'Careless' 1st period dooms Penguins in Winnipeg

Despite 29 saves on 31 shots by goaltender Tristan Jarry, the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the host Winnipeg Jets, 2-1, on Saturday at Canada Life Centre.

Saturday’s result came less than 24 hours after a 3-2 road loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

“We didn’t establish the game we wanted to play,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said to the Canadian Press in Winnipeg. “We gave up I don’t know how many odd-man rushes in the first period. We were careless with the puck. That’s not a game that’s conducive to winning.”

To amplify their woes, fourth-line forward Jansen Harkins — whom the Penguins claimed from the Jets via waivers in October — did not finish Saturday’s contest. His final shift of the game came at 14 minutes, 26 seconds of the second period. There was no word on his status.

The Jets struck first 10:20 into regulation when forward Mark Scheifele scored his 15th goal of the season off a turnover by Penguins forward Jake Guentzel.

Pulling up on the right half-wall of the offensive zone, Guentzel forced an ill-conceived pass to the left point intended for Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves. Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers was stationed in front of Graves and accepted Guentzel’s charity, then initiated a two-on-one rush with Scheifele against Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson. After gaining the Penguins’ zone on the right wing, Ehlers dished a cross-ice pass to the left circle, where Scheifele sizzled a one-timer by Jarry’s blocker on the near side. Ehlers had the only assist.

Winnipeg goal!

Scored by Mark Scheifele with 09:40 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Nikolaj Ehlers.

Winnipeg: 1
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsWPG #GoJetsGo #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/p4jYhaLWwx

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) February 11, 2024

Jets forward Nino Niederreiter scored his 13th goal at 15:39 of the first period.

From the left point of the offensive zone, Jets defenseman Logan Stanley slid a pass to the opposite point for defensive partner Nate Schmidt, who clapped a one-timer that went wide to the near side of the cage. The puck clunked off the end boards and deflected to the right of the crease, where Niederreiter beat Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel and chopped a backhander over Jarry’s left skate. Schmidt and Stanley recorded assists.

Winnipeg goal!

Scored by Nino Niederreiter with 04:21 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Nate Schmidt and Logan Stanley.

Winnipeg: 2
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsWPG #GoJetsGo #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/2o1iTqbNZk

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) February 11, 2024

The Penguins got on the scoreboard at 14:08 of the second period via forward Bryan Rust’s 13th goal.

Settling a loose puck at the left point of the offensive zone, Graves fed the puck to Karlsson on the opposite point. Surveying his options for a moment, Karlsson snapped a forehand shot toward the net. Burrowing his way past Jets forward Morgan Barron in the left circle, Rust managed to get the backhand side of his stick blade on the puck and deflected the puck by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck’s glove on the near side. Karlsson and Graves claimed assists.

Trusty Rusty with the perfect stick placement ???? pic.twitter.com/9hEGuGISJ2

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 11, 2024

Jarry’s record dipped to 14-15-4.

“Obviously, we didn’t start the game the way we needed to,” Karlsson said to the Canadian Press. “The first period cost us today. It’s tough when you only score one goal. (Jarry) played great for us.”

Notes:

• The Penguins were 0 for 3 on the power play and were limited to four shots with the man advantage.

• Penguins rookie defenseman John Ludvig appeared in his first game since he suffered an undisclosed injury Dec. 31. Primarily deployed on the third pairing with Ruhwedel, Ludvig logged 11:39 of ice time on 17 shifts and had one shot on two attempts.

• Penguins forward Noel Acciari (concussion) and defenseman P.O Joseph (healthy) were scratched. Acciari was injured as a result of a hit by Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon during Tuesday’s game. On Saturday, Dillon served the second game of his three-game suspension for the infraction.

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby had a nine-game scoring streak snapped.

• Jarry lost to the Jets for the first time in his career. Entering the game, he had a 5-0-0 mark against the Jets.

• Jets forward Kyle Connor, who played at the junior level with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League, appeared in his 500th career game.