Penguins dominated by Golden Knights for sixth loss in seven games

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazettle on Oct 18, 2026

Published in Hockey

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LAS VEGAS — Pittsburgh Penguins fans who didn’t stay up for Saturday’s late-night matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights did themselves a favor.

The pitiful performance was hardly worth losing sleep over — though Kyle Dubas can’t be resting easy after how his team has looked in the first nine games.

The Golden Knights beat the Penguins, 6-2, on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. It was Pittsburgh’s third straight loss and sixth in the last seven games. After a 2-0 start, they’ve fallen to 3-5-1 on the season.

It’s getting late early. A Sportsnet report Saturday indicated the Penguins are looking to trade veterans for picks or prospects to make room for some of their young players.

It’s hard to argue that Pittsburgh needs a shake-up.

The Penguins picked up where they left off Friday against the Colorado Avalanche — giving up chance after chance to one of the most dangerous teams in the league.

Vegas turned two Penguins defensive zone lapses into two goals in the first four minutes.

Just more than a minute in, Jack Eichel found Rasmus Andersson strolling down Broadway all alone. Andersson beat Penguins goaltender Segei Murashov from the slot for the opening tally. Evgeni Malkin appeared to lose track of the Golden Knights defenseman.

And Malkin’s second line was on the ice for the second goal as well. Vegas easily broke into the Penguins’ zone on the rush — Pittsburgh offered little resistance in the neutral zone throughout the game — and Eichel dished to an open Noah Hanifin, who snapped another past Murashov.

The Penguins steadied from there. But Adin Hill made some nice saves in the Vegas net, and the Golden Knights extended the lead on a power play late in the opening period. Trevor Connelly rifled the puck through the crease to Mark Stone. He knocked in the backdoor chance for a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

Pittsburgh snapped its 0/20 streak on the power play with a Sidney Crosby tally early in the second. The Penguins captain tipped in a Tommy Novak shot.

But moments later, Crosby had a bad turnover that launched Connelly on the rush. He whipped a shot over Murashov to restore the three-goal lead.

Sam Girard was tripped and slammed into the boards in the second period. He skated off but went down the tunnel and was later ruled out.

Shortly after the injury, Shea Theodore gave Vegas a 5-1 lead. The Golden Knights won a puck battle in the corner, and Theodore ended up wide open in the circle.

The Penguins got one back early in the third. Novak cut through the center of the ice and put the puck in front. Malkin and Ville Koivunen converged on the crease, and the puck slipped through. Koivunen was credited with the tally.

Moments later, Koivunen missed a wide open net off a feed from Novak.

Murashov struggled for the second-straight start. In addition to the goals, he mishandled a couple of pucks behind the net. Of course, playing behind a team giving up the looks the Penguins are is no easy task.

Vegas added an empty-netter with just more than two minutes to go.

Around the boards

—Egor Chinakhov missed his second-straight game with a lower-body injury. The Penguins designated him as day to day.

Up next

The Penguins wrap up their brutal road trip Monday against the Utah Mammoth. They’ll then return to Pittsburgh for a three-game homestand starting Thursday against the Florida Panthers.