Penguins' rally falls short in 5-4 loss to Mammoth

The Pittsburgh Penguins (3-6-1, 1-5-1 away) finished their four-game road trip without a win Monday night, falling 5-4 to the Utah Mammoth (7-3-0, 3-1-0 home) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Pittsburgh trailed 5-2 early in the third period before scoring twice to get within one. The Penguins have now lost four straight games and seven of their last eight. Read more: Penguins’ rally falls short in 5-4 loss to Mammoth.

Fast start, then Utah takes over

The Penguins scored first again. Erik Karlsson’s power-play slap shot deflected off MacKenzie Weegar’s shin guard and past Sebastian Cossa just 1:11 into the game. Bryan Rust and Tommy Novak assisted on the goal.

Related: Crosby one assist from tying Bourque's single-franchise assist mark

Utah answered with two goals in the next nine minutes. Clayton Keller tied it at 6:00 with a backhand off a spinning pass from Lawson Crouse, his third goal in three games. Kevin Stenlund pushed in a rebound of a Mikhail Sergachev shot at 10:10 to give the Mammoth a 2-1 lead.

“They’re getting sustained shifts in our zone. We weren’t able to get much of a forecheck, so that’s a tough combination,” Sidney Crosby said. “You’re not going to wear teams down, and they’re going to have lots of juice to play offense.”

Utah outshot Pittsburgh 16-6 in the first period.

Utah pulls away

Rickard Rakell tied it 2-2 on the power play at 7:01 of the second period, scoring from the side of the crease off a Rust feed. It was Rakell’s first goal of the season, and the Penguins’ second power-play goal of the night.

“It’s been some tough sledding a bit on the PP,” Crosby said. “Happy to see those guys get a couple in the back of the net.”

The Mammoth took control again in the middle of the period. Turnovers fed Utah’s transition game, a problem Rakell pointed to after the game.

“I think we’ve been feeding other teams transition too much with turnovers,” Rakell said. “Simplifying things and taking the puck towards the net, I think that’s what we need more of to be successful.”

Nate Schmidt scored on a one-timer from the point through a screen at 11:44. Kailer Yamamoto tipped in a Schmidt pass at 14:40 to make it 4-2.

Utah led 25-13 in shots after two periods.

Too little, too late

Nick Schmaltz extended the lead on the power play 1:36 into the third period. He was left alone in front and scored on his own rebound for his NHL-leading fifth power-play goal.

“They won some battles in front of the net,” Arturs Silovs said. “They scored some greasy ones.”

The Penguins pushed back. Egor Chinakhov, back in the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury, took a pass from Andrei Kuzmenko, got behind Weegar and beat Cossa five-hole at 2:55. It was Chinakhov’s first goal since opening night. Spencer Stastney picked up the second assist, and it was the first point of the season for both Kuzmenko and Stastney.

Declan Carlile made it 5-4 at 14:55, burying the rebound of a Kaedan Korczak shot that Rakell had tipped on net. It was Carlile’s third goal of the season, a career high.

With Silovs pulled for an extra attacker, the Penguins nearly tied it. Ben Kindel got to a loose puck in front at 19:55, but Cossa stretched out his left pad to make the save.

Silovs made 24 saves and fell to 3-3-0. Cossa stopped 15 shots for Utah. Pittsburgh went 2-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill. Karlsson and Rakell each had a goal and an assist, and Rust added two assists.

Muse wants consistency

Head coach Dan Muse said the Penguins have to tighten up defensively, and he included himself in that.

“We have to be tighter,” Muse said. “You see bodies in the area, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re eliminating options. The details on the defensive side, we have to keep working on it.”

The Penguins allowed at least five goals in every game of the road trip, 21 in all.

“I know it sounds like a broken record, but it’s consistency,” Muse added. “I know these guys can do it. They know they can do it. We have to, as a group, be doing it now more consistently for the full game.”

The Penguins have allowed 38 goals in nine games since their season-opening shutout in Philadelphia.

Rust leaves with injury

Rust left the game at 14:59 of the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Muse had no update on his status after the game. He said the forward lines “got mixed up quite a bit” once Rust was out.

Sam Girard missed the game after he slammed into the end boards Saturday in Vegas. He took part in the morning skate and was a game-time decision. Ilya Solovyov, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, made his season debut in Girard’s place.

Up next

The Penguins return to PPG Paints Arena on Thursday to open a three-game homestand against the Florida Panthers.

Stay up to date with Disruptor Sports, your top athletic news across the nation.