Pens' Comeback Falls Short in 4-3 Shootout Loss

Photo courtesy of Shelly (@itwasfourone on Twitter)

Tom Kuhnhackl's first goal in over nine months tied tonight's rookie tournament game with the Toronto Maple Leafs at 3-3 in the final minute of regulation.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, they couldn't find the 4th goal and drop the second game of their three-game tournament in a shootout. At 0-1-1, they'll look to finish with a win against the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow afternoon.

Tonight was Brian Dumoulin's turn to wear the captain's "C" as he replaced the guy who wore it on Thursday in Philip Samuelsson. Here's what tonight's lineup looked like:

Kuhnhackl-Dea-Rowney 

Uher-Megna-Brace 

O'Brien-Marcantuoni-Payerl 

Simmonds-Rankin-Nejezchleb

Dumoulin - Seymour

McNeill - Pouliot

Maatta - Harrington

Murray - Hartzell

Scott Harrington gave the Pens a 1-0 lead on a first period power play goal 6:25 into the contest. ATO forward Jean Sebastien Dea and defenseman Brian Dumoulin added the assists.

Back to back fights broke out on the ensuing face-off, with Liam O'Brien and Adam Payerl dropping the mitts for the Penguins against Jamie Devane and David Broll of the Leafs, respectively.

The Leafs tied the game at 1-1 with a power play goal of their own in the first period before Jayson Megna out the Pens back in front in the middle frame. Megna put in a rebound of a Carter Rowney shot to give the Pens a 2-1 lead.

The Leafs would later tie the game and take a 3-2 lead in the third period before Kuhnhackl's big shot in the final minute of regulation would send the game to overtime.

J-S Dea scored for the Penguins in the shootout after a scoreless overtime, but the Leafs capitalized in the second and fourth rounds to hold on for a 4-3 shootout win.

From an AHL Penguins perspective, it's nice to see guys like Kuhnhackl and Megna on the scoresheet. Dumoulin added two assists. Payerl had the big fight in the first period. Harrington continues to impress.

While the end results on the scoreboard have not favored the Penguins at this week's rookie tournament, there are still many positives to take away from these games. In Thursday afternoon's contest with the Senators, the Penguins felt they carried the play most of the game. 

Tonight against the Maple Leafs, the Pens led the game the entire way up until the third period. Kuhnhackl's extra attacker goal in the final minute that tied the game and sent it to overtime is a small victory in and of itself.

The bottom line - don't read too much into the scores of these games. It's always good to win, but the real purpose is for these younger guys to learn the system and apply what they've learned in real-game situations.