Penguins' skid hits four games after loss at Utah

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost 5-4 to the Utah Mammoth on Monday night at Delta Center, closing out a four-game Western road trip without a win. Pittsburgh never led after the first period and spent the final five minutes of regulation chasing a deficit of its own making.

The Penguins fell at Chicago, at Colorado and 6-2 at Vegas on Saturday before Monday's finale in Salt Lake City, getting outscored 21-11 across the four losses. The result stretched Pittsburgh's losing streak to four straight games.

Power play scores twice

Erik Karlsson gave Pittsburgh an early lead just 71 seconds in, scoring on the power play. Clayton Keller answered for Utah six minutes later, finishing a backhand after Lawson Crouse redirected a loose puck from near the boards between the circles. Kevin Stenlund made it 2-1 Utah with a tap-in from close range with 9:50 left in the first period.

Rickard Rakell tied it at 2-2 early in the second period with a wrist shot from the left post, Pittsburgh's second power-play goal of the game. Nate Schmidt beat Arturs Silovs from the blue line to put Utah back in front. Kailer Yamamoto then tipped in a shot from the low slot to make it 4-2 by the second intermission.

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

Nick Schmaltz added a third Utah power-play goal early in the third, burying a backhand on his second chance to push the lead to 5-2.

Utah outshot Pittsburgh 29-19 and won 57.9 percent of the faceoffs, the kind of puck-possession night that turns a close game into a blowout. Sebastian Cossa made 15 saves for Utah. Arturs Silovs stopped 24 of 29 for Pittsburgh, playing from behind most of the night. The power play delivered twice, but Pittsburgh's five-on-five game did not.

Late push falls short

Egor Chinakhov scored just under three minutes into the third period, with 17:05 left on the clock. Declan Carlile beat Cossa with a wrist shot with 5:05 left, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Cossa made the biggest save of the night with four seconds remaining, stopping Ben Kindel to preserve the win.

Bryan Rust left the game with a lower-body injury before the third period and did not return. He had picked up two assists, his first of the season, in just 9 minutes 32 seconds of ice time. Pittsburgh has not said whether he will be available Thursday against Florida.

Sidney Crosby was held off the scoresheet, one night after this desk previewed his chase of Ray Bourque's record for assists with a single franchise. He remains one assist shy of that mark.

Pittsburgh hosts the Florida Panthers on Thursday to open a homestand, its first home game since the trip began. Utah moves on too, with a date at Seattle the same night.