PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It didn’t turn out to be the game-deciding play, that happened in overtime, but it was another huge mistake that cost the Pens as Toronto won 6-5 in overtime Sunday afternoon.
As Rickard Rakell called it after the game, ‘a worst-case scenario’.
Pens have the puck with less than five seconds to play on former all-star Erik Karlsson’s stick. He gathers the puck off a faceoff win and telegraphs a slow pass across the blue line, picked off by Toronto’s Matthew Knies who sprints alone down the ice and fires off a wrister over the stick side of Pens goalie Joel Blomqvist with one-tenth of a second to play.
That was preceded by a pass through the Pens defense to John Tavares for a breakaway 55 seconds earlier as Toronto went from down one to leading after two.
“We were talking about it,” Karlsson said. “I’ve played almost 1100 games, that’s never happened with that little time left, too. It was pretty much like a free play. I think we executed as fast as we could, they got a jump on it.”
“They get a breakaway and they score. It’s obviously very unfortunate.”
Karlsson described his pass as a ‘clean pass over’.
“I would like to think we wouldn’t do that,” said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan stone faced, as if still in disbelief that happened. “There are five seconds to go in the period. What are the odds they are going to get an opportunity in that time to get down the ice?
“I would like us to make better decisions in those circumstances.”
To the Pens credit, Rakell would score in the first 10 seconds of the third period to tie the game. That goal gave Rakell 501 career points tying him with former Penguin Greg Malone and others.
Pens rallied as well in the first period after a sloppy start and 2-0 deficit, scoring three goals in 3:24 to take a lead. Maple Leafs William Nylander would score a minute in as the Pens fall to 24-30-9.
The giveaways were 3-to-1 to takeaways by the Pens, 21 to 7 Sunday afternoon. Karlsson led the group with three giveaways, but five others committed multiple turnovers. Toronto won the faceoff battle (56-44) along with a +7 in blocked shots.
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Blomqvist battles
It was the 12th start in net for rookie Joel Blomqvist and yet another struggle. Blomqvist gave up six goals on 33 shots. In half of those starts, the 23-year-old gave up at least four goals, Sunday being the worst.
“It’s a game of mistakes,” Blomqvist said. “Things aren’t always going to go your way. You just need to reset and stay the course.”
He said he remains confident and even after that game, he believes his confidence will continue to grow.
“Obviously Joel is a young kid and he’s trying to find his way and establish himself in this league,” Sullivan said. “It’s a hard league. We recognize we are going to go through some ups-and-downs. He’s no different than any other young kid trying to enter the league. But he’s a very good goalie. We believe he has great potential moving forward.”
“He’s a young kid. He’s trying to find his way. We are trying to help him get there.”
Up Next
A three-game road trip at Denver, Las Vegas and Minneapolis starting Tuesday against the Avalanche.