PITTSBURGH — The Penguins pumped in three more power-play goals Tuesday night, making it nine in their last five games. And Bryan Rust stayed red-hot by burying another two goals. But they still lost, 4-3, to the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena.
Washington’s Dmitri Orlov got the winner with 43 seconds left in overtime.
Pittsburgh has now lost four games in a row, three of them after regulation.
The Penguins certainly did not limp into the All-Star break. After looking lethargic at times in their previous three games, they got up for Tuesday’s tilt against the rival Capitals. They scored twice in the first period, dominated the second and did just fine in the third, when there were long stretches without whistles.
Before the game, Mike Sullivan spoke at length about the longstanding rivalry.
“Playing in the same division, the amount of times we’ve played against each other, I think it heightens the rivalry but it also elevates the respect,” he said.
The first half of the game was dominated by special teams, with all five goals scored with somebody in the box. Referees Garrett Rank and Kevin Pollock were shown on the Jumbotron more frequently than Iceburgh in the first 30 minutes.
The Penguins handed the Capitals an early lead with an unfathomable turnover by Kris Letang. With the Penguins on the power play, Letang made a blind pass at the offensive blue line that was easily picked off by the Capitals’ Nic Dowd.
Evgeni Malkin bailed him out by answering right back after Dowd’s breakaway goal. He got a pass from Sidney Crosby and ripped a shot past Vitek Vanecek.
That was the first goal in an opening period for the Penguins during their six-game homestand, which wrapped up Tuesday with them posting a 2-1-3 mark.
Five minutes later, the Penguins got another power-play goal at the end of a chaotic sequence. Tom Wilson crushed Malkin at the blue line but kept the puck in. Jake Guentzel got it to Crosby, who chopped it across to Rust. He slid a shot under the sprawling, stick-less Ilya Samsonov to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Samsonov had just replaced the injured Vanecek inside the Capitals crease.
With three power-play goals the last two games, Rust has a team-high seven.
“Over time, the group has kind of gotten a certain chemistry. For me, the first three or four years here, I did a lot of watching them and how they do it,” he said Sunday. “Now, being on that unit and being there for a little while now, everyone’s just reading off each other, trying to move around, create some motion.”
Orlov got a power-play goal for the visitors to make it 2-2 after one period. But Rust scored another power-play goal 4:44 into the second period. After Crosby’s bid for career goal No. 499 hit the post, Rust nudged the puck over the line.
The Penguins have 13 power-play goals in a dozen games since Malkin joined the lineup Jan. 11. That ranks among the league leaders during that stretch.
Zooming in on the last five games, they are 9 for 17 on the man advantage.
“They’re dynamic,” Sullivan said of his surging power play over the weekend.
Late in the second, someone finally scored at 5-on-5. That was Daniel Sprong, the former Penguins prospect. He skated right around Chad Ruhwedel and then beat Tristan Jarry. Despite the Penguins outshooting the Capitals, 23-7, in that period, the score was tied up again heading into the second intermission.
Samsonov stopped 43 of 45 shots in regulation to get the game to overtime.
Tuesday’s game was the latest matchup between Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, two generational supernovas who burst into the NHL stratosphere 17 years ago. Before the game, Sullivan said those two future Hall of Famers are why Penguins-Capitals is one of the NHL’s “premier” rivalries over the past two decades.
“These guys are still elite players and they have elite hockey in their game,” he said. “They’re showing it through their performance night in and night out.”
Tuesday was the 61st head-to-head matchup between Crosby and Ovechkin in the regular season. The Penguins were 36-22-2 in those games entering this one, and Crosby had 82 points compared to 60 for Ovechkin, the Russian sniper.
Crosby picked up a pair of assists Tuesday while leading the power play. Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet but almost scored a spectacular goal when he danced around Letang in the second period. Jarry shrugged off Ovechkin’s shot.
The All-Star break begins now for the Penguins, who other than Jarry and Guentzel, get a welcome few days off before the season resumes Feb. 8 in Boston.
