Brazeau’s Heroics Aren't Enough as Pens Suffer Identical OT Heartbreak

 

For the second straight day, the Pittsburgh Penguins delivered a dominant opening act only to have the script flipped in the third period, leading to a crushing overtime defeat. Building a comfortable 3-0 lead over the Utah Mammoth through two strong frames, the Penguins looked set to snap their skid behind a stellar performance from goaltender Sergei Murashov, who made 32 saves in a strong outing, and a stellar performance from Justin Brazeau, who scored twice, including a critical late tally, along with markers from Ben Kindel and Bryan Rust. But the trauma of yesterday's loss to the Sharks resurfaced instantly in the third, as the Mammoth, fueled by a two-goal effort from Michael Carcone and goals from Nate Schmidt and Sean Durzi, exploded for four unanswered goals. Despite Brazeau's late, spectacular clutch goal to force overtime, Dylan Guenther finished the job for Utah in the extra session, securing the Mammoth's 5-4 win. The loss seals a brutal home weekend for Pittsburgh, extending the team's losing streak to five games with two identical overtime collapses.

Utah Mammoth Lineup:

Keller - Schmaltz - Peterka

Crouse - Hayton - Guenther

Carcone - McBain - But

O'Brien - Stenlund - Yamamoto

Sergachev - Durzi

Schmidt - Marino

Cole - Maatta

Vejmelka

Vanecek

Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:

Rakell - Crosby - Rust

McGroarty - Kindel - Brazeau

Koivunen - Novak - Mantha

Dewar - Hayes - Acciari

Wotherspoon - Karlsson

Shea - Letang

Graves - Clifton

Murashov

Silovs

Only 48 seconds into the opening period, Justin Brazeau gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead when he picked up the puck after Ben Kindel fired, the puck hitting off Rutger McGroarty's stick and to Brazeau, who attempted a spinning backhand pass to McGroarty above the crease, but it went in off Nick Schmaltz past Karel Vejmelka. Bryan Rust made it 2-0 for his 10th goal of the season later on in the first with 4:39 on the clock when he chipped in a loose puck in front after Michael Carcone's pass hit off Kevin Stenlund for Rust to pick up and find the back of the net. In his past three games, Rust has collected six points: three goals and three assists.

Ben Kindel extended Pittsburgh's lead to 3-0 on a breakaway with a wrist shot at 14:20 of the second period, scoring the eighth goal of his rookie season.

Early into the third, Nate Schmidt found the back of the net to give Utah their first goal of the game when he scored on the rebound of a shot by Nick Schmaltz with a wrist shot from the left side of the net. Following his own rebound to pull the Mammoth within 3-2, Carcone's shot off the side of the net bounced in off Sergei Murashov's back at 18:38. Sean Durzi tied it up 3-3 on his first goal of the season, putting a wrister in past Murashov from the right circle through traffic that had been upheld when Pittsburgh challenged for goaltender interference. On the ensuing power play, Carcone fired again when he took a pass from Barrett Hayton, and from the right circle, he scored on a wrist shot for his sixth goal of the season and second of the game to give Utah its first lead of the game, 4-3. Brazeau struck again to tie it back up 4-4, forcing overtime by deflecting a shot from Erik Karlsson past Vejmelka with 5:54 left in regulation.

Dylan Guenther struck from the high slot, scoring the game-winner on a wrist shot past Murashov for the 4-3 final with his 15th goal of the season. In his past four games, he's scored five goals for Utah.

Notes:

- Ben Kindel recorded a goal and picked up two assists. Rutger McGroarty has two points in his past two games: one goal and one assist.

- The Penguins are 14-8-9, and have led in the third period in four of five straight losses (0-1-4).

- Sidney Crosby (1,721) is two points away from tying/passing Mario Lemieux's (1,723) record for most points in franchise history. Lemieux has held the record since 1989.

- Karel Vejmelka made a total of 12 saves for Utah.

- The Mammoth is 16-15-3, and after losing three straight, they have now won two in a row.

- The Mammoth have earned their first three-goal comeback victory in franchise history, while also joining both the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs as the third team this season to record a three-goal, third-period comeback win.