Penguins Squander Lead, Fall To Hurricanes In Overtime, 4-3

The Pittsburgh Penguins headed to Raleigh, NC, on Sunday in hopes of snapping a two-game losing streak and earning their second consecutive win against the Metropolitan Division.

Unfortunately, a familiar foe was too much for them yet again.

The Penguins fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime, 4-3, after squandering a 2-0 lead and coming back to tie the game in the third period. Kevin Hayes and Michael Bunting put Pittsburgh on the board early, while Erik Karlsson netted the tying goal in the third period.

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 28 of 31 shots, and the Penguins had another second period to forget – which has been something of a pattern recently.

They weren’t particularly happy with their effort after coming out strong in the first period.

“We just got outcompeted,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “They raised their level, and we didn’t push back.”

Here are some notes and observations from Sunday’s game:

– The Hurricanes are just a terrible, terrible matchup for the Penguins.

They have now lost nine of their last 11 games against the Canes, and they have been been outscored, 34-23 – five of which have gone to overtime and seven of which have been decided by one goal.

Carolina typically takes over for large stretches of games, and they skate circles around the Penguins in the offensive zone. The Penguins aren’t fast enough to keep up with their forecheck, and the Canes’ stingy defense gives them fits.

I’m sure they’re not upset that this is the last time they’ll see these guys in the regular season.

– Erik Karlsson had a standout game for the Penguins on both sides of the ice.

Defensively, he was the second-leading defenseman behind only Marcus Pettersson in penalty kill time with 3:09. He also blocked two shots and had a few nice one-on-one defensive reads. So far, he has proven to be a revelation for the Penguins on that PK unit.

And offensively? He was doing Erik Karlsson things. He made Bunting’s goal happen with a gorgeous play to elude Carolina’s Jordan…