Letang: Third-period collapse to Flames 'started with me'

When Nazem Kadri started Calgary's third-period rally, Letang got walked by Kadri as Kadri was driving to the net:

"I made a mistake on one-on-one," Letang said. "Should not let that happen, and it gave them momentum."

It was Letang's turnover that led to Sharangovich's second goal of the night, the game-winner with 50 seconds remaining:

"I just got the puck and somebody jumped me," Letang said of that one. 

It was a tense locker room afterward, and the disappointment over what happened was on everyone's faces. Eller sat in his stall long after the rest of the room cleared out, still in his gear, with his head in his hand and glaring with an expression that showed a mix of anger and frustration. Letang, obviously, was disappointed with his own play and took responsibility. But with a quick turnaround before Sunday's game up the road in Edmonton to close out the trip, nobody can afford to wallow for too long.

"It sucks," Letang said. "But we have to get back at it tomorrow. ... Just have to learn from that when we have the lead, the way we play with the lead. Can't make those mistakes."

The time for those lessons to be learned was ... a long time ago. The Penguins' winning percentage when leading at second intermission is .773 -- or 26th in the NHL. This was the fifth time they've blown one of those leads entering the third period in 22 opportunities. That's 10 points in the standings that they gave up in the last 20 minutes. That's 10 points that would have them in a playoff spot as one of the top three teams in the Metropolitan Division with four games in hand. Instead, they find themselves seventh in the division, nine points behind the third-place Flyers.

"We beat ourselves," Sullivan said. "We just beat ourselves in a number of different ways. We had complete control of the game. We played a really good game up until that point."

The Penguins still haven't gotten out of the habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. If they want any hope of saving this season, it's a habit they have to break.