Penguins allow franchise-worst six goals in first period in 7-1 loss to Stars

PITTSBURGH — Even Elvis never left the building this quickly.

The Penguins had an embarrassing opening period Monday at PPG Paints Arena. They gave up six goals to the Dallas Stars and standout rookie Joel Blomqvist got an early hook, prompting frustrated fans to head home before the first intermission.

Hey, at least they showed up. The team didn’t.

After they fell behind 6-0 during that first period, the Penguins went on to lose in a 7-1 laugher that should crank up the heat on longtime head coach Mike Sullivan.

The Penguins have dropped 11 of their first 17 games. This was the sixth time they gave up at least five goals. And they have lost eight games by two or more tallies.

The Penguins were coming off a big road win against the Washington Capitals in their last game. Their third period Friday was one of their finest periods of the season.

They followed that up Monday with one of the worst periods in franchise history.

The Stars beat Blomqvist on their first shot, which came 2:33 into the game. Matt Duchene went coast to coast and pulled around Ryan Graves to get into shooting position. Blomqvist should have easily stopped it but let it dribble through him.

Logan Stankoven made it 2-0 when he scored short side with a spinning shot from the left faceoff dot. Blomqvist had trouble tracking his shot through heavy traffic.

Mason Marchment chased Blomqvist from the game with another goal about three minutes later. Marchment raced behind Matt Grzelcyk and Kris Letang to retrieve the puck after it caromed off the corner boards and out into the slot. He snapped a shot past Blomqvist’s blocker — an area where the rookie has been victimized.

After that, Sullivan pulled Blomqvist for the first time in the goalie’s NHL career.

Blomqvist had been the Penguins’ best and most consistent goalie, earning him the right to stick around in Pittsburgh even after the return of Tristan Jarry. But he got rocked Monday, making just five saves before he gave way for Alex Nedeljkovic.

Paying customers at PPG Paints Arena cheered when the popular backup entered the game. They were soon jeering him after he let in the first two shots he faced.

Neither of them were really his fault. The Penguins left Miro Heiskanen wide open for the first of those goals. Then the standout Stars defenseman scored again on a breakaway that came after Matt Grzelcyk flubbed a pass at the offensive blue line.

Penguins fans sarcastically cheered when Nedeljkovic made his first save. Some of them started heading to the exits when Tyler Seguin made it 6-0 late in the first.

It was the first time the Penguins had ever allowed six goals in the opening period of a home game. The previous high was five goals, which had occurred five times.

There was plenty of blame to go around. Surely, the goalies could have made more than six saves on 12 shots. But Kris Letang was on the ice for five of the Stars goals. His partner, Grzelcyk, was a minus-3. Sidney Crosby took the penalty that led to Seguin’s goal. At one point, the Penguins went eight minutes without a shot.

The Penguins played better in the final 40 minutes as the Stars sat on their lead. But it didn’t matter, not with a deficit so large and PPG Paints Arena totally deflated.

Anthony Beauvillier got the lone goal on Jake Oettinger during the second period.

Wyatt Johnston pushed the Stars’ lead to 7-1 when he scored with 4:50 remaining.

ICE CHIPS

— The last time the Penguins gave up six goals in a period was April 20, 2021, per Bob Grove. Pittsburgh actually won that game, beating New Jersey, 7-6, at home.

— With four points in the first, Marchment tied the Dallas team record for points in a period. He was one of five Stars players with multiple points during the period.

— Pittsburgh had killed 19 of its last 20 penalties before Sequin’s power-play goal in the first — the result of Letang and the Penguins trying to score shorthanded.

— Crosby and Evgeni Malkin remained on separate lines. They were split up during Friday’s win at Washington. Joining Crosby on the first line were Drew O’Connor and Rickard Rakell. Michael Bunting and Bryan Rust were Malkin’s two wingers.

— Rust limped to the bench after a collision in the second period but he was able to finish the game. The forward just returned from a lower-body injury on Friday.

— The Penguins placed Kevin Hayes on injured reserve Monday and recalled fellow forward Sam Poulin. The 23-year-old was a healthy scratch for Monday’s game.

— Jarry and Ryan Shea were also healthy scratches in the blowout loss to Dallas.

— Krissy Wendell-Pohl, the former U.S. Olympian who has been an amateur scout for Pittsburgh since 2021, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

STAT N’AT

22 — First-period goals allowed by the Penguins this season, the most in the NHL

COMING UP

The Penguins will practice Tuesday. Their next game is Wednesday at a home against the Detroit Red Wings — the first of three games in four days.