PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins had their own jersey retirement ceremony end with a letdown. This time, as the Calgary Flames retired goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff’s No. 34, the Penguins looked to play spoiler.
After a tough loss to the Seattle Kraken, the Penguins looked to work their way back to the win column. Every game for the Penguins is turning into a must-win, but both the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders won earlier in the night, making a Penguins win even more crucial.
First Period
Much like the start in Seattle, the Penguins dominated the game's opening minutes but couldn’t find the back of the net. This time around, however, the Penguins created their puck luck and got out to the first lead of the night.
Not only did the Penguins get the early lead, they did so on the back of a first career goal in the NHL. The Flames had a brief lapse of judgment, giving Jonathan Gruden enough time to steal the loose puck. His first shot of goal of the entire season came at a steep angle that squeezed through Jacob Markstrom into the net.
Gruden’s first career goal gave the Penguins an important lead, and they built on it before the period ended. A late power play chance was capitalized on thanks to some excellent hand-eye coordination from Lars Eller.
Eller swatted a bouncing puck just below the crossbar to give the Penguins a 2-0 to carry into the first intermission.
Second Period
The Penguins allowed only three shots through the entire first period and continued that shutdown mentality through the start of the second. The Penguins were nearing the 20-shot mark when the Flames finally scored their first goal of the night.
On their fifth shot, a loose puck was found by Yegor Sharangovich who beat Tristan Jarry through the five hole.
The Flames crawled back more in shots on goal, but Sharangovich was the only player to score in the middle frame. The Penguins entered the third period of their must-win game with a 2-1 lead.
Third Period
The third period kicked off with more offense from the Penguins as they managed to regain their two-goal lead. A shot from the point came from Ryan Graves but was deflected by Jeff Carter to put the Penguins up 3-1.
Having a two-goal lead is nice but 3-1 is known as the worst lead in hockey and the Flames showed signs of life to keep things interesting. The Penguins let a power play opportunity slip away with a penalty of their own.
The Flames quickly capitalized on their abbreviated power play chance to pull within a goal. Just over 30 second later, they scored again to make it a tie game.
With under nine minutes to play, the Flames seemed to be carrying a ton of momentum and the Penguins have to fend off the attack.
The Penguins were given an opportunity with a late penalty on the Flames for goalie interference, but it was taken away almost immediately with a penalty of their own. Eller was called for high sticking just four seconds into the advantage, opening up a lengthy 4-on-4.
No one capitalized on the 4-on-4, but just as it ended, the Flames stole the puck from Kris Letang and may have put a nail in the Penguins' season. Sharangovich scored his second of the night to give the Flames their first lead of the night and the eventual victory.
The Penguins went from up 3-1 to melting down into a 4-3 loss. The Flames extended their winning streak to five games while the Penguins have to prepare for an even tougher test in 24 hours against the Edmonton Oilers.
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