If you’re a fan of entertaining hockey, last night’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins was exactly what you wanted.
A back-and-forth game that saw three lead changes ended regulation with a Ducks goal with 0.1 seconds left on the clock.
After a review, the goal was allowed to stand, sending the game into a thrilling, full five minutes of overtime. However, if you’re a Penguins fan, this is where you felt it was over.
As soon as the Ducks were able to force the game to a shootout, you could feel the loss coming. Write it off, walk away, the Penguins are only getting one point out of this.
Sure enough, the Penguins went 0-for-3 in attempts, while Anaheim scored on their first shot and didn’t even need their third.
In the micro, one tenth of a second cost the Penguins an extra point, and with the Eastern Conference standings, that could loom large. It’s part of a larger, more concerning pattern the Penguins have showed at times this season: an inability to close out games.
However, setting aside that troubling issue for now, the Penguins still have opportunities after these blown leads to recoup their extra points. Instead, they just can’t get it done.
The Penguins have now lost nine straight shootouts, dating back to last season. They have not won in a shootout since November 16th, 2024, a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Ironically, the Penguins had blown a three-goal lead in that game, which allowed it to get to extra time.
Since then, it’s been constant misery in the post-overtime ritual for the Penguins. During this now nine-game losing streak in the shootout, the Penguins are shooting a combined 5-for-28, an incredibly weak 17.8%.
They haven’t even scored a single goal in the shootout in a month and a half. Their last goal in the shootout came off the stick of Evgeni Malkin, who put one past Samuel Ersson against Philadelphia back on October 28th.
For as bad as the team’s offensive numbers are during this streak, however, their goaltending performance is just as bad.
Dating back to the start of this run, Penguins goaltending is a combined 11-of-28 in saves, only stopping the puck 39.2% of the time. Their best performing goaltender of the trio is gone. Alex Nedeljkovic was the only netminder to save more than half the shots he faced, at 4-of-7 (57.1%).
The two goaltenders currently on the roster are fairing much worse. Tristan Jarry is 5-of-11 (45.5%) in saves, but the real problem is Arturs Silovs, who is 2-of-10 (20%) in saves. Shootouts have been an incredible weakness for Silovs, and although his numbers have slipped in November, the shootout performance has clouded a relatively solid season for him so far.
Unfortunately for both him and the team, it’s been Silovs who has been in net for a majority of the team’s shootouts this season.
It’s been one of the NHL’s weirder trends, and has transcended coaches. It was a problem under Mike Sullivan, it’s still a problem under Dan Muse.
Lately, however, the problems have only worsened. Shootout losses that used to be competitive, back-and-forth affairs are now quick, decisive losses. No shootout the Penguins have been involved in this season has gone longer than the three required rounds.
Not only are the Penguins losing these games, they aren’t even giving themselves an extra chance to try and sneak away with an extra point. Such was the case Tuesday night, where Anaheim only had to shoot twice before victory.
To Muse’s credit, he did change up some of the shooting lineup for the Penguins.
Tommy Novak, who is now on a four-game point streak, was the first shooter up for Pittsburgh, but he was stopped by Anaheim’s Ville Husso. Ville Koivunen took the third and final attempt for the Penguins, but he too was bested as the Ducks claimed the game.
But those changes didn’t make enough of a difference.
Usually, shootouts don’t generate this level of discussion within any hockey town, unless it’s a debate for whether it should continue as a staple of the NHL’s way to end longer games. However, for a team that’s 0-5 in shootouts less than 30 games into the season, it’s become a cloud that hovers over this team.
So, how do Muse and the Penguins fix this issue?
The ghosts of Erik Christensen or Jussi Jokinen aren’t coming to save the Penguins, but it’s time we explore any and all options. Let’s get crazy. Maybe if we try and throw everything at the wall, we can find something that sticks.
For starters, Muse needs to continue to explore new shooters. Just because it didn’t work against Anaheim, doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right way to replace it. Bryan Rust is a terrific forward, but he’s been terrible in the shootout during this run.
Rust is 1-for-7 in shootout attempts during this run. He hasn’t put one in the net in his last four tries. He didn’t shoot last night against Anaheim, and it should probably stay that way.
Here’s where we have a tougher conversation, though. Sidney Crosby has been just as bad in the shootouts. The 38-year-old captain is defying time and age in his 21st year in the NHL, with a team-leading 18 goals and 31 points. He’s been phenomenal, just like he always is.
However, if there is one weakness in his game over the last year or two, it’s the shootout. During this streak, Crosby is 1-for-8,
Now, trying to wrap your head around not having Crosby out there in what is essentially a skills competition is hard to do. He’s been a staple of Penguin shootouts for, well, forever.
He’s sixth all-time in shootout goals and has a career shootout percentage of 37.9%. He’s shot in every game during this streak except the game in Philadelphia, where both he and Trevor Zegras were given misconducts before the game ended, and therefore ineligible.
But the numbers don’t lie. Crosby has not been able to put “the biscuit in the basket,” if I may borrow a phrase from Phil Bourque. His approach to each shootout hasn’t changed much, and goaltenders have gotten stronger at challenging him.
At what point does Muse decide to just overhaul the entire lineup and try a whole new trio? And if he does, who does he deploy?
Well, the Penguins don’t have a ton of tacticians who they could throw out there in these situations.
However, the Penguins now have to pivot to other options.
Some of the obvious names to give more attempts to are currently unavailable. Evgeni Malkin, who was placed on Injured Reserve yesterday, joins Rickard Rakell in the longer injury department. Both forwards would be pretty easy decisions to try and get some more shots for.
Now that Justin Brazeau is back in the lineup, do the Penguins give someone like him a shot? Most of the free agent signing’s six goals haven’t come in breakaway form, but Brazeau has shown a lot more skill with the puck on his stick than was expected from him.
How about Anthony Mantha? He doesn’t have a ton of recent shootout performance, but he’s been a steady top-six guy for the Penguins most of this season. He’s got a decent shot.
From there, you kind of get to galaxy braining things a little bit. Do you run Novak back out there? Do you try a third or fourth line guy like Connor Dewar? Do you run some defenseman like Kris Letang or Erik Karlsson out there? Personally, I wouldn’t, but at this point, we should put any ideas on the table.
Here’s my pick, though: an all-rookies lineup.
Now that Rutger McGroarty has returned from injury is back in the NHL, the Penguins have put him alongside Koivunen on a line centered by Ben Kindel. Those three young guns, all under 23 years old, have been super fun to watch in their limited action this season. Is it time to try them out in a shootout?
Koivunen is 0-for-2 in his career, which isn’t super encouraging. But that’s still a smaller sample size than sveral other Penguin shooters. McGroarty and Kindel have never taken an NHL shootout attempt before, but maybe that works to their benefit. There’s no book on how to beat them one-on-one, and they can skate down the ice carefree. At the very least, it’s the most fun idea.
There’s also the goaltending situation.
Silovs has played admirably for most of this season, but he has been nothing short of abysmal in the shootout. On just about every shot he faces in this style of play, he gets turned into a pretzel as the puck gets past him. You can beat him in a variety of ways coming down the ice.
It just isn’t working for him in the shootout, and the work they spend on it in practice hasn’t paid off yet. So, should the Penguins consider changing up the goaltenders after overtime ends? Sure, Jarry doesn’t have much better numbers in the shootout, but he has a better track record than Silovs.
The bigger concern is bringing a goaltender in cold just to face at least three one-on-one chances. Is that ideal? Absolutely not. Listen, I like Silovs a lot, but when you watch opposing skaters bully him repeatedly like this, one starts to wonder if perhaps a fresh, albeit cold, goalie is a better option.
Look, I know what you’re thinking. Taking Crosby out of the shootout? Bringing in a goaltender cold? Those are some insane ideas. But you know what else is insane? Losing nine shootouts in a row! Something’s gotta give, guys.
At the end of the day, the Penguins just need one. It’s becoming this huge mental block for the Penguins, and they look like they feel the pressure of this lengthy losing streak in one-on-one play. Somehow, someway, they need that spark to finally break the spell that has been cast on them.
Maybe there’s an idea out there that’s so crazy, it just might work.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
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