Offense was difficult to come by for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the past weekend.
And that trend continued Tuesday as they were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, in a shootout at PPG Paints Arena.
Shootout goals by Lightning forwards Gage Goncalves and Nikita Kucherov were the difference.
Penguins forward Yegor Chinakhov scored in the shootout, but forwards Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby came up empty on their opportunities.
The result came on the heels of two offensively starved performances: a 2-1 home loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday and a 1-0 defeat on the road against the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
The task of putting pucks in the net was impeded on Tuesday with the absence of All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who landed on injured reserve with an undisclosed malady. He missed a game for the first time since he joined the Penguins via a blockbuster trade in August 2023.
“Injuries happen over the course of the year,” said Penguins coach Dan Muse, who recently became Pittsburgh’s second-most tenured coach or manager of a major-league team, trailing only Don Kelly of the Pirates. “Obviously, those are big minutes that he plays. I think he’s a guy who is a big, big contributor in all situations for us. And so, it’s by committee.
“It’s not going to necessarily look the exact same as the way that (Karlsson) does it. Those minutes, those situations, it’s now going to have to be by committee.”
Penguins rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs unofficially stopped 30 of 31 shots in regulation and overtime as his record slipped to 8-6-7. In the shootout, Silovs stopped one of three shots.
Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser broke the defensive staring contest late in regulation at 14 minutes, 13 seconds of the third period with his fifth goal of the season.
A wrister by Lightning forward Yanni Gourde from below the Penguins’ right circle appeared to be gloved by Silovs, but the rebound plopped free just below him in the crease. An alert Moser saw the rebound and jabbed it under Silovs with a backhander to break the ice. Gourde and linemate Zemgus Girgensons had assists.
The Penguins pulled Silovs for an extra attacker, and that tactic paid off when forward Evgeni Malkin scored his 10th goal at 17:44 of the third frame.
As Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fought off ex-Penguins forward Jake Guentzel for a puck on the Lightning’s right wall, Malkin swooped in to claim possession, surged to the near circle and lasered a wrister to the far side past goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s blocker. Letang logged the lone assist.
Even before Karlsson’s respite, the Penguins had trouble finding offense as of late.
“We created chances,” Letang said in reference to his team’s previous two entanglements. “They didn’t go in. But I don’t think we managed well the pressure we had. We could have been a lot better with holding onto pucks offensively, that’s for sure.”
The Penguins could be better on the power play. On Tuesday, they were 0 for 3 with the man advantage.
Letang replaced Karlsson on the point of the first power-play unit as well on the right side of the top pairing with regard to even-strength scenarios.
“We worked on the power play, obviously, today,” Letang said after Tuesday’s morning skate in Cranberry. “Overall, it’s going to be the same thing for me. Most of my time is 5-on-5, and that’s where I need to bring my game. So, a little bit of change, but have to keep on the focus on myself, not trying to do too much.”
In contrast, the Penguins’ penalty killers were stout as they fended off all three of the Lightning’s power-play opportunities, including an irregular three-minute opportunity that was created out of a variety of penalties on both teams following hit by Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton from behind on Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. After Clifton fought Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, a variety of infractions were assessed, resulting in the three-minute power-play sequence for the visitors.
Hagel was examined by a team medical staffer and remained in the contest.
Notes: Penguins forward Bryan Rust rejoined the lineup after missing the previous two games with an undisclosed injury. … The Penguins recalled rookie forward Tristan Broz and defenseman Ryan Graves from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Both players were healthy scratches Tuesday, along with forward Kevin Hayes. … In a corresponding transaction, forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. …. Karlsson entered Tuesday with the longest active consecutive game played streak for the Penguins with 208 contests. With him sidelined, forward Sidney Crosby assumed the team’s “ironman” designation with 70 games.