Penguins fall apart late as Predators rally for overtime victory in Sweden

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Nov 14, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The Nashville Predators snatched a win from the Penguins in their first Swedish showdown, rallying to beat them, 2-1 in overtime Friday at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena.

Arturs Silovs gave the Penguins another strong start and was 70 seconds away from a shutout when Filip Forsberg, a Predators winger and star Swede, tied the score.

Steven Stamkos sniped Silovs for the winning goal 43 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT.

It was the latest collapse by the Penguins, who have struggled to protect leads early in the Dan Muse era. Friday’s loss dropped them to 3-3-4 over their last 10 games.

The first period was fast paced but relatively low event. Both goalies were sharp. Silovs made a few excellent stops as the Predators dominated the second period.

The Penguins mustered only two shots in the middle frame. The one that went in wasn’t even a shot attempt. Evgeni Malkin centered the puck from behind the net. It hit Michael McCarron’s stick then bounced in off the back of goalie Juuse Saros.

The Predators kept coming in the third period and had the Penguins on their heels during the final eight minutes of regulation. Forsberg broke through with 1:10 left.

Sidney Crosby won a faceoff in the defensive zone, but Forsberg darted in from the left wing to get to that loose puck first. He quickly lifted a backhand shot past Silovs.

Silovs had to stop a breakaway in each of the first two periods then turned aside another early in OT. But he was unable to stop Stamkos when Stamkos got a step on the defense. He whipped a wrist shot from right circle over the goalie’s blocker.

Silovs and the Penguins fell to 0-4 in games that were decided beyond regulation.

It was over when ...

... Stamkos scored. Duh. Crosby and Bryan Rust pushed for the winning goal — and nearly got it. But they got caught behind the play as Brady Skjei fired a long-bomb pass to Stamkos. The veteran streaked down the right wing and picked a corner on Silovs.

Stat of the game

6 — times this season the Penguins have been outshot by eight or more. They got only 17 through to Saros. Meanwhile, the Predators fired 30 shots against Silovs.

Around the boards

— Silovs was back in goal after backing up Sergei Murashov in Pittsburgh’s last game, a home loss to Los Angeles last Sunday. Silovs has started three of four games since Tristan Jarry was injured. The Latvian has a 1-1-4 record over his last six starts.

— Matt Dumba and Philip Tomasino got back in the Penguins’ lineup Friday. Danton Heinen and Connor Clifton came out. Harrison Brunicke was also a healthy scratch. It was the fourth game in a row the rookie watched from the press box. One more and Brunicke will be eligible to be sent to the minors on a conditioning stint.

— For Tommy Novak and Michael Bunting, Friday’s game presented a chance to face their former teams for the first time. The Penguins sent Bunting, a popular pest, to the Predators at the trade deadline this past March and got Novak back in the deal. It was a relatively quiet game for both players. Each tallied only one shot on goal.

— Malkin’s goal, No. 518 for his career, moved him in a tie with Dale Hawerchuk for 40th place in NHL history. Four more and he will catch Pat Verbeek. And if he keeps this up, Malkin might be able to get all the way up to 37th before the end of 2025.

— Ben Kindel took a stick to the mouth in the second period but did not miss a shift. It was the second straight game in which Kindel was checked out by the medical staff.

— With the loss, the Penguins moved to 2-2-1 all time in games played overseas.

Coming up next

The Penguins are scheduled to practice Saturday at Avicii Arena. The Penguins and Predators will meet again there Sunday. The rematch has a start time of 9 a.m. EST.