BUFFALO, N.Y. — It seemed like the Penguins may have finally kicked their habit of periodic fits of futility when they had a responsible start Wednesday, an opening 30 minutes or so when they played a smart style, regularly closing gaps on Sabres skaters and denying passing lanes.
The possibility of snapping a five-game losing skid was reinforced when Jake Guentzel potted a breakaway goal just 8 seconds into the third period to give the Penguins a two-goal lead, but much like what has ailed this team of late, the advantage disappeared fast, replaced by similar frustration.
Leaning on a young and hungry roster that's not exactly lacking on skill, the Sabres barreled back to score three times in the next 7:13 to leave KeyBank Center with a 6-3 victory, the sixth loss in a row for the Penguins and one that surely has them reeling.
The frustration was palpable when Sabres right wing Kyle Okposo hit an empty net from a tough angle. It finalized another third-period disappearing act from the Penguins, who are left with more questions than answers given how things have gone.
Eight seconds into the third, different story. Faceoff win. Sublime stretch pass from Kris Letang up the middle to Guentzel, springing the winger for a breakaway. Terrific goal, but it wouldn't hold. The Sabres came roaring back.
After Casey DeSmith took a tripping penalty, which didn't appear to sit well with Pittsburgh's bench, center Tage Thompson blasted a one-timer from the left circle. It continued a trend for the Penguins penalty kill, a bad one, where that unit entered the game snuffing out just 70.6% of opponent chances through 10 games.
While Rasmus Dahlin's feed to Thompson was excellent, it had nothing on the damage done by defenseman Owen Power, whose nifty shot fake and pass created a wide-open goal for right wing Victor Olofsson, whose top-shelf finish at 6:29 tied the game at 3.
This followed a second period where the Penguins opened by looking like they were intent on locking things down.
After a sequence early in the second period where the Penguins’ fourth line over-passed its way to a squandered opportunity, Ryan Poehling and Josh Archibald ensured that didn’t happen when the latter scored to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead at 5:50 of the middle frame.
Similar to the Penguins’ first goal, Archibald’s third of the season came courtesy of a terrific two-on-one pass from Poehling, who benefitted from a nifty chip play along the boards by Brock McGinn.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, the final six or seven minutes featured some of the poor play that cost them Tuesday against Boston — and the Penguins paid the price during an extended possession for Buffalo late in the frame.
With Brian Dumoulin and Jeff Petry trapped and tired, Sabres left wing JJ Peterka converted a wrister from atop the right circle through traffic to trim the Penguins’ lead to 2-1 at 18:51.
Pittsburgh was lucky to escape with only that goal, as right wing Rasmus Asplund fumbled the puck on a short-handed breakaway, a miscue that could’ve easily tied the game and given the Sabres a bunch of additional momentum.
The Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead after a first period that seemed solid at the time. Jason Zucker’s goal at 6:28 of the period should certainly make some highlight reels, if for nothing other than his Jaromir Jagr-style celebration after finishing a one-time pass from Evgeni Malkin.
ICE CHIPS
— Archibald’s second-period tally gave him goals in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 14-18, 2020, when he was with the Edmonton Oilers.
— Odd play in the second period, when DeSmith got tangled up with Asplund. Buffalo fans thought DeSmith tripped Asplund. Their counterparts thought Asplund took a run at DeSmith. Weird all around. Nothing called.
— Alert defensive play from Pierre-Olivier Joseph later in the second, when he swatted a puck out of mid-air to prevent an odd-man rush. Plenty of frustrations for the Penguins, but Joseph has shown improvement.
— General manager Ron Hextall said on his weekly radio show on 105.9 The X that the Penguins are “hopeful” Teddy Blueger (upper-body) will make his season debut on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken at PPG Paints Arena. Blueger has been making strides in his recovery and will eligible to come off Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) by that point.
— Jeff Carter (upper-body) missed Wednesday’s game and remains day-to-day. Kris Letang (illness) was a game-time decision, took warmup and played.
STAT N’ AT
6 — The only other time the Penguins lost six consecutive games under coach Mike Sullivan was Feb. 20-29, 2020.
COMING UP
The Penguins are off Thursday before returning to practice on Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
