A third period collapse gives the Pittsburgh Penguins a tough loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

PITTSBURGH – After four days off, the Pittsburgh Penguins were finally back in action with a late-night start against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Penguins handled the reigning Stanley Cup champions with a 3-0 shutout in their first meeting and were looking for a similar outcome out west.

The Penguins entered the contest with another advantage as the Golden Knights were missing multiple key players. Tristan Jarry was given the start between the pipes for the Penguins and looked to kick off their two-game road trip on the right foot.

It was the first game back in Vegas for Reilly Smith since being acquired by the Penguins over the offseason. The Golden Knights played a tribute video for Smith who was in the building, but out of the lineup with an upper-body injury.

First Period

Those four days off certainly helped the Penguins enter Vegas with a little pep in their step, but it didn’t translate to any early tallies. Both teams made it through the entire first frame without a goal.

The Penguins did successfully kill off a pair of Golden Knights power play opportunities in the process.

Second Period

Just before the game could reach it’s official midway point, Ryan Graves broke through for the game’s first goal and to give the Penguins a lead. Graves carried a puck off of the blue line and beat Logan Thompson with a lucky bounce from behind the net.

Erik Karlsson was credited with an assist to extend his point streak to eight games, the longest active streak by a defenseman in the NHL.

Jake Guentzel has been all over trade rumors and speculations for a few weeks, and he showed a good reason as to why. Guentzel possesses one of the best shots on the Penguins roster and used to give them a 2-0 lead. A feed from Sidney Crosby set up Guentzel to utilize his talents.

The tally was Guentzel’s 20^th goal of the season giving him seven straight seasons of 20 goals or more. The only time he didn’t hit the mark was his first 40 games in the NHL when he scored 16.

The Penguins held onto their 2-0 lead into the intermission after a strong showing in the second period.

Third Period

Heading into the final frame it was obvious the Golden Knights were going to come out strong. They did just that by scoring a pair of goals in pretty short oder. In the matter of a minute and some change, the Golden Knights went from down two goals to tied.

The Penguins killed off a key power play chance for the Golden Knights, but Vegas didn't let that deter them. Brendan Brisson picked up his first career goal to give the Golden Knights their first lead of the game.

Brisson is the son of Crosby's longtime agent, Pat.

Aside from allowing three goals, the Penguins had a terrible opening 10 minutes of the third period putting up only one shot on goal.

With just under two minutes to play, the Penguins pulled Jarry in hopes they still have that magic with the extra attacker. The magic wasn't there as Bryan Rust took a slashing penalty with under a minute remaining just about sealing the contest for the Golden Knights.

The Penguins put together a fantastic first 40 minutes, but allowed three unanswered goals and allowed the Golden Knights to steal a regulation win. The Penguins posted only five shots in the final frame.

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