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Penguins rally from 2 down but lose to Blue Jackets in a shootout

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on

Published in Hockey

PITTSBURGH — The Penguins rallied back from two down in the third period Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena, but they lost, 5-4, in a shootout.

Arturs Silovs stood tall in Pittsburgh’s first overtime session of the season. He made a couple of difficult saves and stared down Kirill Marchenko on a breakaway.

However, Silovs let in all three shootout attempts he faced and the Penguins lost.

Despite being outshot 25-15 through two, the Penguins entered the third all tied.

Early in that period, Yegor Chinakhov gave the visitors their first lead when he beat Silovs with a wrist shot through traffic. Silovs appeared to be screened on the play. Dmitri Voronkov pushed it to 4-2 when he tapped in his second goal of the night.

But just when it looked as if the Penguins’ luck had run out, they scored two goals in two minutes. Kris Letang got the first one on the power play. Then, with 3:06 left in regulation, Bryan Rust buried his first goal of the season to make it a 4-4 game.

Anthony Mantha helped the Penguins jump out to a 2-1 lead after one. He had two points in the first period, giving him his second multi-point game in the past week.

He picked up an assist when Ryan Shea sniped Elvis Merzlikins just 59 seconds into the game. Then, after Charlie Coyle tied it up for Columbus, Mantha scored his goal. Granted, that long shot was a soft one for Merzlikins to let in. But it still counted.

Voronkov pulled the Blue Jackets back even with 2:21 left in the second. He beat Silovs from the slot after the Penguins were unable to cleanly corral a dump-in.

It was over when ...

Evgeni Malkin missed the net on the Penguins’ third shootout try. They lost it, 3-2.

Stat of the game

 

5 — multi-point games this season for Malkin, who tallied two assists in the loss

Around the boards

— Rickard Rakell went to the dressing room early in the third period after he blocked a slap shot by Damon Severson with his left hand. He did not return to the game.

— The Penguins placed Caleb Jones on injured reserve. The defenseman will be out approximately two months due to the lower-body injury he suffered Thursday at Florida.

— Rookies Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel were both healthy scratches as part of the team’s plan to manage its two teens. Brunicke also sat out Thursday’s game. He has been scratched three times in nine games. Kindel has been held out of two.

— Malkin extended his point streak to six games by setting up Mantha in the first. Meanwhile, Sidney Crosby and Rakell saw their streaks snapped at five.

— Penguins coach Dan Muse was unsuccessful in challenging Coyle’s goal in the first period. It was one of the quickest goalie interference reviews you will ever see.

— Matt Dumba participated in Pittsburgh’s first fight of the season. He traded heavy punches with Boone Jenner after Jenner objected to a clean hit thrown by Dumba.

— Before the game, the team inducted the 2025 class for the Penguins Hall of Fame. This year’s honorees were Scotty Bowman, Ron Francis, Eddie Johnston and Kevin Stevens. The Penguins on Saturday also unveiled the new dedicated space for their Hall of Fame, which they constructed in the lower concourse of PPG Paints Arena.

Coming up next

The Penguins will practice Sunday. Their first back-to-back of the season begins Monday when they host the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena.


©2025 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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