Erik Karlsson Has No Excuses For Penguins Blowout Loss To Wild

The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a blowout 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday in their first game since returning from Sweden.

Pittsburgh had four days off to get back home and re-adjust their clocks. Yet, on Friday, the Penguins struggled out of the gates as the Wild led 3-0 after the first period, and added two more in the second to cruise to a lopsided 5-0 win.

The Penguins had just three shots on goal in the first period and six in the second period, as star defenseman Erik Karlsson said the team was frustrated with their performance.

“I’m sure we can find a thousand excuses,” Karlsson said postgame on Friday. “I don’t think we should have any, though. We’ve had a couple of good days. Everybody’s feeling good. It just wasn’t our night.

“We didn’t start the game the way that we wanted to, and today we couldn’t find a way to dig ourselves out of it. And very unfortunate outcome, but unfortunately, we deserved it tonight.”

It’s a disappointing performance from the Penguins. But the bright spot is that Pittsburgh has a chance to get right back on track as the Penguins host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.

“Obviously, it wasn’t our best effort right from the start,” Karlsson added. “We ended up on the wrong foot early in the first, and we couldn’t find a way to get ourselves out of it. I think everybody in here understands that tonight wasn’t good enough to have a chance to win a hockey game, and we know that the only positive is that we don’t have much time to dwell on it.”

The Penguins are 10-6-4 and holding onto a Wild Card spot.

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