Pittsburgh Penguins stars Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson have struggled to build chemistry in their first season together. PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins put together a pair of disappointments during their brief trip out west and needed much better results before heading into the bye week. With multiple games in hand on most of the Eastern Conference, the Penguins looked to take advantage of their opportunities. It wouldn’t be an easy task as the Penguins’ next opponent was the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Florida Panthers. In the first half of a back-to-back, the penguins went with Alex Nedeljkovic in net for his first start in over two weeks. FIRST PERIOD The Penguins needed to get themselves into gear early to put themselves in a better head space after their road trip. A power play opportunity in the opening minute proved to be a jump start as Jake Guentzel put home a setup from Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson. The power play goal extended Karlsson’s point streak to 10 games. It didn’t take too long for the Penguins to take a power play of their own and the Panthers notched an early game-tying goal. Former Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues was left completely alone in front of Nedeljkovic who didn’t miss his rebound chance. With the game knotted at one goal apiece, the tensions between the Penguins and Panthers rose. Just about every whistle in the last half of the frame was followed by a scrum or two and Panthers’ agitator Matthew Tkachuk was usually in the center of it. Jeff Carter was the unexpected combatant for the Penguins. SECOND PERIOD The physical nature of the contest didn’t slow down much to start the second, but it was a pair of relatively weak calls on Kris Letang that opened a four-minute power play chance for the Panthers. Letang started with a trip on Rodrigues that could just as easily have been a dive, then lightly collided with Aleksander Barkov causing him to lose his footing. Barkov went hard into the boards and was down in obvious pain, holding his head. Letang was initially going to be called for a five-minute major, but a review got it reduced to a double minor. The Penguins managed to kill off the first part of the four-minute disadvantage, but as the second half started, Sam Reinhart scored to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. After some more chippy play, the Penguins were gifted a 5-on-3 chance with their own extended double minor chance on the power play. They failed to score on the extended chance but were given yet another chance [https://twitter.com/GinoHard_/status/1751061294537424906] in the final moments of the period. THIRD PERIOD The Penguins still didn’t capitalize to finish the second period, and opened the final frame with just over a minute remaining on the power play. The Panthers killed off the Penguins' chance with ease. Multiple power plays again came for the Penguins with no juice. On their eighth opportunity with under five minutes remaining, Mike Sullivan shuffled the players taking the ice with the man advantage. Their eighth chance of the game slipped away with no tally. The Panthers carried their 2-1 lead into the final minutes forcing the Penguins to pull Nedeljkovic. Once again it worked in their favor as Evgeni Malkin found his way back to the goal column with a late tally. [https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1751076014396985467] Malkin's goal tied the game late and forced this feisty matchup to overtime. The Penguins were guaranteed at least a point. OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT The Penguins haven't had much luck in the overtime period so far this year and needed something to come up positive for them. Much like a power play chance, the Penguins hesitated to shoot the puck. The overtime period came an went without a single shot from the Penguins. Barkov and Guentzel traded shootout goals before Sam Reinhart sealed the game for the Panthers. Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins [http://insidethepenguins.com/]for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Penguins Defenseman Untouchable at Trade Deadline [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/podcasts/pittsburgh-penguins-marcus-pettersson-untouchable] Analyst Slams Penguins For Evgeni Malkin Deal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/analyst-slams-pittsburgh-penguins-evgeni-malkin-deal] Penguins Prospect Deserves Bigger Opportunity [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-sam-poulin-bigger-opportunity] Penguins Championship Window Closing Quickly [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-championship-window-closing] Penguins Need Trades to Fix Lineup [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/podcasts/pittsburgh-penguins-need-trades-fix-lineup] * undefined * undefined
