Penguins Despoke Red Wings in OT, 6-5

Somewhere, embedded deep down in some remote corner of our Penguins’ DNA lurks a self-destruct gene. It surfaces at the most inopportune of times.

The full-force of that self-destructiveness was on display last night at PPG Paints Arena during arguably THE most important game of the year. The one our very playoff lives depended on.

Let’s see. Blown multiple-goal leads (multiple times to boot)? Check.

Goals allowed in the last-minute of periods? Check.

Bone-head decisions at critical junctures? Check.

The only mishaps missing? A shorthanded goal against and our usual abject failure in overtime, although the latter most assuredly wasn’t for a lack of effort.

However, for all our bizarro tendencies, there’s a certain cosmic symmetry to our largesse. Take Erik Karlsson, for example. On the Red Wings’ fourth goal at 12:56 of the third period, the one that tilted the momentum in favor of the visitors, the reigning Norris Trophy winner inexplicably abandoned the net front and his goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, paving the way for an easy peasy tally from the slot by unfettered Wings star Dylan Larkin.

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