Kasperi Kapanen didn't look much like a guy who had just broken out of one of the most exasperating stretches of his career by scoring his first NHL hat trick.
Instead, he had the distant, hollow expression of a guy who'd just learned that his fiancee had run off with his best friend.
Or discovered that his exotic new sports car had been keyed.
Or who had witnessed his team squander a two-goal lead in the final 3 1/2 minutes of regulation, allowing what could have been an exhilarating victory to mutate into a 5-4 shootout loss.
Which, all things considered, was understandable.
And no, not because any romantic relationships or vehicles were harmed in the making of his expression.
However, there surely was a bit of damage done to the Penguins' collective psyche by the way they allowed the Wild to swipe a point from them Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
For while it obviously is frustrating to surrender a point in Game No. 10 of the regular season, losing it could prove to be season-wrecking when the final standings -- and playoff qualifiers -- are determined.
So, yeah, Kapanen enjoyed his goals ... until the Wild's late-game surge reduced them to little more than a footnote.
"Obviously, it feels good, but you can't really deny the way the game ended," he said. "It doesn't feel as good as I wish it would. ... You can't lose a game like that."
Well, you shouldn't, anyway.
But that's the risk a team takes when it gets passive, the way the Penguins did after Wild coach Dean Evason replaced goalie Cam Talbot with an extra attacker late in the third period. After that, the Penguins looked as if they were trying to not lose, rather than attempting to win.
"We were on our heels a little bit," temporary head coach Todd Reirden said. "Even if it's 5-on-6, you have to play on your toes. You still have to be aggressive when you can. There were a few circumstances where we weren't as aggressive as I would have liked us to have been. "
The bill for that error in judgment came due at 16:41, when a Jared Sturgeon shot from just inside the blue line appeared to change directions and eluded Tristan Jarry, and again with three seconds to go in regulation, when Ryan Hartman forced overtime by converting a rebound from inside the right circle.
"I understand if you let one in," Kapanen said. "But two is something that a good team can't be doing."
Evason had pulled Talbot with more than four minutes remaining and the Penguins up, 4-2.
Replacing the goalie so early is a gamble some NHL coaches aren't willing to take, but Evason had no such reservations and ultimately was rewarded with a couple of points. Count Kapanen among those who recognized the logic behind Evason's move, even though he didn't like the way it worked out for the Penguins.
"You want to get as much 6-on-5 time as you can," Kapanen said. "We just didn't play well against that. ... We weren't able to clear the zone and win those key faceoffs. We just need to learn from that and be better."
Actually, they got better quickly. The Penguins had several chances to win the game in overtime, like breakaways by Jason Zucker and John Marino, but could not capitalize on them. The outcome finally was settled when former Penguins forward Nick Bjugstad beat Jarry in Round 4 of the shootout, less than a minute Talbot had denied Kapanen.
Losing that second point curdled what had been a pretty solid performance against a quality opponent.
Fact is, there had been much for the Penguins to like about what they did for much of the first 56-plus minutes.
Jarry was playing well. The penalty-killing was having another perfect evening. And not only had Kapanen scored three times, but Jake Guentzel, who had suffered through a protracted slump of his own, got his second goal in two games.
"Given our lineup and some of the players we're missing and how much energy we're expending, for us to score four goals tonight, I was really happy with where we were at, heading into that final 10 minutes," Reirden said.
Kapanen was the major reason the Penguins were in that position. After more than three weeks of failure and frustrations, his goal-scoring touch returned, and he promptly showed just how diversified it can be.
At 16:23 of the opening period, he was alone in front of Talbot and took a pass from Zucker, who was along the left-wing boards. Kapanen pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand and back to his forehand before tossing it into the net.
"To be honest, I didn't think it was going in, at first," he said.
Yeah, well, there was no such uncertainty about his second one, when Kapanen hammered a slap shot past Talbot from the top of the right circle 55.9 seconds before the first intermission.
The only question about that one was whether the net would be strong enough to hold it.
He completed his hat trick at 8:45 of the third, when his shot from the top of the left circle caromed off the left goal post and struck Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski before ending up behind the goal line.
Lucky? Sure. But Kapanen hadn't exactly been awash in good fortune for most of the previous nine games.
"He had his chances, the first nine games or so," Evan Rodrigues said. "They just weren't going in for him. It's funny, the way hockey works. You get one, you start gripping your stick a little lighter and then the game starts to come to you."
Reirden praised Kapanen for "not losing faith in himself," adding that, "having the belief in what he's doing. I was really happy to see him get rewarded."
So were the teammates who swarmed after Kapanen after he scored his first.
Things were a bit more somber a few hours later, though, as the reality of how this game got away from them began to register.
"Ten games into the season, it's extremely disappointing to not secure the two points there," Reirden said.
The Penguins are anchored at the bottom of the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division, but also are just three points out of a playoff position.
Considering the number -- and quality -- of players they've been missing because of injuries and illness since the season opened Oct. 12 in Tampa, their situation could have been far more desperate than it is today.
They've been resilient, able to use intangibles to make up for at least some of talent they've been forced to get by without.
"I've liked our compete, our battle level, our work ethic," Reirden said. "When we've gone through tough things -- tough times in a game -- we've responded."
Sometimes, though, they've just been a bit too passive about it.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins broke even on their eight-game home stand, going 3-3-2.
• Jarry gave up shootout goals to Kevin Fiala, Kirill Kaprizov and Bjugstad, while Bryan Rust and Guentzel beat Talbot. Kris Letang and Kapanen were stopped in the shootout. Jarry has turned aside just two of seven shootout attempts this season, after stopping 14 of 20 previously.
• Although Jeff Carter did not get a point in the game, he played a key role in Guentzel's goal, planting his 6 foot 3, 219-pound frame directly in front of Talbot so that he had no chance of seeing Guentzel's shot.
• Minnesota is 7-3, with every one of its victories being by one goal.
• The Penguins have won their previous five games against the Wild, the longest such streak in franchise history. They are 6-1-1 in their past eight home games against Minnesota after going 1-5-1 in the previous seven.
• Former Penguins utility man Frederick Gaudreau centered the Wild's second line and picked up a pair of assists. He also took Minnesota's first shot in the shootout -- his first-ever shootout attempt in the NHL -- but was the only one who failed to beat Jarry.
• Per stats man extraordinaire Bob Grove, the Penguins are 103-1-4 when leading after two periods at home Pens since Mike Sullivan was named coach.
• The Penguins have lost 46 man-games because of injuries and illness through the first 10 games. That projects to 377 over an 82-game season.
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Kasperi Kapanen shoots by the Wild’s Jared Spurgeon to complete his hat trick Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Kasperi Kapanen, Penguins
2. Jared Spurgeon, Wild
3. Kirill Kaprizov, Wild
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Center Evgeni Malkin is expected to be out until at least December while recovering from knee surgery. He has resumed skating.
• Defenseman Marcus Pettersson tested positive for COVID and is symptomatic.
• Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel tested positive for COVID and is symptomatic.
• Defenseman Brian Dumoulin tested positive for COVID and is asymptomatic.
• Center Sidney Crosby tested positive for COVID and is symptomatic.
THE LINEUPS
Reirden’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Jeff Carter-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Evan Rodrigues-Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brock McGinn
Drew O'Connor-Brian Boyle-Danton Heinen
Mike Matheson-Kris Letang
P.O Joseph-John Marino
Juuso Riikola-Mark Friedman
And for Dean Evason's Wild::
Marcus Foligno-Joel Eriksson Ek-Kevin Fiala
Kirill Kaprizov-Frederick Gaudreau-Ryan Hartman
Brandon Duhaime-Nico Sturm-Nick Bjugstad
Adam Beckman-Connor Dewar-Kyle Rau
Alex Goligoski-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Dmitry Kulikov
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will have Sunday off, then practice Monday at 11 a.m. in Cranberry before traveling to Chicago for a game against the Blackhawks Tuesday.
THE CONTENT
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