Hurricanes punish Penguins for overtime foul-up

Evgeni Malkin saw his nine-game scoring streak come to an end Thursday.

But he gained something.

A lesson, by his own words.

The Pittsburgh Penguins forward took full responsibility for an ill-conceived forecheck in overtime that allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to claim a hard-fought 4-3 win at PPG Paints Arena.

As Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin took the puck behind his own net for a reload during three-on-three play, Malkin gave chase.

Slavin exploited the miscue and used the cage to his benefit, allowing it to slow down Malkin’s pursuit. From there, Slavin’s 28-year-old legs allowed him to pull away from the 36-year-old Malkin and initiate a three-on-two rush into the Penguins’ zone.

After gaining the offensive zone at the center point, Slavin offloaded the puck to Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns on the right wing. From above the right circle, Burns fed a cross-ice pass to forward Seth Jarvis, who chopped a one-touch forehand pass to the front of the crease.

Darting past Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Slavin took the puck on his backhand, flipped to his forehand and tucked a wrister past the right skate of scrambling goaltender Tristan Jarry for his second goal of the season 23 seconds into the extra frame, providing a victory for his team and a harsh refresher for Malkin.

“It’s my mistake, 100 percent,” Malkin said. “I tried to catch (Slavin) behind the net. Lose my patience a little bit. Three-on-two (rush), they played great. Just need to stay a little bit (more) focused. Maybe don’t go behind the net, stay maybe (in the) front of the net. (Tough) lesson (for) me. Next time, play better.

“It’s my mistake.”

Malkin’s coach did not disagree.

“You just can’t chase behind the net,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “If you chase behind the net, it’s an automatic three-on-two the other way. It’s an important detail, and we need more discipline in that area.”

Another area the Penguins have struggled with this season is games against the Hurricanes. Thursday’s outcome was their third loss against the Metropolitan Division rivals in as many meetings this campaign.

Previously, the Hurricanes had claimed 3-2 victories on Nov. 29 (overtime) and Dec. 18.

The final meeting of the regular season between the teams is scheduled for Jan. 14 at at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.

“It’s tough,” Malkin said. “They play one-on-one, man-on-man and just help each other. Go behind (the) net, go to (the) net. It’s (a) hard game against this team. We play three times and score almost (the same number of goals) the whole time. They play hard.”

The Penguins’ quasar-hot power play converted for the 10th consecutive game to open the scoring 17:28 into regulation via forward Sidney Crosby’s team-leading 19th goal of the season.

From the center point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang chucked a wrister towards the cage. Positioned just below the right hashmarks, Crosby re-directed the puck on net. After a save by goaltender Antti Raanta, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell whacked at the rebound to keep it loose, allowing Crosby to clean it up with a forehand shot from the right of the crease. Letang and forward Jake Guentzel had assists.

The Hurricanes needed a hiccup-quick 14 seconds to tie the game thanks to forward Martin Necas’ 14th goal. Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Hurricanes defenseman Calvin DeHaan snapped off a wrister that went wide of the cage on the near side then hit off the end boards and deflected to the right of the crease. Fending off Dumoulin, Necas played the bank like Eddie Felson and swept in a forehand shot past Jarry’s left skate. De Haan and defenseman Dylan Coughlan collected assists.

A mere 17 seconds after that, Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield’s first career goal supplied his team with its first lead. After Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi won a faceoff in the Penguins’ right circle against Malkin, Chatfield collected the puck off the right wall, surveyed the scene from the right point and cranked a slapper through a narrow avenue and past Jarry’s glove on the near side. The lone assist went to Kotkaniemi.

“They just kind of came back at us right away,” Penguins forward Teddy Blueger said. “Probably some kind of breakdown or something in coverage that kind of led to it.”

A short-handed goal late in the second period (19:15) tied the game 2-2. Lugging a puck up from the center red line, Blueger gained the offensive blue line and challenged Jarvis one-on-one. Gaining a step in the right circle, Blueger went backhand to forehand and shuffled a quick wrister on net that was rejected by Raanta’s right leg. The rebound caromed to the left circle after Kotkaniemi failed to clear it. Penguins forward Brock McGinn followed up on the play by collecting the puck and shot a wrister against the grain, beating Raanta’s glove on the far side for his 10th goal. Blueger and Dumoulin had assists.

A bold power move off the right wing by Penguins forward Bryan Rust led to a go-ahead goal at 12:55 of the third period. Corralling a loose puck in his own right circle, Rust pushed it up ice, gained the offensive zone in front of the visiting bench and surged past Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook and attacked the cage, tucking a forehand shot past the left foot of Raanta for his ninth goal. The lone assist went to defenseman Marcus Pettersson.

The Hurricanes persisted and tied the game, 3-3, at 15:34. After Blueger beat former Penguins forward Jordan Staal on a faceoff in the Penguins’ right circle, Dumoulin misplayed the puck and essentially passed it right to Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast at the top of the right circle. Fending off a check from Penguins forward Jeff Carter, Fast slipped a clever backhand pass to Coghlan above the left circle. From there, Coughlan uncorked a one-timer that missed on the near side and clunked off the end boards. Staal beat Blueger to the puck and tucked a forehand wraparound shot in on the right side of the cage past a poke check attempt by Dumoulin and Jarry’s left skate.

On the overtime goal, assists went to Jarvis and Burns.

Jarry stopped 32 of 36 shots and saw his record slip to 15-3-4.

His team’s record in games that go to overtime slipped to 2-5, drawing a sharp critique from Sullivan.

“We could be better in overtime,” Sullivan said. “That’s an important element. I don’t think our overtime performance to this point of the season has been nearly what it needs to be and we’re leaving points on the table because of it. We’ve got to get better there.”

Malkin provided no argument to that point.

“Just one mistake in overtime and they scored,” Malkin said. “A little bit tough.”

Notes:

• The Penguins scratches were forwards Josh Archibald (undisclosed injury), Ryan Poehling (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel.

• Dumoulin (122 points) surpassed forward Val Fonteyne (121) for 74th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Carter appeared in his 1,200th career game.

• Kotkaniemi recorded his 100th career point.

• Prior to the game, there was a moment of silence in recognition of former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris, who died at the age of 72 on Wednesday. Additionally, the Penguins wore decals with Harris’ No. 32 on their helmets.

• The Penguins will have four days off from all team activities - games and practices - for Christmas before gathering for a morning skate at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. prior to a road game against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.