Penguins fall to Kraken in overtime, winning streak snapped

The Pittsburgh Penguins played some of their best defensive hockey Thursday.

They barely permitted the opposition to control the puck, and on the rare occasions that happened, the quality of shots goaltender Tristan Jarry faced was low.

It was a defensive display this group has been lacking for the better part of two weeks.

For 40 minutes, the Penguins were as stout they have been all season.

Unfortunately for them, the final 21 minutes, 17 seconds of their home contest against the Seattle Kraken were another matter.

Getting outshot 20-4 in the third and overtime periods, the Penguins suffered an unappetizing come-from-ahead 2-1 loss to a limited expansion franchise at PPG Paints Arena.

The setback snapped a six-game winning streak, and it was only their third loss (17-2-1) over the past 20 games dating to Dec. 4.

“The first two periods we were fine,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we were playing the right way. We controlled territory, we controlled possession time. In the third period, we beat ourselves. We turned into a high-risk hockey team. A lot of the chances that we gave them off the rush were the result of us not making the right decisions with the puck.

“It’s hard to win consistently when you play a high-risk game.”

It was pretty much a no-risk game during the first two periods which were scoreless. The Penguins outshot the Kraken, 20-9, through the first 20 minutes. While neither team looked like it was threatening any kind of scoring records, the Penguins were soundly in control of the contest through the first two frames.

“I thought we had a really good effort the first two periods,” Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel said. “I thought we could have done a better job closing it out for sure. … We just kind of got on our heels. We should have kept going at them.”

Despite being outplayed in the third, almost from the opening faceoff of the period, the Penguins claimed the first lead of the contest at the 8:41 mark with a power-play score.

Controlling a puck low in the right circle of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang slipped a pass above the left circle. From there, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin surveyed for a shooting lane then teed up a wrister that sailed past the blocker of goaltender Philipp Grubauer on the far side for his fourth goal of the season. Letang and forward Bryan Rust had assists.

Jarry appeared to be within putting distance of a shutout, especially after denying Kraken forward Jordan Eberle, a long-time Penguins nemesis, on a breakaway at 15:58 of the third period.

But one of Malkin’s occasional linemates, Jared McCann, got on the scoreboard at 16:04 of the third. The only problem from the home team’s perspective is he is now a member of the Kraken.

After McCann won a faceoff in the Penguins’ right circle, Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn settled the puck at the right point and lobbed a wrister at the cage. McCann outbattled Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson for position above the crease and deflected the puck past Jarry’s glove for his 17th goal. Dunn and forward Marcus Johansson collected assists.

Jarry was forced to stop five more shots before the game went to overtime.

The Kraken had the only two shots — at least those that were on net — in the extra period, including the winner at the 1:17 mark.

After a defensive-zone turnover by Malkin, the Kraken reloaded their attack in the neutral zone. Kraken forward Alexander Wennberg gained offensive blue line and pulled up in the right circle. From there, he slipped a pass to trailing defenseman Adam Larsson in the high slot.

With an acre of ice and a calendar of time to work with, Larsson roofed a wrister over Jarry’s blocker for his fourth goal. Assists went to Wennberg and forward Calle Jarnkrok.

The Penguins’ All-Star goaltender was stout as he made 27 saves on 29 shots. His record fell to 23-7-5.

“(Jarry) held us in it,” Penguins forward Jeff Carter said. “Definitely not a period that we wanted to have in the third. But (Jarry) held us in, and we got a point.”

The Penguins will have an opportunity to get a full two points less than 24 hours later when they host the Detroit Red Wings. They’ll need a more complete effort to accomplish that.

“We had a solid effort for 75% of the game,” Ruhwedel said. “We’re going to just take that positive and take that point and be ready for Detroit (Friday).”

Notes: For the Kraken, a first-year expansion franchise, this was their first game in Pittsburgh. … Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Radim Zohorna were healthy scratches. … The Kraken scratched Ex-Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak due to an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him for the five consecutive games.