The Pittsburgh Penguins still might have been dragging a bit Friday night from their two-game trip to Stockholm last weekend for the NHL’s Global Series.
The result: a 5-0 home loss to the Minnesota Wild.
There will be no rest for the weary, as the Penguins are scheduled to face the visiting Seattle Kraken on Saturday night in the second half of a back-to-back set.
“Obviously, it wasn’t our best effort right from the start,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “We ended up on the wrong foot early in the first (period) and we couldn’t find a way to get ourselves out of it.
“I think everybody in here understands that (Friday) wasn’t good enough to have a chance to win a hockey game, and we know that the only positive is that we don’t have much time to dwell on it.”
Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Rookie Sergei Murashov, making just his third appearance, stopped 10 of 11 shots the rest of the way.
Murashov sounded like a veteran in a postgame interview.
“We have to stay honest. It’s the NHL and one thing I learned pretty quickly is you don’t have much time to think (about) what’s wrong,” he said. “You just have to reset and be ready for the next night.”
Penguins coach Dan Muse wasn’t happy with the performance.
“It was a bit of everything (Friday),” he said. “It was a combination. Yeah, I think pretty close to everything being off that could be, was.”
The Kraken rallied from a two-goal deficit entering the third period to win 3-2 at Chicago on Thursday, leveling their record on a four-game trip at 1-1-0.
Jaden Schwartz scored the winner on the power play at 17:42 after Tye Kartye and Shane Wright tallied earlier in the final period. Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour snapped a five-game pointless drought with two assists, and goalie Joey Daccord made 22 saves.
“In the first 40 minutes, I thought we were slow to do things,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “Give our players credit. They got the message, took charge and got the job done.”
Oscar Fisker Molgaard, the Kraken’s second-round pick in 2023, was recalled from Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League and made his NHL debut. The 20-year-old forward got an assist on Kartye’s goal that sparked Seattle’s comeback.
Fisker Molgaard’s mother, father and brother flew from Copenhagen, Denmark, and arrived just in time to see his rookie lap in warmups.
“It was pretty surreal,” he said. “It’s a childhood dream coming true. Been waiting for this moment my whole life.”
Montour’s shot from the blue line deflected off Fisker Molgaard and Kartye as they both went to the front of the net.
“It was kind of nice to get it started that way,” Kartye said. “We didn’t have too many other opportunities. When you get a fortunate bounce like that, you’ve got to capitalize the rest of the game, and we were able to do that.”
