PITTSBURGH — All season, the Penguins have shooed away prosperity like a pesky house fly.
They have given up a slew of goals not long after getting one themselves. They have coughed up more third-period leads than any other team in the Mike Sullivan era. They have followed up rare winning streaks with extended losing skids. They often failed to bring their best when facing inferior opponents.
Their lack of composure in key moments is especially stunning when you consider that 14 of the 20 players they had in uniform Tuesday are 28 or older, with nine of them having at least one Stanley Cup championship in their career.
And yet, even with a mountain of evidence suggesting they were quite capable of blowing Tuesday’s game against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks at PPG Paints Arena, it was still hard to fathom that they let this opportunity slip away.
After the Penguins finally beat Petr Mrazek early in the third period, tying the score, they allowed two goals just 26 seconds apart in a crippling 5-2 defeat.
The stunning loss clinched a postseason spot for the Florida Panthers and left the Penguins one point behind the New York Islanders in the race for the second and final wild-card spot in the East. Both teams have one game left.
The regular-season finale is Thursday against the Blue Jackets in Columbus. The Blue Jackets will finish with the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. If the Islanders win or lose after regulation, the Penguins will be eliminated because the Islanders hold the tiebreaker. Only a loss in regulation keeps their hopes alive.
If the Penguins squeak into the playoffs, they will have to play Boston in the first round. The Bruins just clinched the NHL record for victories in a season.
Mrazek, a journeyman playing for his third team in as many seasons, entered Tuesday with just nine wins in 38 games played and an .892 save percentage. But he gave the Blackhawks, skating on short rest Tuesday, a chance.
He had 25 saves through two periods. It felt like all 25 were on Sidney Crosby. The captain kept firing puck after puck after puck into one of Mrazek’s pads.
But the Penguins finally broke through 5:28 into the third, on a power-play goal by Evgeni Malkin that tied it, 1-1, and put PPG Paints Arena into a frenzy.
Their power play, up and down this season, was shut out in their first three chances Tuesday, including one earlier in the period. But Rickard Rakell set up Malkin with a tremendous pass, faking a slap shot from atop the right circle then firing a pass through three penalty killers to Malkin, who steered it home.
Malkin let out a roar as the red light flickered on then jumped into the arms of Jake Guentzel. It was the latest big goal by Malkin in his resurgent campaign.
But it was all for naught. Two grimy goals by the Blackhawks soon followed.
Buddy Robinson made it 2-1 with 9:38 left. The Blackhawks dumped it in. And after Danton Heinen got out-muscled on the boards, the puck rimmed all the way around to the left point. Caleb Jones threw it toward the goal. His attempt hit Robinson, who collected the puck and chipped it past Tristan Jarry’s glove.
Andreas Athanasiou got the back-breaker on the next shift. He banked a shot off of Jarry as the goalie scrambled back into his net. The puck stayed out but sat in the blue paint. Athanasiou whacked the rebound off of Jarry and in.
Kris Letang and Jason Zucker both stood still, staring upward in utter disbelief.
For the Penguins, this season has been littered with letdowns like that. And in their biggest game of the season, a virtual must-win, they melted down again.
The Penguins were rolling early on, getting contributions from all four lines. Crosby sprawled to swat a scoring chance off the stick of Athanasiou. Malkin and his line buzzed around Mrazek. Alex Nylander earned applause when he bowled over a Blackhawk. The fourth line generated a good bit of zone time.
Crosby in particular had a pair of glorious opportunities, including a breakaway four minutes in, but he just couldn’t left the puck over the left pad of Mrazek.
The longer they went without scoring, the more palpable the tension became.
Then Connor Murphy’s wrist shot from the point went through a thicket of legs and beat Jarry, giving the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead 8:04 into the second period.
The Penguins threatened on a power play early in the period, penning the visitors in their end for the full two minutes. But Mrazek kept Crosby and company out. He then stuffed Josh Archibald on a short-handed 2-on-1 rush two shifts before Murphy scored, ratcheting up the pressure on the Penguins even more.
Mrazek finished with 38 saves to put the Penguins on the brink of elimination.
ICE CHIPS
— Dmitry Kulikov, who missed 14 games with a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup against the Blackhawks. The defenseman, whom the Penguins acquired on trade deadline day, skated on the third pair alongside Jan Rutta.
— Nick Bonino was not cleared to return to the lineup Tuesday. Drew O’Connor is also still sidelined. So Alex Nylander was again recalled from the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. He was a third-liner Tuesday.
— Marcus Pettersson skated again Tuesday morning and is eligible to be activated from long-term injured reserve before the season finale in Columbus.
— Mark Friedman and Chad Ruhwedel were the healthy scratches Tuesday.
COMING UP
The Penguins will practice Wednesday in Cranberry before flying to Columbus.
