Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not have much to say after his team’s latest loss, a 4-2 defeat to the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

“We didn’t play hard enough and we didn’t play smart enough,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said to media in St. Louis. “We got what we deserved.”

The Penguins lost despite a commanding 33-22 advantage in shots.

“We gave them way too many chances off the rush because we didn’t play with the purpose that we need to play with in the offensive zone, whether it be with the puck or without it,” Sullivan said.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry made 18 saves on 22 shots as his record fell to 1-3-0 while his team was 0 for 2 on the power play.

Blues forward Brandon Saad, a native of Gibsonia, paced the scoring for both teams with two goals, his first two of the season.

“We wanted to come out with some pace and some chances tonight and I think we did a good job of moving the puck and creating some chances,” Saad said to the Associated Press. “As a line all night, I thought we played pretty well.”

Saad’s line, which includes Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, opened the scoring 9:33 into regulation.

After Penguins defenseman Kris Letang forced a pass attempt from his own left circle, the puck was intercepted near the center red line by Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, who fed it to Blues forward Robert Thomas, allowing him to gain the Penguins’ zone on the right wing. Following a centering pass by Thomas to linemate Jordan Kyrou, Letang managed to break that sequence up momentarily with his left skate. Saad claimed the loose puck in the slot and shuffled a backhander toward the cage.

Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves blocked the puck with his right skate, causing it to carom to the left of the crease. Kyrou settled the rebound and immediately fed a forehand pass to Thomas, who was unable to cleanly accept the puck. As Penguins forward Bryan Rust crashed into Jarry on a backcheck and knocked him out of position slightly, the puck slid between the hashmarks where Saad snagged it and fired a wrister into a mostly vacant net. Thomas and Kyrou had assists.

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin tied the game very late in the first period at the 19:55 mark with his fourth goal. As a minor penalty to Malkin expired, Letang backhand shoved a puck from his own right circle that bounced over the stick of Blues defenseman Torey Krug at the right point. The puck trickled to the neutral zone where Malkin emerged from the penalty box and generated a breakaway. Approaching the net, Malkin slowed down and scorched goaltender Jordan Binnington’s blocker, extending a goal-scoring streak to four games. The lone assist went to Letang.

The Blues reclaimed a lead, 2-1, 5:39 into the second period via forward Jake Neighbours’ first goal. On a three-on-two rush, Faulk gained the offensive blue line at the center point and offloaded a backhand pass to the right wing for former Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen. Darting toward the slot, Kapanen twisted Penguins rookie defenseman Ryan Shea around and surged deep below the right circle. With Jarry sprawling out of his crease, Kapanen was able to slip a pass to the crease where Neighbors tapped in an easy forehand shot. Kapanen and Faulk claimed assists.

Blues defenseman Colton Parayko’s first goal put the hosts up by a pair of scores only 1:23 later. Collecting a rebound in the Penguins’ left corner, Blues forward Alexei Toropchenko retreated to the left half wall and flicked a backhanded pass to the right point, where Parayko used every atom of his 6-foot-6, 228-pound frame to hammer a slapper by Jarry’s glove on the near side. Former Penguins forward Oskar Sundvqvist (6-3, 220 pounds) supplied an effective screen on the sequence. Toropchenko and Sundqvist tallied assists.

Saad’s second goal at 15:12 of the third frame provided some insurance. Off a cross-ice pass by Kapanen, Saad moved his way up the left wing of the offensive zone and wired a wrister over Jarry’s right shoulder on the near side. Kapanen and Thomas had assists.

Penguins forward Radim Zohorna, in his NHL season debut, capped the scoring at 16:27 of the final frame. In the Blues’ left corner, Penguins forward Drew O’Connor fended off Blues forward Jakub Vrana and defenseman Marco Scandella then rimmed the puck to the end boards. Shielding the puck from defenseman Tyler Tucker, Zohorna flicked a backhand pass to the left of the crease, where linemate Lars Eller whacked a forehand shot on net. Binnington made the save, but the rebound bounced toward the far post where Zohorna swooped around and jabbed in a forehand shot under Binnington’s left leg. Eller and O’Connor claimed assists.

Saturday’s result extended a losing streak to two games for the Penguins.

Notes:

• Zohorna went 578 days between regular season goals for the Penguins. His most recent score at the NHL level for the franchise came during a 5-1 home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 22, 2022.

• Shea, 26, made his NHL debut and became the 24th player in franchise history to wear No. 5 in a game of consequence. His predecessors:

Dick Mattiussi, Ted Lanyon, Bryan Watson, Ab DeMarco, Barry Wilkins, Steve Lyon, Mario Faubert, Lex Hudson, Ron Meighan, Bryan Maxwell, Mike Rowe, Ville Siren, Gord Dineen, Ulf Samuelsson, Brad Werenka, Janne Laukkanen, Patrick Boileau, Rob Scuderi, Darryl Sydor, Deryk Engelland, David Warsofsky, Zach Trotman, Mike Matheson

• Shea is not considered a rookie by NHL standards on account of his age. Per league rules, any players who are 26 by Sept. 15 of that season are no longer eligible to be considered rookies. Shea turned 26 on Feb. 11.

• With Shea in the lineup, defenseman P.O Joseph was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

• In addition to Joseph, defenseman John Ludvig was scratched for the fifth consecutive game.

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