The Penguins and the Dallas Stars locked up in a defensive battle last night at PPG Paints Arena, and the Stars prevailed in a shootout, 2-1.
Dallas scored with 9.7 seconds left in the first period as they pressured the Penguins with a flurry of rushes. Michael Raffi lifted a shot over the glove hand of Tristan Jarry from the right wing circle.
The Penguins tied it, 1-1 in the second period on a John Marino rebound off a one-timer by Brock McGinn that Stars goalie Braden Holtby kicked out. Marino got a wrist shot through on Holtby’s stick side.
After a scoreless third period and overtime, Dallas scored twice in the shootout on goals by Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov while the Penguins could only get a goal by Jeff Carter. Kris Letang and Jake Guentzel were turned away by Holtby.
The game featured no special teams play, with the only penalties called being a pair of coincidental minors for roughing in the third period. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan says it was just tight defense all night long.
Tristan Jarry stopped 28 of 29 shots in regulation for the Penguins. Sullivan says he can tell when his young goaltender is on his game.
Jarry was sharply criticized for his poor performance in the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. He appreciated it when the fans started chanting his name last night after a big save in the second period.
John Marino paired with Marcus Pettersson again last night. He says the defense was tight for both teams and with the Pens missing offensive talents like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust, that’s the way they’ll have to play.
The Penguins’ 14-year, 633-game streak of sellouts ended last night, with attendance at PPG Paints Arena at 16,440. The arena’s capacity is 18,187. The streak began on Valentine’s Day, 2007 with a 5-4 win over the Blackhawks at Mellon Arena. The final game of the streak was a 5-2 win over the Blackhawks on Saturday.
Team President and CEO David Morehouse blamed the pandemic, saying it’s been “the elephant in the room” across the sports world. Morehouse said that with the streak ending, perhaps Penguins fans will begin to realize that there are tickets to sell for every game. A certain amount of seats are held for walkup sales before every Penguins home game.
The Pens will get some off time for a few days before their next game. They host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
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