner-sized opening above the left circle, Montour gripped and ripped a wrister to the far side under Murashov\u2019s blocker. Gaudreau and Evans had assists.<\/p>\n GAME WINNER FOR THE KRAKEN ????<\/p>\n Brandon Montour scores the Subway Canada OT Winner for Seattle! pic.twitter.com\/GJnSHNCewK<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt looked like a game that we did everything but win the game,\u201d Rust lamented.<\/p>\n The Penguins haven\u2019t won many games as of late.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lead and then we didn\u2019t and now we have one point,\u201d Muse said. \u201cThat\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins have yet to win a game that goes beyond regulation this season. They are 0-2 in overtime and 0-3 in shootouts.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins have lost four consecutive games to the Kraken (0-3-1). That matches their longest active losing streak against an opponent (Winnipeg Jets, 0-4-0).<\/p>\n \u2022 This was the Penguins\u2019 second overtime loss against the Kraken since the expansion franchise entered the NHL in 2021.<\/p>\n During a 2-1 win at PPG Paints Arena on Jan. 27, 2022<\/a>, Larsson scored on goaltender Tristan Jarry:<\/p>\n Adam Larsson scores against the Pittsburgh Penguins to make it 2-1 #PITvsSEA<\/a> #LetsGoPens<\/a> #SeaKraken<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/T0E2ttQfLw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 nopClips (@nopClips) January 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n That was the first overtime win in Kraken history.<\/p>\n \u2022 Penguins defenseman Matt Dumba was in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in seven of the previous eight games.<\/p>\n \u2022 Penguins defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Parker Wotherspoon, along with forward Philip Tomasino, were healthy scratches.<\/p>\n \u2022 Penguins forward Blake Lizotte appeared in his 400th career game.<\/p>\n \u2022 Former Penguins forward Jared McCann and goaltender Matt Murray were not in the lineup for the Kraken as undisclosed ailments have landed them on injured reserve.<\/p>\n Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n