LAS VEGAS -- The Penguins would not have been the first visitors to leave this town with their spirits broken and their pockets empty.
Heck, much of Las Vegas was built on a foundation of shattered hopes and dreams.
But sometimes, people who come here find a way to defy the odds.
They hit a hot streak at the roulette table, or draw a series of improbably good hands while playing blackjack.
Or, in the case of the Penguins, somehow manage to win a game, 4-3, even though they're outshot, 35-16, by a team that had won its previous four games and operates in one of the most raucous venues in the NHL.
And so it was that the Penguins hit the jackpot at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday evening, taking two points away from the Golden Knights.
"It certainly wasn't the way we drew it up, that's for sure," Mike Sullivan said. "But it's a win. We certainly weren't at our best. We got a great performance by Tristan (Jarry) in goal and we got some opportunistic scoring."
And they needed every one of the 32 stops that Jarry made just hours after learning that he has been selected to replace Joonas Korpisalo of Columbus in the NHL All-Star Game.
Never mind that Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist had staked them to a 2-0 lead by beating Marc-Andre Fleury during the first seven minutes, 10 seconds of the opening period. Or that Dominik Kahun bumped their lead to three with a power-play goal at 4:18 of the second:
The Penguins' offense dried up like a raindrop in the desert after Hornqvist's goal -- they generated only 10 shots for the remainder of the game -- and they spent much of the final two-plus periods trying to fend of repeated assaults by Vegas.
"They stepped it up, and we had a little struggle to get pucks out," Kahun said. "They have a good team, too. It's not easy in this league."
No, it certainly isn't, but the Penguins had developed a remarkable knack for finding ways to overcome adversity this season.
This time, their margin of victory was provided by Brandon Tanev, who pulled in a long pass from Kris Letang and carried the puck down the right side before cutting to the net and -- after eluding a poke-check attempt by Fleury -- sliding a shot inside the left post:
The poke-check is one of Fleury's favorite, and most effective, tools, but Tanev seemed to be prepared for it.
"He's an aggressive goalie and our goaltending coach (Mike Buckley) does a great job of giving us a pre-scout," Tanev said. "I was fortunate enough to make a move and wait him out, and it went in."
Tanev scored at 2:15 of the third period, and gave the Penguins a two-goal cushion.
The pass that led to his goal put an exclamation point on a strong performance by Letang, who had strung together several sub-par games before the Penguins headed west Monday.
"That was a great pass," Tanev said. "He showed why he's an all-star. He's got great vision."
Coincidentally or otherwise, Letang's good showing came hours after he, too, had been named to participate in the All-Star Game -- and after he had stayed on the ice following the Penguins' game-day skate to work on his game.
"He cares so much, and he's so invested in helping the Penguins win," Sullivan said. "He wants to be at his best."
On this night, at least, Letang was.
Although the Golden Knights, who had dominated most of the second period, seemed a bit deflated after Tanev scored, they were rejuvenated when Reilly Smith chipped a shot past Jarry at 12:45 to make it 4-3.
That triggered a high-stress stretch for the Penguins, especially when Malkin was penalized for tripping at 17:17.
The Penguins were one big mistake, be it a missed check or a blown save, from going into overtime against a team that had controlled play for much of the evening.
They couldn't have liked their odds of that had happened.
It didn't matter, though, because the Penguins didn't make that big mistake, and Jarry stopped everything Vegas threw at him the rest of the way.
"Especially in the third period tonight, when Vegas was pushing hard, I thought we dug in pretty good down the stretch," Sullivan said.
The Penguins, it should be noted, entered the game fully expecting to be tested severely by the Golden Knights, who trail them by just three points in the overall standings.
"They're a hard-working team with a lot of skill," Letang said. "They showed us tonight why they've been successful the last few years."
Indeed, while Vegas coach Gerard Gallant volunteered that his team had been guilty of "some self-inflicted wounds" because of poor puck management early in the game, he acknowledged that the Golden Knights nearly overcame everything they faced in this game.
"When we got that first one and made it 3-1, we felt we were going to come back and have a chance to win a hockey game," he said. "And we did, we battled back, made it 4-3 and had some good chances the last three or four minutes. We battled back and almost got there. But it wasn’t good enough."
On most nights, against most teams, Vegas' effort would have been.
But most teams the Golden Knights will face aren't these Penguins, who have made a habit out of overcoming long odds and making points seem to appear out of nowhere, like props in a Penn and Teller show.
"It's not always pretty," Sullivan said. "Tonight was an example of it. But for the most part, our guys have played pretty competitive hockey and have deserved a lot of the points that we've accumulated to this point. We know we weren't at our best. We certainly have to be better moving forward. But once again, I give our players a lot of credit. They're fighting hard. We're competing hard. It's never from a lack of effort with this group. They find ways."
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