Well, yinz. Woke up this morning, took a bite outta my Primanti's for breakfast, and it still tasted a little sour, ya know? Last night down in Carolina, the Pens scratched and clawed, but ultimately came up short against the Hurricanes, 5-4 in a shootout. It was a wild one, a real rollercoaster ride that saw us come from behind twice in the third period just to force extra time. Stankoven got 'em on the board early in the first, but Mantha tied it up before the buzzer. Rusty put us ahead on the power play in the second, looking real good with Chinakhov and Karlsson. But then the third period hit, and it felt like the ice got real slippy for a minute. Jankowski and Jarvis scored just a minute apart to take the lead, then Nikishin added another on the power play, and I swear, I thought my TV was gonna go through the wall.
But this team, they got that Pittsburgh grit, that never-say-die attitude Sid instilled in 'em all those years ago. Acciari, he gets one back with less than three minutes left, and you could feel the momentum shift. Then, with only 36 seconds on the clock, who else but Bryan Rust? Two goals on the night for him, including that absolute beauty to send it to overtime. Karlsson picked up two helpers, too, lookin' real comfortable out there. Our guys were outshot 44-28, which is a concern, but Jarry stood on his head for long stretches. The shootout, though… that’s where the wheels fell off. Blake got the winner, and we walk outta there with just one point, instead of two. Felt like we earned more, ya know?
So, what does this mean? We're still sitting second in the Metro with 79 points, and our last ten are 4-2-4, which ain't terrible. But dropping that extra point to a division rival stings, especially when we fought so hard to get back in it. Every point is crucial now as we head down the stretch. We got a couple days off to regroup, clean up some of those defensive lapses that let Carolina get so many shots, and then we're back at the Igloo on Wednesday. The mood dahntahn this morning? It's a mix of pride for the comeback, and frustration for the missed opportunity. We know this team's got it in 'em, they just gotta find a way to finish these close ones.
From dahntahn Pittsburgh — yinz know what time it is. Let's Go Pens.