Penguins Third-Period Curse Strikes Mammoth and Sharks

The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t just turn a page in 2026 — they tore out the old chapter entirely. After a turbulent stretch that briefly threatened to derail their season, the Penguins have re-emerged as one of the NHL’s best teams, piling up points with a quiet consistency that wasn’t there earlier in the year.

Through 14 games in 2026, Pittsburgh sits at 10-2-2 with a .786 points percentage. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning (.885 in 13 games) and Boston Bruins (.821 in 14) have been better. For a team that spent weeks questioning its own identity, the shift has been dramatic.

A large part of that change traces back to one moment. When Sidney Crosby passed Mario Lemieux to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer and moved passed him on the NHL’s all-time list scoring

Since then, the Penguins have stepped up their game, and Evgeni Malkin’s return has only added fuel to the fire. That newfound momentum has made the eight-game losing streak before Crosby’s milestone feel even more surreal.

Historic Collapses That Defied Probability

The losing streak featured some of the most improbable results the league has seen in years. During that brutal losing streak, the Penguins found ways to lose that felt almost cruel. None stung more than the shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks, a game that should have ended in celebration.

Ducks rookie Beckett Sennecke shocked the entire arena when he tied it with 0.1 seconds left in the third period while Pittsburgh was on the power play. The Pens went on to lose in the shootout, falling to 0–5 on the season and extending their shootout skid to nine straight losses dating back to 2024–25.

That streak finally snapped in a 4–3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens, and it took Arturs Silovs standing on his head to do it. Silovs delivered clutch saves in regulation, overtime, and the shootout, rescuing both the game and Sidney Crosby’s milestone night from feeling hollow.

The beautiful save by Artur Silovs that led to Sidney Crosby getting his 1,724th NHL point is already being cut from every clip of the historic moment. Full video below⬇️ #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/af8OnYHVga
— Sam Len (@SamLenSports) December 22, 2025

Following that the Penguins played San Jose in a game that left even the Sharks’ broadcast booth emotional. Pittsburgh led 5–1 midway through the third period and probability models gave them a 99.9 percent chance to win. Then everything fell apart.

San Jose chipped away, turning chaos into momentum, before tying the game late and winning in overtime. The next night things were somehow just as bad.

Against Utah, Pittsburgh carried a 3–0 lead into the third period, then got buried under a 17–6 shot disadvantage in the final frame. Another overtime loss. Another collapse. Another result that bordered on impossible.

When Numbers Turn Into Nightmares

Pittsburgh had a 99.9 percent chance to beat San Jose and a 97.9 percent chance to beat Utah. Losing both carries a combined probability of 0.0021 percent — roughly 1 in 47,619. That’s not a slump. That’s a nightmare scenario playing out in real time.

ESPN later shared a stat that added some context to just how abnormal the stretch had been. When leading by three goals after two periods, the Penguins had a record of 5-1-2. The rest of the NHL? A perfect 119-0-0. Two of those Pittsburgh losses came in overtime against San Jose and Utah.

This Penguins stat from ESPN is absolutely RUTHLESS 🤯😭 pic.twitter.com/VpfiJA21Vb
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 16, 2026

Before January 29, Toronto was the only other team to successfully comeback from a three-goal third-period defecit all season — and every single one came against Pittsburgh.

Ironic Redemption on a January Night

On this historic night of hockey in January, both the Sharks and Mammoth basically had done to them what they had done to the Penguins in December. Utah surrendered three goals in a staggering 1:29 late against Carolina, becoming part of history as the Hurricanes became the third team in NHL history to win in regulation after trailing by two goals in the final two minutes.

Later, San Jose blew a third-period lead of its own, allowing the Oilers to score three goals — including one in the final minute — before losing to them in overtime. Together, those comebacks made January 29 just the third day in NHL history with multiple teams overcoming multi-goal deficits in the final five minutes of regulation.

Isn't it ironic that the Sharks and Mammoth both blew multi-goal leads after the 2nd tonight, the same teams that came back from 3+ goal deficits in the 3rd period in back-to-back games vs. the Penguins on Dec. 13 and 14? #LetsGoPens https://t.co/WOdDQotzYQ
— Sam Len (@SamLenSports) January 30, 2026

Suddenly, Pittsburgh wasn’t alone anymore. Utah’s collapse in the final two minutes of the third period was arguably worse, but San Jose’s was more stat-friendly for Penguins fans due to them having a 3-goal lead.

The irony doesn’t erase what Pittsburgh endured earlier in the season. Those losses happened, and they mattered. But hockey has a way of balancing the ledger and the Penguins look much steadier now. The standings reflect it. And the curse that once defined them has, at least for the moment, found new owners.

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