Pittsburgh Penguins lose 4-3 to Calgary Flames in shootout

Until Monday night, the Penguins’ Western Canada road trip had been a masterclass in overcoming injuries.Combine the litany of absent players with a red-hot Flames team, though, and it was just a bit too much to weather.The Penguins lost to Calgary, 4-3, in a shootout Monday night, snapping their five-game winning streak and ending what had otherwise been a successful trip out west on a bit of a sour note.“We would’ve liked to have gotten the two points tonight,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “But, it didn’t work out, but certainly it was a big point for us.”Kris Versteeg scored the lone shootout goal for Calgary, which extended its winning streak to 10 games. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel all missed their shootout attempts.Crosby did force overtime, though, tying the score at 16:29 of the third period to add some drama late. Conor Sheary and Jake Guentzel assisted on the score, marking the second time of the night the trio combined to put the puck in the net.Johnny Gaudreau had broken a 2-2 tie earlier in the third with a nifty wraparound goal past Penguins defenseman Ron Hainsey and Marc-Andre Fleury. The frenetic third period proved a fitting cap to a game that featured plenty of high-quality chances - and high-quality goaltending - on both sides.The line combination of Jake Guenztel, Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary - which has been absolutely lethal offensively on this road trip - struck again early in the first period to put the Penguins on the board first.Sheary put the Penguins up 1-0 when he finished off a series of tic-tac-toe passing from Crosby and Guentzel for his 20th goal of the season.The 20 goals is, obviously, a career high for Sheary in his second NHL season. He has 20 goals in 47 games this season after scoring seven in 44 last year.The Flames tied the game midway through the first on a goal from former Penguin Deryk Engelland. Engelland threw a shot from the point that bounced off a skate and past Fleury, who got the nod in goal Monday over Matt Murray.Fleury - starting two out of three games for the first time since early February - stopped 26 of 29 Calgary shots.The Penguins reclaimed the lead a few minutes after Engelland’s score with a power-play goal from Evgeni Malkin at 15:51 of the first period.Malkin worked a picture-perfect give-and-go with Chris Kunitz and beat Flames goalie Brian Elliott for his 33rd score of the season.Elliott, though, kept the Flames in the game after that, stopping 32 shots. For the first time this road trip, the Penguins did not lose a player to injury minutes before the puck dropped. Instead, they waited until late in the first period.Defenseman Mark Streit blocked a Sean Monahan shot late in the first and had to leave the game. He did not return for the final two periods, and, according to the SportsNet television broadcast, left the Saddledome for further evaluation.The Penguins’ lead lasted through the first intermission, but not much longer. Dennis Wideman tied the score at 2 at 1:34 of the second period. Wideman threw a shot at the net that seemed to knuckle past Fleury and into the crease. Flames center Sam Bennett tried to get a stick on it to knock it in, but as he whiffed, the puck bounced into the net its own to even up the score, where it stayed until the third. The overtime loss moves the Penguins into a tie with Washington for first place in the division and in the overall NHL standings.RESULTSFlames 4 Penguins 3 (SO)Hurricanes 8 Islanders 4Blue Jackets 5 Flyers 3Lightning 3 Rangers 2Predators 5 Jets 4 (OT)Coyotes 1 Avalanche 0Blues 3 Kings 1Bruins 6 Canucks 3