The Pittsburgh Penguins drop their second-straight game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were hoping for a bounce-back performance after their forgettable showing on Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils. Early in the game, it looked to be in the cards for Pittsburgh, but their performance steadily declined as the Carolina Hurricanes began to control possession.

Outside of a few shifts from the top forward line and one or two chances from Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins were outplayed by the Hurricanes and again allowed three goals in the final frame to seal their fate.

Goal Recap

(PIT 1-0) Sidney Crosby (11): Jake Guentzel (14) & Erik Karlsson (12)

(TIE 1-1) Sebastian Aho (5): Teuvo Teravainen (2) & Seth Jarvis (6)

(CAR 2-1) Brent Burns (4): Jacob Slavin (6) & Andrei Svechnikov (5)

(TIE 2-2) Sidney Crosby (12): Kris Letang (8) & Bryan Rust (7)

(CAR 3-2) Seth Jarvis (6): Jacob Slavin (7) & Brent Burns (4)

(CAR 4-2) Seth Jarvis (7): Sebastian Aho (10) & Teuvo Teravainen (3)

Three Stars

3. Marcus Pettersson

Marcus Pettersson continues to quietly become one of the best shut-down defensemen in the NHL. He built on that resume last night with multiple tremendous plays on the Hurricanes' odd-man rushes early.

Erik Karlsson has been much better than advertised in the defensive zone, but he still succumbs to his defensive deficiencies at times. When that happens, Pettersson has been in position to cover for him.

2. Tristan Jarry

Jarry responded well after a rough performance on Thursday night. He allowed three goals on 33 shots, but two were tap-in goals due to defensive breakdowns by the Penguins.

The Penguins would not have been in that game without some stellar saves by Jarry, most notably his desperation stick save on Seth Jarvis. The Penguins starter has seen mixed results this season and will need more consistency if the Penguins want to make a serious run at a playoff spot.

1. Seth Jarvis

Jarvis may not be a name many Penguins fans were familiar with before last night, but they know it now. Jarvis scored the game-winning goal on Saturday night and finished with his second three-point performance of the season (2G-1A).

His impact on the game wasn't limited to the offensive zone. In the third period, Jarvis was stopped on a scoring chance by a backchecking Jake Guentzel in the third period, which sent the Penguins the other way on an odd-man rush. Jarvis hustled back into the play to shut down a wide-open opportunity for Guentzel.

Final Thoughts

Rickard Rakell has caught a lot of grief for his scoring struggles this season, and rightfully so. But the Penguins have a much bigger problem than just one slumping winger.

The Penguins' defense core, minus Erik Karlsson, has one combined goal between seven players this season. Reilly Smith has cooled off considerably in the last six games, with only one assist to show for it. The Penguins have gotten three goals from players not named Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, or Jake Guentzel over the past six games.

Rakell needs to find the net at some point, but so too do the remainder of the Penguins lineup outside of their top line and Erik Karlsson.

They'll have an opportunity to turn the momentum back in their favor later today as they take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights.

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