Penguins blow late lead to the Flames, fall in a shootout for third straight loss

CALGARY, Alberta — The Penguins’ defensive struggles continued Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome as they coughed up a pair of leads in the third period.

The Penguins went on to lose, 4-3, in a shootout against the Calgary Flames. It was the third straight loss for the Penguins, who have yet to allow three goals or fewer.

Noel Acciari put the Penguins in front, 3-2, with 6:22 left in regulation. It was his first goal of the year. The fourth line was grinding down low when Acciari grabbed a rebound, stepped inside and chipped the puck by Flames goalie Dustin Wolf.

The lead didn’t last long. The Penguins let Nazem Kadri score with 43 seconds left. Acciari blocked the initial shot but Kadri beat Alex Nedeljkovic on the rebound.

Justin Kirkland beat Nedeljkovic in the sixth round of the shootout to put the Flames in front, then Wolf stopped Evgeni Malkin to send Calgary fans home happy.

The Penguins on Sunday started their four-game Western Canada trip with a 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, bleeding shots and scoring chances yet again. Afterward, Sidney Crosby and others acknowledged their defense needs to be better. Entering this game, they ranked 31st in high-danger chances against, per Sportlogiq.

Their defensive woes carried into the first period of Tuesday’s game. It took the Flames less than two minutes to fire five shots on Nedeljkovic. They grabbed the lead when Rasmus Andersson scored on a broken play from just 13 feet out.

The visitors settled down as the period went on and started to find their game.

The Penguins pulled even when Bryan Rust scored a power-play goal during the second period. They have at least one of those in three of their last four games.

The play was nothing fancy — and the coaching staff wants that kind of simplicity on the man advantage. Rust chipped it in, three Penguins battled on the boards to receive it then Crosby emerged from the scrum with the puck. He slipped to Rust in the slot, who wristed a shot that hit the right post behind Wolf and went in.

The Penguins doubled up the Flames in shot attempts in the second period, which featured a lot of special teams. The third period was a seesaw of momentum, with Pittsburgh’s defense unable to simply shut it down and hang onto a pair of leads.

Rickard Rakell scored 2:32 into the third to give the Penguins their first lead. As Nedeljkovic slapped his stick to let them know their power play was over, Rakell threw the puck into the crease. It hit Wolf then trickled through the goalie’s legs.

About five minutes later, MacKenzie Weegar ripped a shot from the point that sneaked between Nedeljkovic’s shoulder and the crossbar, tying the score at 2-2.

After Acciari restored the lead, Kadri scored late to send the game to a shootout.

Nedeljkovic was solid Tuesday. He weathered that early storm by the Flames. He kept the score tied at 1-1 by stuffing Connor Zary after a ghastly giveaway by Matt Grzelcyk. Later in the second, he sprawled to stop a short-handed Kevin Bahl.

Ice chips

• Tristan Jarry was again a healthy scratch Tuesday as Joel Blomqvist backed up Nedeljkovic. Coach Mike Sullivan explained Monday that he opted to hold Jarry out of the lineup the last two games to allow for him to push harder in off-ice workouts with goalie coach Andy Chiodo. Jarry was pulled in his last start on Oct. 16.

• Sullivan switched up his top two defensive pairs going into Tuesday’s game. Kris Letang was next to Marcus Pettersson. Erik Karlsson partnered with Grzelcyk.

• Michael Bunting got back into the lineup after he was a healthy scratch Sunday. He got banged up at the end of the second period and went down the tunnel early and in some pain. But the winger was OK for the beginning of the third period.

• Valtteri Puustinen and Ryan Shea were Pittsburgh’s healthy scratches Tuesday.

• Pittsburgh went 4 for 4 on the penalty kill against a quality Calgary power play.