A springboard game.
That’s what NBCSN analyst Pierre McGuire called Wednesday’s impressive 3-1 Penguins victory over a very good Capitals team on the road.
Pierre may be right. A hockey team in search of an identity may have, indeed, found one.
It wasn’t so much that the Penguins won as how they won. After failing to convert on an extended 5-on-3 power play in the first period, they fell behind their bitter rival early in the final frame courtesy of a brilliant Evgeny Kuznetsov end-to-end rush. Given the Pens’ failure to mount third-period rallies during the Mike Johnston era, their collective goose seemed all but cooked.
This time our guys responded. Big time.
Twenty-four seconds after Kuznetsov’s stirring tally, Nick Bonino nudged Olli Maatta’s long stretch pass up to the waiting stick of Beau Bennett at the Caps’ blue line. Fresh off an abbreviated stint on IR, Bennett beat goalie Braden Holtby on his own rebound to knot the score and silence the Verizon Center crowd.
The Caps reeled and the Pens pounced. Phil Kessel finished off a pretty give-and-go with Evgeni Malkin at 3:49 to stake the black and gold to a 2-1 lead. Just past the seven-minute mark Marc-Andre Fleury—superb again—robbed Nicklas Backstrom on a jam attempt from the doorstep. Flower (33 saves) coolly turned aside an Alex Ovechkin blast from the top of the right circle in the closing minutes. The gritty Bonino tacked on an empty-netter for insurance, snapping the Caps’ five-game winning streak in the process.
The Penguins? Quietly, they’ve won five of six, including back-to-back triumphs on the road against tough opposition. A truly stunning achievement when you consider superstar Sidney Crosby and fellow top-six forwards Patric Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz, and David Perron have been mostly MIA from the scoresheet—mustering a measly two goals between them.
While scoring remains a struggle and the power play a disaster of epic proportions (6.45% success rate), the patchwork defense has shone. Backed by Fleury’s remarkable play between the pipes (1.90 GAA and .937 SV%), our bend-but-not-break Pens currently are second among NHL clubs in fewest goals allowed.
Who could’ve imagined?
Sexy? Not especially. Effective? Yes. The Penguins are finding a way.
