Pittsburgh Penguins Score Brutally Embarrassing Own Goal Against Arizona Coyotes

The Pittsburgh Penguins core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang has been one of the NHL's most consistent for more than 15 years. All three of them will likely wind up in the Hall of Fame, but that doesn't mean they're immune to mistakes.

And they made one hell of a mistake on Monday night in Arizona.

The Pens were on the back half of a pair of games out west. Saturday night they suffered an OT loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, while Monday they tried to bounce back against the Coyotes.

Early in the third period, the Penguins were down by one and were given a gift when former Pen Jason Zucker hooked Bryan Rust.

It was a perfect opportunity for Pittsburgh to pot one on the powerplay and flip the momentum in the final frame.

Well, they still got a powerplay out of the deal but not before a sloppy Kris Letang to Evgeni Malkin, drop pass slid into the back of their own net.

Penguins Make A Brutal Mistake At A Time When They Can't Afford To Be Making Brutal Mistakes.

First and foremost: what's up with the dude wearing a Canucks sweater to a Penguins-Coyotes game at Mullett Arena?

I get the urge to represent, but still a bit of an odd move...

Anyway, I don't want to rip on these dudes too hard because they've won 3 Stanley Cups. However, if you've played hockey at any level you know that passing in front of your net is always no bueno, even if a goaltender is standing there.

Still, you'd think that given the way Letang created space by dropping back into the zone, it'd be safe... he just didn't account for Evgeni Malkin developing cinderblock hands that would make Kadarius Toney's stone mitts look like pillows.

That put the game out of reach, and you can tell Sidney Crosby knew it wasn't their night by his reaction. The Pens fell to the 'Yotes 5-2.

Those are the kinds of mistakes the Penguins can't afford. They're in seventh place in the Metropolitan, but that is about as logged jammed as you'll see a division get at this point in the season. They're just 8 points behind the second-place Philadelphia Flyers and have 3 games in hand.

Pittsburgh is far from out of this playoff race, but unforced errors like that one won't be helping their cause...

...or even boost morale.

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