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Losers of four of their last six, the Pittsburgh Penguins headed into a matchup against the Arizona Coyotes looking to turn things around.
Instead, they ended up making fools of themselves in the desert.
Early in the third period after the Penguins had just drawn a penalty, defenseman Kris Letang played the puck back to center Evgeni Malkin, but didn’t account for where he was on the ice. This led to an own goal that gave the Coyotes a 4-2 lead they would never surrender.
The blunder led to an NHL first, as the Coyotes became the first team in NHL history to score a power play goal without recording a power play shot in the game.
Currently five points out of a playoff spot, the Penguins are on the outside looking in and a loss like this could be demoralizing to their chances of recovering in the Eastern Conference.
With plenty of firepower on their roster, including future Hall-of-Fame center Sidney Crosby, the Penguins will need to turn things around if they hope to be battling for the Stanley Cup in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Coyotes find themselves only two points behind the Nashville Predators for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference as they look to make their first postseason appearance since 2020.
A team full of young talent and veteran castoffs, the Coyotes have been led by 25-year-old right winger Clayton Keller who is coming off of a career year in 2023, as well as stellar goaltending by goalie Connor Ingram.
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