The game turned into a ref show and the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't have an answer for the Ottawa Senators power play.
The Pittsburgh Penguins went north of the border for the final time in the 2022-23 regular season for the first of an extended home-and-home set with the Ottawa Senators.
After barely fending off a beatable Anaheim Ducks team, the Penguins were in need of a solid, well-rounded win to make their mark.
The Senators aren’t as horrendous as the Ducks this season, but it’s another winnable contest for Pittsburgh.
It wouldn’t be easy, though, as the first period saw costly penalties from both teams and four goals between them.
Jason Zucker got the Penguins off on the right foot when he found a loose puck for the game’s first goal.
With a 1-0 lead, Jeff Carter took a four-minute penalty and the Senators took advantage of the openings.
The Senators scored twice on the double-minor, taking a 2-1 lead and extending a horrid stretch from the Penguins penalty kill in recent memory.
The other side of the Penguins’ special teams has also had a rough run, but were able to capitalize for a huge game tying goal.
Evgeni Malkin became the star of the show when he drew not one, but two penalties to give the Penguins a 5-on-3 chance.
Despite not scoring while two guys up, Malkin banked home the game tying goal while still on a man advantage, all while hearing boos from the Ottawa crowd.
The Penguins took their second lead of the game off of a huge shot from Mark Friedman for his first of the season.
To this point of the game, all three of the Penguins goals came from Senators’ goalie Cam Talbot struggling to smuggle pucks with his glove hand.
The lead didn’t last long when the Senators scored their third power play goal of the contest.
Penalties didn’t slow down into the third when the ref show continued and a questionable call against P.O. Joseph led to the Senators taking a 4-3 lead.
Rickard Rakell and the Penguins potted another power play goal of their own to knot the game at four as penalty minutes approached 30 minutes between the two teams.
For the second straight game, the Penguins were heading to overtime and as quickly as it started it ended.
The Penguins struggles in overtime continued when Brady Tkachuk scored just 25 seconds into the bonus frame.
The flaws of the Penguins are showing and its starting to hurt them in a big way; they aren’t shooting enough and the penalty kill is in need of a course correction.
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