In Pittsburgh, Mason McTavish hit for a double on Monday, including a shorthanded goal with 13 seconds left on the game clock for a 4-3 win for the Anaheim Ducks over the Penguins.
“Probably didn’t deserve to win that game, but sometimes that’s just the way hockey kind of goes,” said McTavish, who has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak. “I was sitting in the box on the 5-on-3 there. I was just praying to God that we’d get the kills. Obviously, it was a great job.”
The win was the fourth straight for Anaheim.
John Gibson got the start for the Ducks, but left the ice with an apparent upper-body injury the late minutes of the opening frame.
Lukas Dostal made 32 saves in relief.
“I talked to [Gibson] and he said I might need to go in,” Dostal said. “I don’t like to see that because I really like John. He’s a good mentor for me. I was sad to see him [get injured], but it’s just the circumstances and I just have to deal with it.”
Erik Karlsson staked the Pens to a 1-0 lead with three minutes gone in the first period.
“When you look at the way the games are being played here the last handful of games, there’s been significant amounts of time we’ve been the better team,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Right now, we’re finding ways to lose. We have to find ways to win.
“Do we have to make some changes? We might have to.”
Four and half minutes later Jakob Silfverberg tied it, 1-1.
Frank Vatrano put the Ducks ahead, 2-1 at 11:51 of the middle frame.
Anaheim was whistled for two penalties late in the second, and Evgeni Malkin connected with five seconds left in the period for a 2-2 tie.
“Between wins and losses, it’s one mistake,” Malkin said. “We should play better. The team fights all night. We can’t play like this.”
The two penalties were assessed to Ducks head coach Greg Cronin, who was hit with two bench penalties, delay of game from the unsuccessful challenge and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Cronin was given a game misconduct and ejected at 19:25.
“Our guys are awesome,” Cronin said. “I came in and I apologized. I said, ‘Hey, quite frankly, I could’ve cost us two points there.’ I told them, I said, ‘It’s on me.’ I gave them the feedback on what we needed to do to win.
“We didn’t play that well but we ended up winning. It was a goofy ending. That was probably one for the ages.”
In the third, Radim Zohorna scored with 85 seconds gone in the period for a 3-2 lead to the Pens.
McTavish tied it with his first of two in the frame at 3:01.
Tristan Jarry made 23 saves in the loss.
“Obviously, when you’re losing games, that’s the hardest part,” Jarry said. “You never want to lose. You play the game to win. I don’t think I’ve been giving the guys enough of a chance to win every night.”
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