Throughout the course of the NHL season, there are plenty of scenarios when players wish they could take a play back and do things differently.
One such scenario – a costly one – happened for Pittsburgh Penguins‘ defenseman Parker Wotherspoon on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.
With 1:34 remaining in regulation and in the midst of a back-and-forth, high-energy 3-3 tie, Wotherspoon had the puck on his stick in the defensive zone, readying for a breakout. There are any number of decisions he could have made in that moment, but the 28-year-old defenseman decided to try to bank the puck off the glass in order to move it out of the defensive zone.
Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.
Wotherspoon ended up airmailing the puck over the glass, which resulted in a late delay of game penalty. The Ducks scored a power play goal just seven seconds later, which was Chris Kreider’s second power play goal of the night – and the nail in the coffin for the Penguins, who dropped the contest, 4-3.
Rickard Rakell, Justin Brazeau, and Anthony Mantha scored for the Penguins, while goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped 18 of 22 Ducks’ shots on goal.
“It was just a dumb play,” Wotherspoon said. “I was trying to make the right choice and just get it off the glass. Obviously, it’s super unfortunate, but I can’t be doing that that late in games, so it was dumb.”
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 Win over the Penguins
The Anaheim Ducks returned from their two-game road trip to play their home opener, when they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at Honda Center.
Although the result was indeed unfortunate for the Penguins, they – once again – didn’t do themselves any favors in this game, as they were unable to stay out of the box akin to what happened in a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday. Their only power play came in the form of a delay of game after a failed offside challenge by Anaheim late in the second period, which followed Mantha’s first goal as a Penguin to tie the game at 3-3.
Pittsburgh took six penalties on the evening, and the Ducks had two power play goals. If the Penguins hope to win hockey games going forward, they will need to find ways to stay more disciplined, even if the game isn’t always going their way.
And they also need improve their penalty kill, which has surrendered four goals in the past two contests.
“You want to be at least even or getting more on the advantage than you are killing,” head coach Dan Muse said. “So, it plays a role. At the same time, too, when we do have to kill penalties… it’s an area that we’re going to have to continue to work to improve.”
Here are a few notes and observations from this one:
– Aside from the delay of game penalty at the end of the game, I thought Wotherspoon played another solid game for the Penguins. His defense partner, Erik Karlsson, was caught out of position a few times, and – as he has done with consistency so far this season – he was able to read off of that. He was also able to break the Penguins out of danger a few times.
So, that’s what made the penalty at the end all the more unfortunate. Mistakes happen, of course, but that was certainly a costly one.
Penguins’ New Top Defensive Pairing Could Be Hidden Gem
There are a lot of new faces populating the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ roster this season, especially on the left side of the Penguins’ blue line.
– Rookie teenage defenseman Harrison Brunicke was held out of the lineup for developmental purposes on Tuesday, which made way for Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba to make their Penguins’ debuts.
And it was a mixed bag for both of them. Dumba was caught flat-footed on more a few occasions, and his net-front defense failed him on Kreider’s first goal because he allowed the pass to get through and he didn’t box Kreider out. He had some good moments as well – namely in helping generate some offense – and it’s worth noting that was playing his off-side.
Clifton wasn’t great on the penalty kill, either, but I thought he played a relatively solid game five-on-five. He showcased his physicality, too, and landed a few big hits.
If Brunicke sticks around for good this season, it’s unclear exactly how the defensive rotation is going to work. Caleb Jones is also in the mix. But, assuming Brunicke is back in next game on the right side, I’d like to see Clifton get a game on the left side.
It’s Only Been Three Games. But Kindel And Brunicke Should Be In Pittsburgh To Stay.
Going into Pittsburgh Penguins‘ training camp this season, it’s safe to say that most folks did not have 2025 11th overall pick Ben Kindel making the NHL roster out of the gate.
– I don’t think Rust played a particularly strong game Tuesday. It’s definitely a factor that he is just coming back from injury and has only played two games. But, in both games, he struggled in his own zone five-on-five and on the penalty kill, his reads were off, and he sent a few errant passes.
On Tuesday, he also made a few poor decisions with the puck during the six-on-five, which led to the puck leaving the offensive zone on both occasions.
It’s early, and I won’t hold anything against Rust yet. But he hasn’t been great in his first two.
– I saw a lot of people getting on Jarry after this one. After all, four goals on 22 shots isn’t great, right?
On paper, no. But, honestly, I thought he was pretty good in this game for the most part. He made some key saves in opportune moments when the Ducks were coming on strong, which happened in waves during this game. The entire flow of the game was back-and-forth, run-and-gun, footrace-style hockey, and the teams were trading chances and momentum all night long.
It’s reasonable to suggest that Jarry needs to be better. That’s not a false statement. But this was one of those games where looking at the final stat line for him doesn’t exactly tell the whole story.
– The Penguins play the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, another late one for the East Coast. I would expect them to be much more disciplined and come out strong in this one. The Penguins tend to play some of their best hockey against the Kings, who play a stingy, tight-checking brand.
I would venture to guess that Brunicke will be back in the lineup, and it’s possible that Ben Kindel may not be. Muse said that the two rookies getting scratched on planned days is all part of a development plan laid out by management and the coaching staff.
Kevin Hayes made the trip and should also be returning soon. Some interesting decisions loom for the Penguins.
4 Early Trade Candidates For The Penguins
With a few players on injured reserve and some young prospects making some pretty solid cases to stick around for good, the Pittsburgh Penguins will have some tough roster decisions to make in the coming days and weeks.
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