The Pittsburgh Penguins understand they have one heck of a challenge at the moment in trying to secure a playoff berth while their two superstar forwards, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, are sidelined for various reasons.
And in one part of the game, they managed to remain resolute through that considerable absence Saturday and maintained a consistent level they’ve established throughout the bulk of the season.
The shootout.
Proving they can remain perfectly squalid without Crosby and Malkin beyond the confines of 65 minutes, the Penguins dropped a 4-3 shootout loss to the rival Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena.
They fell to 1-9 in shootouts on the season — by far a franchise-worst record — and extended a modest losing streak to three games (0-2-1).
Flyers forward Trevor Zegras scored the lone shootout goal against goaltender Stuart Skinner, while Penguins forwards Anthony Mantha, Rickard Rakell and Egor Chinakhov could not beat Dan Vladar in the Flyers’ net.
“The record is what it is,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said of his team’s shootout mark. “Collectively, it hasn’t been good enough. I’ll take some blame on that, too.”
Skinner stopped 12 of 15 shots in regulation and overtime, then 1 of 2 shootout attempts, as his record slipped to 19-13-7.
The Penguins skated for a sixth consecutive game without Crosby as he recovered from a suspected right-leg injury suffered last month during the Olympics, while Malkin served the first contest of a five-game suspension issued by the NHL for slashing Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the head Thursday.
“Obviously missing two absolutely incredible players,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “So that doesn’t help. But we have very capable guys in here, guys that need to and will and can and that have stepped up for us.”
Penguins forward Tommy Novak scored the opening goal, his 13th of the campaign, during a power-play sequence exactly three minutes into regulation.
Accepting a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins rookie forward Ville Koivunen sauntered his way up the boards and offloaded the puck to the left of the cage. From there, Penguins forward Justin Brazeau one-touched a pass to the high slot for Novak, who swept in a one-timer past Vladar’s glove. Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae appeared to inadvertently screen Vladar on the sequence. Brazeau and Koivunen had assists.
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The Flyers needed only 54 seconds to respond via forward Owen Tippett’s 20th goal.
From off his own right half-wall, Penguins’ rookie forward Avery Hayes made a careless backhand touch pass intended for Koivunen in the slot, but the puck wound up sliding to the blue line, where Flyers defenseman Cam York alertly kept it onside, then flipped a backhand pass toward the cage. Zegras caught the puck with his left glove, dropped it to the ice and dished it to the upper left hashmark where an onrushing Tippett swiped a one-timer past Skinner’s blocker on the near side. Zegras and York earmarked assists.
A passing masterclass. ????????#PHIvsPIT | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/x82gVQdkaX
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 7, 2026
Both squads exchanged offensive salvos throughout the second period, starting with Rakell’s 12th goal at the 3:38 mark.
After Penguins defenseman Sam Girard forced a turnover in front of the home penalty box, Rust took possession just outside the Philadelphia blue line, gained the offensive zone at the center point and offloaded a backhand pass to the right wing for Chinakhov. Delaying the play a bit, Chinakhov drew in Flyers forward Sean Couturier and slid the puck to an approaching Rakell, who ripped a wrister past Vladar’s blocker. Chinakhov and Rust registered assists.
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Flyers rookie forward Alex Bump, making his NHL debut after being recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, scored on his first shot a mere 68 seconds later.
Following a defensive zone turnover by Penguins rookie forward Ben Kindel, Flyers forward Nikita Grebenkin accepted the charity, shielded the puck from Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton, then slipped a backhand pass to the upper right hashmark for Bump, who snapped a far-side wrister past Skinner’s blocker. Flyers forward Christian Dvorak drove the net and created a screen along with Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea on the sequence. Grebenkin generated the lone assist.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 8, 2026
All of 59 seconds past that, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson struck with his sixth goal.
Rakell cleanly won a draw in Philadelphia’s right circle against Zegras and dragged the puck backwards. Darting off the near half-wall, Chinkakov claimed possession above the circle and slid a pass to the far point where Karlsson clapped a one-timer, beating Vladar’s blocker on the near side. Chinakhov and Rakell recorded assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 8, 2026
Flyers forward Denver Barkey capped the regulation scoring with his third goal at 10:03 of the second frame.
From his own right corner, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fed an outlet pass to the blue line for Koivunen, who was thumped off the puck by Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale. Barkey gathered the loose puck on the left wing boards and fed it to the center point for defenseman Noah Cates, who then moved it along to the right circle. Faking a shot for a moment, Flyers forward Matvei Michkov brought his stick down and fed the puck to the slot where Barkey surged past Kindel and deposited a backhander by the left skate of a scrambling Skinner. Michkov and Cates claimed assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 8, 2026
Following a tepid third period in which the teams combined for eight shots (four for each team), the Penguins had a marvelous opportunity in overtime after Vladar took an interference penalty against Karlsson at the 2:51 mark.
Despite working with the expanse of a four-on-three power-play opportunity, the Penguins could only generate two shots, each by Rakell.
“We couldn’t get the looks that we were looking for,” Karlsson said. “It’s unfortunate. It was a great opportunity for us to put the game away, and we didn’t do it today.”
And as has been the case for most of the season, the Penguins didn’t do it in the shootout.
“Everybody really wants to score in the shootout,” said Rakell, who put his attempt off the right post. “It might be one of the instances now where we’re gripping the stick a little bit too tight and not really doing what we wanted to.”
Notes:
• Hayes recorded a fighting major at 18:40 of the first period after tussling with Drysdale.
After Hayes slammed York into Philadelphia’s end boards with a hit, Drysdale challenged him to a fight. Drysdale recorded a roughing minor on the sequence as well, leading to a power-play sequence for the Penguins.
• The Penguins shuffled their top three lines as Chinakhov was teamed with Rakell and Rust on the top line, while Novak was placed at center on the second line with Mantha and Brazeau.
A new “kid” line of Koivunen, Kindel and Hayes accounted for the third-line duties while the trusted fourth line — AKA the “LAD Line” of Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari and Connor Dewar — remained intact.
• Penguins forward Elmer Soderblom was a healthy scratch as he traveled to Pittsburgh a day after he was acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings.
• In addition to Soderblom, Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Ilya Solovyov, as well as forward Kevin Hayes, were healthy scratches.
• Karlsson (149) surpassed forward Dave Hannan (148) for 63rd place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
• Dewar appeared in his 300th career game.
• York’s assist was his 100th career point.
• Forward Luke Glendening made his Flyers debut after being claimed off waivers from the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
