Ducks’ 6-game winning streak ends with shutout loss to Penguins
John Gibson makes 34 saves against his hometown team for the Ducks, who hadn’t lost since Oct. 22, but Radim Zohorna scores in the first period and the Penguins avenge a frustrating loss from eight days ago, 2-0
The Ducks’ Ross Johnston, center, attempts a backhand shot but it goes wide past Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Magnus Hellberg during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Ducks’ Mason McTavish, center, gets in a scuffle with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Noel Acciari, left, and Marcus Pettersson, right, during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Ducks and the Penguins pile up near the goal as the Ducks try to prevent the Pittsburgh Penguins from scoring during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ducks center Mason McTavish, right, and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves vie for the puck during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Ducks center Mason McTavish, right, and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves vie for the puck during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The puck gets past Ducks goaltender John Gibson for a goal by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Radim Zohorna during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Radim Zohorna, left, celebrates after scoring a goal against the Ducks during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Radim Sohorna, center, celebrates after scoring a goal during the first period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Erik Karlsson (65), Drew O’Connor (10), Marcus Pettersson (28) and Lars Eller celebrate a goal by Radim Sohorna (63) during the first period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Urho Vaakanainen, left, and Ross Johnston defend against the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Reilly Smith during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang controls the puck during the first period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Ducks goaltender John Gibson makes a save during the first period of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Radim Sohorna, left, attempts to skate past the Ducks’ Cam Fowler during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Troy Terry, front, controls the puck past the defense of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang, right, during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ryan Graves shoots the puck during the first period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
From left, Ducks right wing Frank Vatrano, center Mason McTavish, and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson chase down the puck during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Ducks’ Cam Fowler, left, and goaltender John Gibson defend against Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Radim Sohorna, left, attempts to skate past the Ducks’ Cam Fowler during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Troy Terry, left, and goaltender John Gibson, right, defend against a shot on goal by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Vinnie Himostroza during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Lars Eller, left, controls the puck as the Ducks’ Pavel Mintyukov defends during the first period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Noel Acciari (55) battles for the puck with the Ducks’ Alex Killorn, left, and Ilya Lyubushkin during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ducks goaltender John Gibson makes a save as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin, right, lurks for a rebound during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Ducks’ Brett Leason, right, takes a shot as Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, left, defends his net during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry looks on during a pause in play in the second period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Ryan Strome, right, controls the puck past the defense of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Marcus Pettersson during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Ross Johnston, right, skates past the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ryan Graves during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Mason McTavish, right, shoots the puck past the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin watches his shot attempt during the second period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Ducks goaltender John Gibson makes a save during the second period of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby stands during the second period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Ducks right wing Jakob Silfverberg, top, collides with Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Referee Trevor Hanson escorts Pittsburgh Penguins starting goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) off the ice after he was injured during a collision in the second period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, left, leaves the ice after suffering a cut to his face during the second period of their game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, bottom, and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby vie for the puck during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, center, prepares to face off against Ducks center Sam Carrick during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, left, shoots past Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, left, reacts after making contact with Ducks center Mason McTavish, who lost his stick, during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Ducks center Trevor Zegras, right, shoots in front of Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Ducks’ Trevor Zegras, left, talks with Mason McTavish during the second period of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Brett Leason, left, chases a loose puck alongside the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Erik Karlsson during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Trevor Zegras, left, collides with Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Trevor Zegras, left, collides with Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Troy Terry, left, battles the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ryan Shea for a loose puck during the second period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Ducks center Ryan Strome, left, shoots as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea defends during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Ducks’ Ross Johnston, center, attempts a backhand shot but it goes wide past Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Magnus Hellberg during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Ducks’ Ross Johnston, right, lunges for a loose puck as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Marcus Pettersson, left, and goaltender Magnus Hellberg defend their net during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Ducks center Trevor Zegras, right, controls the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson defends during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Ducks’ Ilya Lyubushkin (46) and Pavel Mintyukov (34) defend against the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Rickard Rakell, far right, during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Ducks right wing Frank Vatrano, left, and Pittsburgh Penguins center Lars Eller get into an altercation during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Ducks’ Urho Vaakanainen, right, pushes the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Rickard Rakell during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, right, checks the Ducks’ Urho Vaakanainen during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jake Guentzel, left, lunges at a loose puck as Ducks goaltender John Gibson defends his net during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jake Guentzel, left, lunges at a loose puck as Ducks goaltender John Gibson defends his net during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Ross Johnston skates during the third period of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Ducks’ Radko Gudas, left, and goaltender John Gibson, right, defend against a shot by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Rickard Rakell during the third period on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Marcus Pettersson, right, congratulates Sidney Crosby after his empty-net goal during the final minute of their 2-0 victory over the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, left, celebrates with the bench after scoring an empty-net goal with 19.5 seconds left in the third period of their 2-0 victory over the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Ducks’ Ilya Lyubushkin, left, consoles goaltender John Gibson after their 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rickard Rakell, a former Duck, stands during the national anthem before a game against the Ducks on Tuesday night at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
ANAHEIM — A star-studded matchup on paper produced a low-wattage game on the ice as the Pittsburgh Penguins crept past the Ducks, 2-0, on Tuesday night at Honda Center to snap a six-game winning streak that was the team’s longest in two years.
Despite the Ducks boasting one of the NHL’s leading goal-scorers (Frank Vatrano) and one of its stars of the week (Mason McTavish) and the Penguins having a core of three-time champions (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang) as well as the reigning Norris Trophy winner (Erik Karlsson), this one lacked allure with the only scoring coming on a fluky goal early and an empty-netter in the dying embers.
The two teams met eight days earlier in Pittsburgh in a game that produced seven goals, including Mason McTavish’s short-handed game-winner with 13 seconds left. Little of that energy carried over, though with 3:21 to play a goalmouth scramble gave way to a 10-man skirmish. The final horn was a death knell for the Ducks’ six-game surge.
“You get those runs and you just feel like you’ve got an extra attacker with you, you’ve got that confidence and the momentum. Yeah, it’s a bummer,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “But the guys have worked hard and I’m always proud of their compete, we just came up short tonight.”
Pittsburgh native John Gibson was a leviathan in goal, but he was saddled with a loss after making 34 saves as the Ducks were shut out for the first time this season. McTavish saw his seven-game point streak come to an end.
Radim Zohorna scored a greasy goal for Pittsburgh in the first period and Sidney Crosby found the empty net with 19.5 seconds to play. Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry (21 saves) exited the game with a cut near his right eye after a collision with Ducks forward Adam Henrique, but he was the goalie of record before being replaced by Magnus Hellberg, and the two combined to deny 32 shots.
Pittsburgh appeared to seal the Ducks’ fate with Noel Acciari’s empty-net goal, but it was nullified on review because Jake Guentzel had entered the offensive zone offside. That gave the Ducks, who had already engineered five third-period comebacks in 11 games this season, a final opportunity to tie the score but instead it was Crosby lobbing the puck into a vacated cage from center ice.
“A lot of these wins have been come-from-behind wins, which is great, it shows that we’re always in the fight,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “But, at some point, we need to start flipping that script so that we’re the ones protecting the lead.”
With 20 minutes to produce a goal against a backup netminder (actually a third-stringer since Alex Nedeljkovic is on injured reserve), the Ducks pressed hard in the third period. Rookie Leo Carlsson was among the players with strong chances late in both the second and third periods, as was Troy Terry, who struck the post with a lively shot attempt in the third.
“I kept telling them, ‘Look at the crowd. It’s Tuesday night, there are probably 14,000 people in here,’ and they were just begging for something good to happen,” Cronin said.
The second period was mostly well-structured from both sides, with a wild sequence in the middle of the period. Ilya Lyubushkin tripped Reilly Smith but was unable to prevent an odd-man rush that left Evgeni Malkin with a golden chance at a one-timer. Gibson snared it with his glove and Malkin tripped Jackson LaCombe 15 seconds later to negate Pittsburgh’s power play.
“He was unbelievable, he kept us in it for sure,” Ducks center Sam Carrick said of Gibson.
The Penguins had another man-advantage opportunity, for a full two minutes, but the Ducks killed the penalty thanks to a lunging save by Gibson after Brett Leason had earned a partial breakaway shorthanded only to miss the net. In the opposing crease, Jarry was forced out after Henrique’s posterior collided with his head, causing it to snap back and producing the cut that required attention in addition to any additional medical evaluation. Later, Gibson stoned Guentzel with a kick save to counter his wraparound attempt.
Gibson’s acrobatics in the middle 20 minutes carried over from the opening 20, when the Penguins’ efforts were intermittent but menacing as a third of their shots were high-danger scoring chances.
Around the 7:30 mark of the first period, Gibson denied Vinny Hinestroza on a diving bid from the doorstep, sending the Ducks the other way for their strongest early opportunity.
That save ended up delaying the inevitable, however, as Pittsburgh opened the scoring when Zohorna’s backhanded centering attempt hit Gibson’s leg, among other things, and banked into the net.
“They got a bounce, that’s a lucky break, but I think part of it is creating your own bounces too from time to time, and we didn’t do that tonight,” Fowler said.
The Penguins led 12:34 into the frame and nearly got another goal off a swift redirection by Crosby in the final two minutes of a period in which they were out-shot 13-6.
“We usually come out fast at home, and, tonight, it was an awkward game, you could feel it,” Cronin said. “There wasn’t a lot of rhythm to the game, there wasn’t a lot of scoring chances either.
“We had like 12 shots but maybe three or four of them were quality, they had like six and maybe four were quality. It was just kind of a strange game, it was like two boxers just jabbing each other.”
