Sebastian Cossa’s first NHL home start ended with a win, but Utah had to earn every inch of it. The Mammoth built a three-goal third-period cushion, then held off Pittsburgh’s late push for a 5-4 victory at Delta Center on Monday.
Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Kevin Stenlund and Nate Schmidt each finished with a goal and an assist for Utah (7-3-0), which has taken four of its last five games. Kailer Yamamoto supplied the other goal, while Cossa stopped 15 shots.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the final 17:05 and nearly forced overtime, but Cossa’s sprawling left-pad stop on Ben Kindel in the closing seconds sealed the result.
“The win is the important part,” Cossa said after his first home start. “It wasn’t always pretty, but the group played well.”
Utah answers every Pittsburgh push
Erik Karlsson gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead just 1:11 into the first period on the power play. His shot from the point redirected off MacKenzie Weegar’s left skate before slipping past Cossa.
Utah answered at 6:00. Lawson Crouse sent a blind feed out of the left corner to Keller in the slot, and Keller lifted a backhand over Arturs Silovs’ glove.
Stenlund put the Mammoth ahead 2-1 at 10:10, batting a rebound over Silovs after Mikhail Sergachev’s attempt. Pittsburgh pulled level again on Rickard Rakell’s power-play goal at 7:01 of the second, when he received Bryan Rust’s pass near the left side of the crease and worked the puck around Cossa’s left skate.
The Mammoth regained control before the second intermission. Schmidt drove a blue-line shot through traffic at 11:44 for a 3-2 edge, then set up Yamamoto’s tap-in at 14:40 to make it a two-goal game.
Schmaltz extended the lead to 5-2 with a power-play goal 1:36 into the third. He recovered his own rebound in front and slipped the puck around Silovs’ right skate.
Schmidt said Utah’s response after conceding goals was a key part of the night.
“Our game was direct early, and I liked how we answered after they scored,” Schmidt said. “Getting that momentum back changes the game and changes how your bench feels.”
Penguins rally falls short
Egor Chinakhov cut the deficit to 5-3 at 2:55 of the third, taking Andrei Kuzmenko’s pass in stride, getting past the defense and finishing five-hole. Declan Carlile made it a one-goal game at 14:55 when he buried a rebound from Rakell’s point shot from the left circle.
Pittsburgh could not find the tying goal. With bodies crowding Cossa’s crease in the final seconds, Kindel had a close-range chance, but Cossa extended his left pad to turn it away.
“I was wondering if the game was over yet,” Cossa said. “The puck came out, there were bodies in front, and I just wanted to make sure we got the win. Weegar and Schmidt were right there, which was awesome.”
Utah coach Andre Tourigny singled out Cossa and a fourth line led by Stenlund alongside Daniil But and Jack McBain. Tourigny called the trio physical, simple and effective, praising the group for a solid night.
Pittsburgh ends trip without a win
Karlsson and Rakell each posted a goal and an assist, while Rust had two assists for Pittsburgh (3-6-1). Silovs made 24 saves.
The Penguins have now dropped four straight and seven of eight, going 1-6-1 in that span. Their four-game road trip ended 0-4-0.
“We’re dealing with adversity,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “We have to stay together, improve every day and every game, and make consistent defensive play a priority.”
Captain Sidney Crosby said the road swing lacked a complete 60-minute effort.
“We had leads and we fought back, but we didn’t put together a full game,” Crosby said.
Notebook
- Schmaltz reached 150 points with the franchise, recording 60 goals and 90 assists in 174 games. He joins Keller, who has 191, as the second player to reach that mark.
- Rust left at 14:59 of the second period with a lower-body injury. Muse had no postgame update.
- Defenseman Samuel Girard remained out for Pittsburgh after being injured in Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
- Chinakhov returned after missing two games with a lower-body injury.
- Defenseman Ilya Solovyov made his season debut for Pittsburgh after Sunday’s recall from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. He had one blocked shot and one hit in 15:52.
- Utah defenseman John Marino was unavailable with an upper-body injury and is considered day to day.
