BOSTON — The script has largely been the same for the Penguins through the early part of the season. Fall behind. Lose more players to injury. Rally. Celebrate.
Down two goals and yet another left-handed defenseman Tuesday night in Boston, the story once again unfolded in a similar manner. But this time, after second-line wingers Jason Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen netted two goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation, the Penguins opted for the alternate ending.
During a 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins at TD Garden, Boston’s Craig Smith tallied the game-winning goal, capitalizing on a John Marino turnover in the neutral zone to end the Penguins’ four-game winning streak.
One point, in some ways, was a fitting consolation for the effort from a team that continues to show resilience but also keeps putting itself in early holes.
“We’ve been trailing a lot of games now,” Kapanen said. “It’s always a good quality for a team to come back in a game and at least get that one point. But for us, we’ve just got to be ready right off the hop.”
The Penguins (4-2-1) fell into the two-goal deficit in large part due to a losing effort on special teams. They went 0-for-6 with the man advantage, allowed a short-handed goal and took a pair of penalties that led to a 5-on-3 power play goal.
Fixing the power play was one of the main goals this offseason when the club brought back assistant coach Todd Reirden. After clicking on 5-of-18 chances for a solid 27.8% conversation rate through the first six games, they failed to generate momentum on Tuesday even though they were on the power play for about nine of the first 40 minutes. It nearly cost them a chance at points.
“They’re a stingy PK,” said Zucker, who is part of the second unit. “They’ve got some really skilled guys that pressure the puck quite a bit. They’ve got some big D men with a lot of reach. It’s tough to make plays.”
Boston assistant captain Brad Marchand had his fingerprints all over the special-teams battle. He used his speed to score a short-handed goal early, darting inside when Kris Letang tried to cut him off at the circle. He used his slyness to draw a penalty that Brandon Tanev argued profusely. Then, he used his skill to zip a cross-crease pass to Nick Ritchie for an easy power-play tap-in goal, making it 2-0 in the second period.
Coming out to start the third period, the Penguins were handed more adversity when they were forced to play without their best left-handed defenseman, Brian Dumoulin. He stayed down in front of the net at the end of the second period and then skated gingerly into the locker room under his own power. Coach Mike Sullivan said after the game that Dumoulin is being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
It continued what’s been a painful trend for the Penguins, who were already without lefties Marcus Pettersson, Mike Matheson and Juuso Riikola. When Dumoulin exited the game, they were missing all four of their left-handed blueliners from the opening-night roster.
“It’s tough when you go down that many players at the same position,” Sullivan said. “It’s a test of your depth. I think the guys are stepping up.”
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask came within 10 minutes of a shutout before the Penguins rallied. Zucker, who has been snake bitten during the young season, scored just after the sixth power play expired. Rookie Drew O’Connor, making his NHL debut, earned the secondary assist on the goal.
Zucker had been briefly demoted at points during the last couple games into the bottom six. Scoring his first goal of the season is one encouraging sign, but he said it’s about more than just finding the back of the net.
“I don’t think I was playing the right way [before Tuesday night],“ Zucker said. ”I don’t think I was playing a good game. I wasn’t really skating and playing the way I can.”
Moments later, Kapanen had a chance to tie the score, using his speed to create a breakaway but was stopped by Rask. Then, with just 3:16 left in regulation, Kapanen took a pass in the neutral zone from Malkin, burned past the Boston defense and beat Rask on the far side.
The Penguins had their chances in overtime. Evgeni Malkin, who got stronger as the game went on, had a hand in both of them. He hit the pipe on one breakaway. Then, on a 3-on-0, he and Letang got cute and somehow failed to get a shot off.
That left the door open for Smith, who played give-and-go with David Krejci on a 2-on-0 before beating Tristan Jarry on the glove side with just 11 seconds left in overtime.
The Penguins will continue their two-game series in Boston on Thursday at 7 p.m.
