Penguins' 6-game winning streak snapped in 2-1 loss to Flames

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jan 10, 2026

Published in Hockey

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PITTSBURGH — Well, the Penguins won’t go undefeated in 2026.

They lost their first game since the holiday break, falling 2-1 to the Flames on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.

That snapped a six-game winning streak. The red-hot Penguins offense went cold in the matinee matchup with Calgary — who came in with one of the worst records in the league.

The Penguins were sloppy and a step slow in the first period. Connor Zary intercepted an ill-advised pass along the blue line by Ryan Shea and took it the other way for a breakaway goal 2:33 into the game.

Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and the fourth line got into a little scrap with several Flames players behind the net at the end of the opening period. That seemed to wake up the home team, as they played much better in the second.

Egor Chinakhov tied the game with a rocket of a wrister 9:17 into the period, set up by Evgeni Malkin’s 22nd assist of the season in 28 games.

Chinakhov shooting the puck is a good thing for the Penguins. The 24-year-old generates serious power, and he’s playing with two linemates — Malkin and Ben Kindel — who can create opportunities for him to show it.

Kindel registered an assist on Chinakhov’s equalizer as well.

But the tie didn’t last long. After Kris Letang lost the puck in the offensive zone, the Flames broke into a rush. Matt Coronato sniped a shot over Arturs Silovs’ stick to make it 2-1 Calgary 42 seconds into the third period.

It briefly looked like Tommy Novak had tied it again with about seven minutes to go, but the goal was waved off for goalie interference. Sidney Crosby skated into Devin Cooley — who stymied a number of good chances for the Penguins.

An ill-timed tripping penalty on Brett Kulak with 4:25 to go dinged the Penguins’ chances for a comeback.

It was over when …

The Penguins could not hammer home a goal with the extra skater on in the final moments.

Stat of the game

— 0/3: The Penguins’ power-play efficiency on Saturday, and they weren’t generating many chances, either. The league’s second-ranked unit missed Bryan Rust, one of Pittsburgh’s top power-play scorers.

Around the boards

— Rust is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team announced. The veteran forward missed the first two games of the season but has been in the lineup for every game since. He has 16 goals and 20 assists in 40 games, putting him second on the team in points.

— Kevin Hayes reentered the lineup in Rust’s absence Saturday, centering the third line as Tommy Novak moved up to the top line.

— The team recalled forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as a precaution. The 27-year-old has 13 points in 32 games with the Baby Penguins and was named the AHL Player of the Week on Dec. 29.

Up next

The Penguins make a quick trip to Boston for a 5 p.m. game Sunday before returning for three more home games next week — starting with Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

The Bruins crushed the Rangers 10-2 earlier Saturday.