The Penguins Look Old, and the Losses Keep Coming

The Penguins look old, and Monday’s 5–4 loss in Utah did little to shake that impression. Pittsburgh was outshot 29–19 and fell behind 5–2 early in the third period before making the finish interesting.

Pittsburgh brought a bad stretch into this one: six losses in its previous seven games, a 1–5–1 record. Its only win in that span came in a shootout against Dallas. The Penguins have now lost four straight and seven of their last eight.

Sidney Crosby entered the night at minus-6 through nine games, with three goals and three assists. He finished this one without a point and with one shot on goal.

Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell supplied Pittsburgh’s first two goals on the power play. Utah scored four times at even strength before Nick Schmaltz’s power-play goal made it 5–2. Egor Chinakhov and Declan Carlile answered in the third, but the Penguins could not finish the comeback.