The Pittsburgh Penguins are lucky that shootouts are not what decide postseason games.

But if their luck in shootouts does not improve, that could be the reason they miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive season.

On Saturday, they were defeated by the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, in a shootout at PPG Paints Arena.

The result dropped their record to a league-worst 1-7 in shootouts.

The man who has been in net for the bulk of those defeats has been Arturs Silovs. And sure enough, he was on the wrong end of Saturday’s setback, stopping 2 of 4 shootout attempts.

He is 1-6 in shootouts this season. But it wouldn’t be fair to devote the bulk of the blame for Saturday’s loss on him.

After all, he’s not the one shooting the puck.

His teammates could only muster one goal on four shootout attempts against Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.

“It’s a team thing,” said Penguins forward Bryan Rust, who was denied by Merzlikins in the shootout.

By hook or by crook, this team needs better shootout results to ensure a sturdier claim on a playoff spot in the somewhat mediocre Eastern Conference.

To be certain, the Penguins do work at it. They have routinely made it a part of practices in Cranberry and even concluded a session Wednesday with a shootout drill.

Do they need to employ more detailed or intricate measures, such as one-on-one sessions with a skills coach or video analysis?

“All those things,” coach Dan Muse said. “It’s going to have to be all those things. It’s costing us points. We’re going to continue to work at it. Each night, there’s a different story to it. (Silovs) made a couple of big saves, gave us a chance in it today.

“We also need to score goals. It’s both sides. We’ve got to put work on both sides. All those things you mentioned (video work, one-on-one coaching, etc.) are things that have been done and will continue to be done. It’s obviously been costing us. We’ll continue to address it.”

On Saturday, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby as well as Rust failed to beat Merzlikins in the shootout, while ex-Blue Jackets forward Egor Chinakhov accounted for the home squad’s lone goal

As for the Blue Jackets, forwards Kent Johnson and Charlie Coyle beat Silovs while forwards Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko were denied.

For the season, Silovs has allowed a league-worst 13 goals on 20 shootout attempts.

“We’re just going to keep working on it,” Silovs said. “And I think we’re getting better. But I think still, there’s another level.”

Silovs was largely stout in regulation and overtime, stopping 22 of 25 shots. His record fell to 8-6-8.

“He played well,” Muse said. “There were some huge saves at the end. It was a close game and there was a number of times there thinking to myself we’re going to look back and remember that save … a few times there in the third (period).”

An unlikely source opened the scoring when ex-Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese scored his first goal of the season 2:42 into regulation.

Blue Jackets forward Brendan Gaunce won a draw in the Penguins’ left circle and muscled the puck back toward the point for defenseman Zach Werenski, who chopped a one-timer. Penguins forward Noel Acciari leaned down to block the shot near the faceoff dot and the rebound dribbled between the hashmarks where Aston-Reese shuffled a wrister past Silovs’ left skate. Werenski and Gaunce had assists.

Perhaps an even more unlikely source generated the hosts’ opening offensive salvo when defenseman Connor Clifton collected his first goal of the season, and as a member of the club, at 9:59 of the first period.

Off a dump-in by the Penguins into the offensive zone, Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov failed to secure the puck near the right corner, allowing Penguins forward Tommy Novak to claim it on the end boards. Novak tried to backhand flick a pass to the front of the cage but was off the mark, hitting the right side of the net. The puck then trickled to the right circle, where Clifton collected it then gripped and ripped a wrister by Merzlikins’ glove on the near side. Novak negotiated the lone assist.

“It was a great forecheck,” Clifton said. “(The puck) came right to me. I got a good chance there, followed up the play, and luckily, I was fortunate that it went in.”

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A more conventional source generated a go-ahead goal when Rakell recorded his seventh goal at 17:52 of the opening period.

After the Penguins dumped the puck again into Columbus’ right corner, Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan raced back for it and tried to rim it behind the cage for former Penguins defenseman Erik Gudbranson. Monahan’s release was too strong, however, and the puck missed the intended recipient and wound up in the far corner, where it was claimed by Crosby. Without hesitation, Crosby snapped a precise pass to the lower right hashmark for Rakell, who having slipped behind Werenski, leaned on his right knee and elevated a wrister past Merzlikins, who waved his glove at the puck in vain. Crosby claimed the only assist.

Marchenko tied the game at 7:32 of the second period with his team-leading 18th goal.

During a puck battle in front of the visiting bench, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang backhand chopped the puck away from Fantilli, directing it towards the Pittsburgh blue line. That tactic wound up serving as a “pass” for Marchenko, who gained the offensive zone with speed. Surging past Crosby and getting a step on Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak, Marchenko veered toward the right circle and smoked past Silovs’ glove on the near side. There were no assists.

A trio of players once employed by the Penguins generated a go-ahead score as defenseman Egor Zamula and Gudbranson helped create forward Danton Heinen’s second goal at 17:38 of the second frame.

Accepting a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Zamula offloaded it to the opposite point for Gudbranson, who lobbed a wrister toward the cage. Heinen, stationed in the slot, redirected the puck with his stick past Silovs’ blocker on the far side.

It was Heinen’s first goal as a member of the Blue Jackets, who acquired him in a trade with the Penguins on Dec. 29.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say it felt good,” Heinen said. “But the win definitely feels better.”

Assists were generated by Gudbranson and Zamula, the latter of whom never played for the Penguins and had his contract terminated by the club Jan. 3 after he failed to report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League following a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Penguins tied the score at the last minute — almost literally — of regulation when Crosby scored his team-leading 26th goal at 18:59 of the third period with Silovs pulled for an extra attacker.

Settling the puck at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin fed it to the center point for Letang. Surveying his options, Letang chopped a slap-pass to the right of the crease where Crosby adroitly redirected the puck with his stick past Merzlkins’ left skate on the near side. Letang and Malkin had assists.

The overtime period was a delirious tornado of activity with the Penguins pumping six shots on net while the Blue Jackets generated two.

In particular, Malkin and Penguins rookie forward Ben Kindel were each denied twice by Merzlkins while Silovs made a stunning athletic save, sprawling to his left to rob Coyle.

In the shootout, Coyle buried the deciding goal by deking Silovs out of position and tucking a forehand shot into the cage.

Chinakhov was the lone bright spot for the Penguins in the shootout as he zapped a lightning-quick wrister past Merzlikins.

Despite only being a member of the Penguins since Dec. 29, he already leads the team with two shootout goals.

shootouts

In contrast, Crosby, who has been reliable in seemingly every facet of the game for more than two decades, particularly in the shootouts, is only 1 for 7.

“I don’t think the prior ones really matter,” Crosby said. “I don’t think we really think about that. Each one’s a new opportunity to get more points, and we’ve got to find ways to do that.”

What are those ways?

“I don’t know,” said Rust, 1 for 5 in shootouts this season. “We practice and work on it. Try and get better. Don’t have an answer for that one.

“Just like every aspect of the game, there’s confidence with it. When you don’t have it, things can be frustrating.”

Notes:

• Clifton became the 594th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

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• It took Clifton 19 games to match the goal total he generated in 73 games last season.

• Kindel has gone 16 consecutive games without a goal.

• The Penguins were 0 for 3 on the power play and 2 for 2 on the penalty kill.

• Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves and forward Kevin Hayes were healthy scratches.

• Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones, who is designated to injured reserve and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday for conditioning purposes, was spotted in the press box Saturday. After being injured while playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he returned to Western Pennsylvania for a medical exam.

• The Blue Jackets have won four consecutive games, including three since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as coach on Monday.