PITTSBURGH — It was a whirlwind at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.

The visiting Utah Mammoth looked like they would cruise to an easy win. Then the Penguins stormed back to take a lead with 25 seconds remaining behind an emphatic return from Ben Kindel.

But that left too much time on the clock for Logan Cooley. He completed his hat trick with a second remaining to send the game to overtime.

Mikhail Sergachev ended it there to give the Mammoth a 4-3 overtime victory over the Penguins.

Early in the game, the Penguins looked like a team that hadn’t played in five days. They were buzzing around the ice and creating chances. But they couldn’t capitalize on an early power play.

And then they started to look like a team that hadn’t played in five days. Erik Karlsson tried to hit Evgeni Malkin with a breakout pass but instead threw the hockey version of a pick-six to Cooley, who scored his first career goal against his hometown team.

Arturs Silovs had to make a couple of tough saves in the following moments to keep the lead from ballooning.

Later in the period, Ville Koivunen had a golden chance to tie it. His shot beat Sebastian Cossa but not the post.

And Cooley quickly added his second career goal against the Penguins. He used his blazing speed to split Karlsson and Spencer Stastney before shooting another past Silovs.

The 2-0 Utah advantage held to the first intermission.

The Penguins’ disconnected play continued in the middle frame. They generated rush opportunities, but they couldn’t connect on the key pass.

But then Kindel dropped a pass off the boards to Karlsson, who extended his team points lead with a rocket from the slot to cut the Penguins’ deficit in half.

Malkin picked up an assist on the play. Moments later, he had a terrible turnover that nearly allowed Utah to restore a two-goal lead. But Silovs denied Nick Schmaltz in tight.

Kindel set up Malkin for a great rush look later in the second period. Cossa made an excellent save to maintain the lead, as the Penguins started to rack up a shots advantage.

But they couldn’t break through for a second goal. Silovs leapt across his crease to stop Andrew Peeke on a backdoor chance in the waning seconds of the frame.

The Mammoth took over early in the third period and peppered Silovs. But he held up, including denying Kailer Yamamoto on a breakaway.

And that opened the door for the Penguins team to tie it.

Karlsson’s turbulent night continued when he tripped Cooley halfway through the final frame to give the Mammoth their first power play.

But his Swedish Olympic teammate came to his rescue. Cooley couldn’t keep the puck in at the point, and Rickard Rakell nabbed it in the neutral zone. He soared down the wing and fired a shorthanded equalizer past Cossa.

And in the final minute, the game devolved into chaos.

Kindel soared into the zone on a rush chance and lifted a shot on net. Cossa stopped the initial attempt, but Kindel located the rebound and popped it in. That looked like it would be the winner with less than 30 seconds on the clock.

But Cooley had other plans. After Silovs saved a shot from Vincent Trocheck, the rebound deflected to Cooley. He knocked it in just before the buzzer to send the game to 3-on-3 action, which is when Sergachev finally won it.

Around the boards

— Kindel, Malkin, Egor Chinakhov and Sam Girard returned to the lineup Thursday.

— That pushed Ilya Solovyov and Rutger McGroarty back to the press box. Avery Hayes was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday, and Justin Brazeau was sent down to the American Hockey League on a conditioning stint.

— Silovs started his fourth straight game. He’s the first Penguins goalie under Dan Muse to draw four consecutive starts.

Up next

The Penguins head north of the border for a Halloween night road tilt against the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. Saturday.

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