OTTAWA, Ontario — The spark the Penguins sought away from PPG Paints Arena never appeared. In fact, they came out flat against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and paid the price during a 4-0 loss at Canadian Tire Centre that stretched their losing streak to seven games.

The performance was actually worse than their winless five-game homestand. At least those games were competitive.

It was not at all what the Penguins (14-10-9) were looking for, as they lacked energy and goaltending for much of the night. Ottawa scored once in the first, twice in the second and once in the third.

The Penguins pushed early in the final period, but they couldn’t beat Linus Ullmark, who handed them their second shutout loss of the season.

Arturs Silovs started in goal for the Penguins and struggled again, raising more questions about his roster spot and how the Penguins are allocating starts at that position.

This marks the first seven-game losing streak for the Penguins since Oct. 25-Nov. 5, 2022, when they went 0-6-1. Pittsburgh is 0-4-3 in its last seven — just the second seven-game losing streak for the Penguins in the past 20 seasons.

Ottawa grabbed control with a pair a preventable goals in the second period, including one just 94 seconds into the frame after the Penguins opened with strong shift.

But the Senators got some puck luck on a fluky play from defenseman Jordan Spence, who threw a shot on goal from the right corner. It bounced off the leg of former Penguin David Perron to give Ottawa a 2-0 lead at 1:34.

A more conventional miscue gave the Senators a 3-0 lead at 4:50 of the second. That’s when the Penguins, after a giveaway from Rickard Rakell, found themselves trying to defend a four-on-two rush.

With the Penguins scrambling in their own zone, right winger Claude Giroux turned and fired a loose puck from the circle.

The goal — and really, the game — was the latest bit of evidence when it comes to Silovs’ recent downturn. He began the game 1-3-6 in his past 10 starts, with a 3.61 goals-against average and .878 save percentage.

As much as Silovs has struggled, Ottawa’s first goal was hard to pin completely on him. But the Penguins needed him to be better early in the second. Far too many times recently, that was not the case, which could hasten the desire to turn to Sergei Murashov in some capacity.

Thursday’s game featured a sluggish start for the Penguins. Nearly eight minutes in, the Senators had accounted for 13 of the 15 shot attempts during 5-on-5 play and seven of eight scoring chances.

The Penguins got a strong shift from their second line with about eight minutes left in the period, and it led to a golden chance for Danton Heinen at 15:44, the fourth-line winger hitting the post. Heinen actually hit a post and the crossbar in the opening 20 minutes.

Left winger Brady Tkachuk staked the Senators to a 1-0 lead with his goal at 2:16 of the first, Ottawa capitalizing on a tripping penalty assessed to Silovs. Tkachuk buried a turning, backhand feed from right winger Drake Batherson that sailed right past Kris Letang.

That marked the eighth time in the past 10 games the Penguins had allowed at least one power-play goal. They began Thursday’s game killing just 74.3% (26 of 35) of penalties over their previous nine contests.

It was over when ...

Tkachuk scored into an empty net following what appeared to be a mixup between Silovs and Penguins coach Dan Muse at 13:55 of the third.

Stat of the game

29: Goals allowed by the Penguins during their seven-game losing streak, an average of 4.1 per contest.

Around the boards

— Same as Tuesday, Ryan Graves, Connor Clifton and Ville Koivunen were scratched.

— The Senators announced Tuesday that Jacques Martin, a former Penguins assistant and Jack Adams Award winner in Ottawa, will be added to the team’s ring of honor in January.

— Officials waved off what should’ve been a Penguins goal at 12:21 of the second, ruling Rakell interfered with Ullmark. The call even withstood a challenge from Muse, who was clearly unhappy with the decision. Rakell was barely in the blue paint. His skate only touched the area after contact from Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, who drove his stick into Rakell’s waist.

— The Penguins have dropped 11 of their past 12 games (1-6-5) without Evgeni Malkin.

Up next

The Penguins are scheduled to practice in Montreal on Friday before a matchup with the Canadiens on Saturday at Bell Centre.