Penguins Early Spark Fades Away in Controversial OT Loss
The Pittsburgh Penguins started strong, but couldn't close out the same way in an overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins entered their first matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes of the season a perfect 3-0 against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Through the early portions of the game, it seemed like the Penguins might be able to remain perfect.
Sidney Crosby opened the scoring with an early goal and the rest of the team around him seemed to have an extra step in their game.
All four forward lines looked a step faster and Tristan Jarry was making big saves; but somewhere along the way, the spark faded away.
The Penguins finished the first period with just eight shots to the Hurricanes 13, but still with the 1-0 lead.
The lack of getting pucks on net continued for the Penguins and a failure to produce on the power play led to the Hurricanes turning the game around.
By the end of the second period, the Hurricanes were winning by a score of 2-1 while also hitting 30 shots on goal to the Penguins 18.
Not getting shots on net has been a problem for the Penguins for a number of games now, and it’s starting to catch up to them.
Both Penguins goalies have been playing great games in net, but can’t hold off an onslaught forever.
With Jarry pulled, the Penguins were able to tie the game with under a minute left, but their luck ran out in overtime.
A questionable hit from Carolina’s Seth Jarvis opened up a 2-on-0 towards Jarry and the Hurricanes capitalized.
The Penguins got off to an outstanding jump, but just couldn’t pull everything together and watched the Hurricanes dictate the game.
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