By Brian Metzer
The Penguins and Utah Mammoth played one of the most entertaining games of the season last night at PPG Paints Arena. The storylines were plenty but the biggest might have been the explosion by Pittsburgh’s own, Logan Cooley.
The 22-year-old forward – a product of Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins: Learn to Play Program – exploded with a hat-trick that included the game-tying goal with less than a second left on the clock.
Cooley showed off all the skills that made him the 3rd overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft throughout. He was the fastest player on the ice, he was firing pucks from all over, flashed his passing prowess, and stealthily managed to hide in plain sight before sliding into position for the tying goal.
As impressive as the tying goal was, it was the third such instance this season in which the Penguins have watched a lead evaporate in the waning moments and the trend is unsettling.
The Penguins have played 13 games and have already given up three 6-on-5 goals. Surprisingly, those goals hadn’t cost them points until Cooley and company beat them in Overtime Thursday but it’s still something that you don’t want to happen so often.
While the Penguins have showed an ability to score goals this season and have been getting solid goaltending, their biggest issues tend to involve decision making in the defensive zone, giveaways, and an inability to win faceoffs – specifically in big moments.
All those issues have been hallmarks of all three 6-on-5 goals against.
A conversation that Paul Steigerwald and I had during PenguinsLive Postgame sparked me to look for commonalities in the scenarios that resulted in these goals. Here is a breakdown – the who, what, where and why – of each.
October 3, 2026
Penguins 6 – Montreal Canadiens 5 – FINAL Overtime
The Penguins had a 5-4 lead with 44 seconds remaining in regulation. Sadly, they were up by two goals but yielded one to Chris Krieder at the 18:52 mark of the third period. Even with that, they were still in position to kill off the final moments and walk away with two points.
Who did the Penguins have on the ice: Sidney Crosby, Connor Dewar, Nick Robertson, Kaedan Korczak, and Samuel Girard.
They lost the faceoff – Crosby was beaten by Phillip Daneault
Seven seconds after losing the draw, Nick Suzuki fed a pass through the crease to Ivan Demidov. Game tied.
October 10, 2026
Penguins 2 – Dallas Stars 1 – FINAL Overtime
The Penguins were up 1-0 with 30 seconds remaining.
Who did the Penguins have on the ice: Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Declan Carlile.
They lost the faceoff – Crosby was beaten by Roope Hintz.
Tyler Seguin tied the game on a tip eight seconds after that ill-fated faceoff and the Penguins needed a shootout to secure the extra point.
October 29, 2026
Penguins 3 – Utah Mammoth 4 – FINAL Overtime
The Penguins were up 3-2 after Ben Kindel broke through for a dirty goal with just 26 seconds remaining. The feelgood vibe was fleeting, as Cooley finished his hattrick with a tip in with less than a second on the clock.
Who did the Penguins have on the ice: Blake Lizotte, Connor Dewar, Nick Robertson, Kaedan Korczak, Declan Carlile
They lost the faceoff – Lizotte was beaten by Vince Trocheck.
The Mammoth gained possession of the puck off that draw and 24 seconds later, they had worked the puck around to feed Trocheck for a shot from the point. Silovs made the save, but the puck kicked to his right where Cooley was waiting to knock it in. Declan Carlile didn’t see him as he slid into position from the left-wing corner and as he dived back to try and cover the puck was knocked into the net. It was a total stealth play by Cooley, who lurked in the corner until he saw things develop and he slid into position completely undetected.
COOLEY TIES IT AT THE BUZZER TO COMPLETE THE HATTY 🔥🚨
WHAT A GAME!!!! https://t.co/dYbzt8or9m
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 30, 2026
Cooley can be seen here as he slid in from out of the frame just before he scores. Wrong guys to leave unchecked.
You’d like to have defensive-minded players on the ice in these situations and that is what they did. Lizotte and Dewar are key members of the team’s bottom six and have been involved in most of the situations, with Dewar being on the ice for all three. Crosby – the team’s best faceoff man to date – has been on the ice for two of them, Robertson, Korczak, and Carlile have been on the ice for two each. While Karlsson and Girard have only been out there for one of them.
Personnel could the issue, however, these are the guys you want to have playing in these situations. These moments are built for guys like Lizotte and Dewar. Crosby should also shine in these moments – the faceoff ability is a big reason, but he’s also a threat for an empty net goal from anywhere on the ice. Which leaves two big elephants in the room – the listed players inability to win one key faceoff and the defensive pairs that have been used.
Faceoffs have been a problem throughout the season, and the team has finished with 50-percent or better won only four times. (10/5/26 – WPG – 53.8%, 10/10/26 – DAL – 55.6%, 10/13/26 – CHI – 50%, 10/22/26 – 54.8%).
The only player on the team who is carrying a winning percentage above 50 is Crosby, who has won 52.2 percent of the 255 faceoffs he’s taken. Of the remaining players who have taken at least 20 faceoffs this season, Lizotte has won only 45.7 percent, Dewar 32.3 percent, Hendrix Lapierre 45.7 percent, Ben Kindel 44.9 percent and Tommy Novak 35.3.
This is a big problem and there aren’t any specialists from years past such as Mike Zigomanis (62.9 percent), Joe Vitale (58.4 percent), Jeff Carter (58.1 percent), Richard Park (55.7 percent), Stu Barnes (55.5 percent) or Mark Letestu (55.4 percent) waiting in the wings.
If the team is going to fix this problem, it’s going to require a lot of extra faceoff work during practices or Kyle Dubas is going to have to scour the league for someone to assist in this area – assuming he wants to fix this situation in the near term.
The other issue is the defensemen who have been on the ice. Korczak and Carlile have each been deployed in two of these situations and haven’t been able to clear the front of the net, clear pucks as they are bouncing and or being passed around the net and have simply looked bad trying to defend these scrambles.
While they have only been out there together for one of them – Thursday against Utah – Dan Muse should probably try something different.
Karlsson and Girard have each been used once in this scenario. It might not be prudent to use them together in this spot since they don’t typically skate on the same pairing but maybe a Girard would be a good fit. He is usually pretty sure handed with the puck, can take a few strides and has shown an ability to clear the puck when he has too. He does that with a flick of the wrist or a hard pass.
Could Kris Letang work in this role? Maybe, maybe not. Possibly Spencer Stastney? It’s all worth considering based on the evidence above.
NOTES:
Ben Kindel returned to the lineup on centered Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov. The line was probably the Penguins’ best as they carried play and produced plenty of scoring chances. Kindel managed two points (1G-1A) a plus-1 rating, three shots on goal and five attempts. The trio finished the game with advantages in shot attempts (18-9), shots (9-6) and goals (2-1). The young forward who had been out of the lineup for about a week looked like the best player on the ice and should thrive in whatever role he’s used in moving forward.
Rickard Rakell, who started the season with a prolonged goal-scoring slump, now has goals in three of four games. If he continues to score at this click, it’s bound to help Crosby get going a bit as well. There were countless Crosby assists left on the ice earlier this season as Rakell struggled to finish. That said, offense isn’t the only way Rakell is contributing. He blocked three shots, including a biggie late in the second period that helped keep the score locked in at 2-1. He has been defensively sound and makes smart decisions with the puck – though he was credited with two giveaways against the Mammoth.
Cooley came into the game having scored three goals in his past three games and added three more in front of a large group of friends and family. The goals marked the first he’s ever scored against the Penguins and the first he’s ever scored in Pittsburgh at the NHL level. He has now scored extra attacker goals in back-to-back games and has scored six of Utah’s last eight goals on the road. He now has eight points (3G-5A) in seven career games against the Penguins.
Arturs Silovs was outstanding in the game and was a huge reason why the Penguins earned a point. He’s now started four in a row but was outstanding during the three game homestand. He posted a 2-0-1 record, .930 save percentage, 1.95 GAA and a shutout.
