The 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins never, ever make it easy.
Even when they come out of gate strong – as they did against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday – a handful of things have not gone their way lately. Another goaltender interference call (which we’ll get to shortly) eludes them. A few unfavorable bounces that resulted in goals against. Another shootout, where the Penguins were 1-10 going into this one.
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But, it should come as no surprise at this point that these Penguins found a way.
On the back of two goals by defenseman Erik Karlsson – who has been on an absolute tear – the Penguins tied the game in the third period to force overtime and beat the Jets, 5-4, in the shootout. Pittsburgh held two leads in this game but lost both of them, yet they found a way – as they often have this season – to answer the bell and earn a crucial two points in what is just about as tight a playoff race as you’ll ever see in the Eastern Conference.
Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell scored in the shootout for the Penguins to seal the win, and goaltender Arturs Silovs – who came into this one with a .435 save percentage (10 for 23) in shootouts this season – stopped both Winnipeg shots to give Rakell the opportunity to end it.
And, boy, does getting that shootout monkey off their back feel pretty good for this team.
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“Oh, it feels awesome,” Rakell said. “Obviously, going into a shootout, it’s been on top of everyone’s head that it hasn’t gone great. But, we kind of worked on some shootouts yesterday in practice and just said that we were just going to try to turn the page and try to go out there with confidence. That’s what we did.”
The Penguins did come out swinging in this one, as they earned two early goals. Just a minute and six seconds into regulation, Evgeni Malkin fed linemate Egor Chinkahov, who was breaking toward the slot in the offensive zone, and Chinakhov worked his way around a couple of Jets and got a quick, deceptive shot off to beat netminder Connor Hellebuyck for his 14th goal of the season and the 100th point of his NHL career.
Then, just 56 seconds later, the Penguins’ first line was breaking into the offensive zone on the rush, and Bryan Rust found Rickard Rakell – who was crashing the net – in the low-slot area for redirection goal to put the Penguins up to an early lead, 2-0.
But, then, things got a bit hairy. Less than two minutes later, there was a scramble play at the Penguins’ net-front after Silovs made an initial save, and Jets’ center Morgan Barron went to play the puck in an attempt to shoot it on net. He ended up hip-checking Karlsson into Silovs in the process, knocking both Karlsson and Silovs into the post and squeaking the puck into the net amidst the chaos.
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The Penguins challenged for goaltender interference – per Rule 69.1 – and were, once again, unsuccessful, as the goal stood. The Jets got some momentum in the latter part of the period afterward, and they carried it into the second.
And, six minutes into a generally poor middle frame, the Penguins were on the power play. A Karlsson shot bounced up in the air after hitting traffic on the way in, and it ended up on a silver platter at the left point for the Jets to have a two-on-one. Adam Lowry gave the puck to Cole Koepke, who made a nice move to beat Silovs and tie the game at 2-2.
Things were starting to fall apart for the Penguins. But, lucky for them, the Erik Karlsson show resumed its regularly scheduled programming.
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With a little less than five minutes to go in the period, Karlsson gave the Penguins back the lead to cap off a beautiful passing play by the Penguins’ second line in the offensive zone with a rocket from the right wall for his 10th of the season. So the Penguins were able to carry the lead into the third period, where things got a bit wild again.
Jets’ defenseman put a seeing-eye shot from the right point past Silovs four minutes into the third to tie the game at 3-3, and the Jets appeared to pull ahead a few minutes later when Mark Scheifele put a top-shelf snipe past Silovs blocker-side. However, the goal was called back for a high stick on the puck by Alex Iafallo after a challenge by Pittsburgh, and the score remained 3-3 – at least, momentarily.
But Jets’ forward Brad Lambert scored a few minutes after that on a shot from the slot that grazed Penguins’ defenseman Sam Girard on its way in, and they actually did manage to take the 4-3 lead. That is, until Karlsson worked his magic again.
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On an attempt by the Jets to break into the offensive zone, Girard forced a turnover and got the puck to Crosby, who sent it cross-ice to Bryan Rust breaking into the offensive zone down the right side. Rust left a drop pass for a trailing Karlsson, who gathered the biscuit, picked his spot, and sniped another one past Hellebuyck for his 11th of the season and his NHL-leading 19th point in the last 12 games to knot the game back up at 4-4.
The Penguins had another overtime power play that they failed to convert on, and when things got to the shootut, Silovs shut the door, and Crosby and Rakell took care of business.
Pittsburgh is now three points ahead of the New York Islanders and the Columbus Blue Jackets, both of whom play Saturday evening. Every point is a huge one at this time of year, so there was no better time for the Penguins to exorcise their shootout demons and earn the two points.
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And this scrappy, never-quit mentality that was once again evident in this game has served the Penguins all season long, even becoming part of their identity.
“That pretty much probably sums it up,” Rust said. “We are scrappy. Finding a lot of ways to get points, get wins, do whatever we can to continue to keep our spot in the standings. And that’s been a trademark of this team, is that it may not be the prettiest sometimes, but we’re never out of the fight. We never give up.”
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Here are some observations and takeaways from this wild one:
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– So, let’s start with that goaltender interference call.
My initial thought was that the correct call was made on the goaltender interference challenge this time around. And, here’s why.
Yes, Rule 69.1 clearly states – as detailed in the direct rule interpretation handout given out to those of us in the media suite – that “If a defending player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by an attacking player so as to cause the defending player to come into contact with his own goalkeeper, such contact shall be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, and if necessary a penalty assessed to the attacking player and if a goal is scored it would be disallowed.”
Looking at this rule, that’s exactly what happened. However, the one caveat to me – and the caveat that likely caused the “gray area” for interpretation – is that Bannon is trying to make a play on the puck. If Bannon was not attempting to make a play on the puck, and if Karlsson – who does have the “right of way” in this situation, technically – doesn’t try to make a play or a block there, the contact never happens.
So, one could argue that the contact is largely incidental, and it’s probably why the interference wasn’t called. That said – given some of the other things that have been called this season and the fact that what occurred is straight out of the rule book – I think that’s got to get called back.
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And, suffice to say, Penguins’ head coach Dan Muse agrees – and is, noticeably, a bit fed up at this point, as the Penguins are 0-for-8 on goalie interference challenges this season.
“The GMs had their meetings recently,” Muse said. “And, [Kyle Dubas] was down there, and Kyle came back, and, obviously, there’s things that come up during those meetings that he wants to inform me on, and we discuss. And one of them was goalie interference, which was, obviously, a topic there. And the instructions to me from Kyle were, ‘We want to go by the book.’
“And so, it comes up again now – shortly after – and I felt, we felt, that one was by-the-book in the sense that their player pushes ‘Karl’ into ‘Arty.’ So, the feel is, for me, after just recently talking to Kyle about this identical [play] by-the-book, that that was by-the-book. That’s the rule. And that is the rule. Their player pushes our player into our goalie, that’s goalie interference. So, that’s why I challenged.”
Can’t really blame him on this one. We even got sheets printed in the media suite with the rule highlighted to show why Muse challenged it. Not a great look for the league.
– Honestly, getting this win in the shootout is a really big deal for the Penguins. Contrary to popular belief, this team actually dedicates a fair amount of time to shootouts at the end of practices, and it’s nice to see their hard work rewarded.
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Silovs was excellent in practice Friday, and he got the job done Saturday. And Crosby and Rakell – who had a combined two goals between them in the shootout this season – were able to get that monkey off their backs, too.
There was a weight lifted in the room. And you could tell.
“I know if I score, it’s over,” a noticeably relieved Rakell said. “So, I can just go out there. If I don’t score, we get another chance. That’s what we needed at that point. For me, it was a win-win situation.”
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– That play by Girard on Karlsson’s second goal was outstanding. Just a simple little poke check on Scheifele made that entire play happen, as the Penguins took it back quickly the other way.
I thought he and Kris Letang were mostly fine Saturday. I know it’s been a bit of a rough ride for Letang especially, and Girard was playing in his first game since Mar. 8 after a stint on injured reserve. We’ll see if they can continue to build and actually develop some chemistry, as that would be a massive development for the Penguins.
– Aside from banking another two points, something under-the-radar that I love about Chinakhov’s game is that he never overextends shifts. He always changes at the right time, he never has an empty tank, and he’s smart about his shift management in a general sense.
The shot is the main attraction for Chinkahov. But, man, is he a cerebral hockey player, too.
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– Finally, we’ve got to talk about Karlsson again.
I’m pretty much writing poetry about Karlsson after every single game at this point. But, he’s impossible to ignore. What he’s doing right now is nothing short of incredible, and he’s quite literally willing this team to wins.
He scored the game-tying goal against the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday in a two-goal effort. He follows that up with another two-goal effort in this one and, yet, another tying goal. As well as a go-ahead goal earlier in the game. And that’s not even accounting for all the things he’s doing outside of scoring, as he’s making big defensive plays on a near-nightly basis and could have far more points than he has currently given the degree to which he’s driving offense.
Karlsson has a staggering 19 points in his last 12 games, which is the best mark in the NHL since Feb. 28. That includes Connor McDavid. That includes Nikita Kucherov, who is on some kind of run. Same with Marty Necas, who has been a key part of the attack for the Colorado Avalanche.
Mar 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) celebrates his second goal of the game against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
I’m just going to say it: I’ve been watching a lot of hockey games this month. I’ve been keeping an eye on a lot of individual performances. And I think Erik Karlsson has been the best player in the National Hockey League during the month of March. He’s elevating this team and willing them to wins, and he’s a defenseman, not a forward, putting up this level of production.
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Karlsson’s been the Penguins’ best player this season, and that’s no knock on Crosby. He’s simply been that outstanding, and his teammates have certainly noticed.
“There’s not too many guys in the league who can do what he does, especially when he’s at the top of his game,” Rust said. “He’s been a catalyst for us.”
Rakell gave a glowing endorsement, too.
“He’s doing so much for us,” Rakell said. “And it’s not just scoring goals. It’s the way he breaks out pucks and keeping a close cap on their entries and just dictating the game. Then, obviously, everybody knows his game. When he’s confident, he’s one of the best defensemen in our league still. He shows that he can do it all.”
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