Well, it appears that the Pittsburgh Penguins will not go undefeated in the calendar year of 2026.
Despite a late push on Saturday afternoon, the Penguins lost to the Calgary Flames, 2-1, to earn their first loss since Dec. 23 and snap their six-game win streak. Egor Chinakhov scored his second goal in a Penguins’ uniform, while Arturs Silovs made some key saves for the Penguins, stopping 23 of 25 Calgary shots on goal.
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Just like the Penguins have been doing with frequency lately, the Flames got off to a quick start in this one. Just two and a half minutes into the game, the Penguins were pressuring in the offensive zone, and defenseman Ryan Shea tried to send a cross-ice pass to his partner, Jack St. Ivany, at the offensive blue line. Unfortunately, Calgary forward Connor Zary disrupted the pass and took off for a breakaway opportunity, beating Silovs five-hole and putting the Flames up, 1-0.
The Flames got the better of the Penguins for the entirety of the first period, and they carried the 1-0 lead into the second. Nearing the halfway point of the middle frame, the Penguins were finally starting to gain some momentum, and Ben Kindel made a play to get the puck to Chinakhov in the neutral zone. Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin entered the zone on a two-on-one, and a give-and-go between the two resulted in a one-time bomb from Chinkahov in the right circle to tie the game at 1-1.
The Penguins carried much of the play for the remainder of the second period, but unfortunately, the Flames scored early in the second. Matt Coronato shot the puck through a bit of a screen after a nice move, and he put the Flames back on top.
With around eight minutes remaining in regulation, the Penguins appeared to tie the game when Tommy Novak executed a perfect wraparound and buried the puck past Calgary goaltender Devin Cooley. However, goaltender interference was called on Sidney Crosby for impeding Cooley’s ability to make the save, and the Penguins did not challenge the play.
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Here are some thoughts and takeaways from this one:
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– Dan Muse said following the game that they did not challenge the goaltender interference call on Novak’s goal because he did not think there was a high chance of the call getting overturned. I agree with him.
However, Crosby certainly didn’t agree with the call.
In fact, the Penguins’ captain was a little bit more blunt than usual when discussing the play after the game.
“I think it looks bad, but being in the play, I thought I did my best to avoid the goalie, and I got pushed into him,” Crosby said. “I mean, the explanation had something to do with being in the crease, but you’re allowed in the crease as long as you don’t impede the goalie. And I was trying to get through there and got pushed back into him.
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“He did a good job selling it. I grazed him, and he went down pretty easy. I mean, what are you going to do? That’s a hard one to challenge, and it doesn’t look great. But just being part of the play, I know I was going to get around him if I didn’t get pushed.”
It’s not often that I don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with Sid on anything. However, I’m not so sure that wouldn’t have been called back even if the call was a goal on the ice. Even if Crosby was shoved – and if Cooley embellished a bit – it kind of looked like, accidentally or not, that Crosby leaned into the contact just a bit.
In any case, I do think Muse made the right call in not challenging that. The Penguins had all the momentum, and it wasn’t worth risking a potential penalty kill late in the game.
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– For the second consecutive game, the Penguins had a less-than-inspiring start in the first period. They were sloppy, they were disjointed, they were slow, they were outshot 9-6, and they surrendered the first goal of the game for the first time since Dec. 23, which is the last time they had lost a hockey game.
Of course, there is a lot else going right for the Penguins, but when they play the league’s better teams, they’re not going to get away with slow starts. They didn’t on Saturday against one of the league’s bottom teams.
The Penguins have a pretty manageable schedule for the rest of January in terms of their competition. Only four teams of the 10 they play are currently in a playoff spot. So, they need all the points they can get, and they can’t afford to take the first period off in any of these games.
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– Penguins didn’t start much better in second period (or the third period, for that matter). But a play late in the Penguins’ penalty kill on Kevin Hayes’s hooking minor seemed to give them some semblance of life.
Rickard Rakell – who has looked the part on the PK – generated a shorthanded chance down low that Blake Lizotte nearly finished at the net-front. The Penguins killed off the rest of the penalty with ease, then about 20 seconds after the penalty expired, Kindel made that hard-working play to get the puck to Chinakhov initially and set the goal sequence in motion.
Rakell’s and Lizotte’s play was a small play, but it gave the Penguins the life they needed – at least, temporarily – to tie the game in a contest in which they were largely lifeless and sloppy.
– I’ve seen some pretty funny things happen this season across the hockey world (with the Joel Hofer “hiding” incident topping the list).
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But, man, was that Malkin roughing penalty after Chinakhov’s goal something.
The Russian connection executes a perfect give-and-go, Zary pulls up right between Malkin and Chinakhov along the boards, and Malkin just decks him for next to no reason on the way to celebrate the goal with Chinakhov, resulting in a roughing penalty for Malkin.
I mean, aside from Malkin’s signature slap shot breakaway goal – and that entire sequence – against the Philadelphia Flyers way back when, can you think of a more perfect Malkin sequence of events?
– I haven’t been impressed with the Justin Brazeau, Anthony Mantha, and whoever line in the last couple of games. Not having Tommy Novak or Evgeni Malkin centering those guys showed on Saturday. Hayes’s lack of footspeed definitely showed, and it was hard for them to generate much.
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If Rust is going to be out, I’m not really sure what to do with that line. Novak is definitely a top candidate to bump up with Crosby, and the second line really had something going on Saturday.
What I would do is consider breaking up Brazeau and Mantha until Rust returns, bump Brazeau up with Crosby, and put Novak back as the third-line center. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Chinakhov get some reps with Crosby, either, since his skillset would probably complement Crosby well. And you could have Malkin, Kindel, and Brazeau on a line.
But I’m intrigued by that second line right now and want to see how Chinakhov continues to look playing with Malkin and Kindel.
– Speaking of Kindel, I thought he played an outstanding game on Saturday.
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Yes, there are still a few hiccups, as there are with any young player. But he just does so many little things right, and that was on full display against the Flames. He made the play happen in the neutral zone to set the scene for Chinakhov’s goal. On a second-period power play, he made two or three plays where he won a puck battle or forced a turnover to keep the play alive down low. He made a few nice passes as well.
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This kid is just so impressive, and – as mentioned previously – he’s only going to get more productive playing with Malkin and Chinakhov.
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– It’s actually pretty crazy how Silovs tends to get better the later it is in a game.
He could have made a breakaway save on Zary, but that one was basically 50-50. He could have made a save on Coronato, but there was a partial screen, and the Penguins’ defense gave him way too much space there. But he kept this team in the game late once again, and he made some saves in the first period, too, to do the same thing.
Silovs tends to be at his best when the stakes are raised. I thought he played pretty well Saturday, even if his team didn’t get the result.
– Next up for the Penguins is the Boston Bruins, who just squashed the New York Rangers, 10-2, on Saturday. Both teams will be playing on the second of a back-to-back.
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The Bruins have won two straight and have been a bit better in recent games. The Penguins need to get rolling early in this one.
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