Sheary, Penguins Stand Tall

The news on the medical front wasn’t good. In fact, it hardly could’ve been worse.

In the wake of the Penguins’ hard-fought 3-2 triumph over Columbus, the team announced on Saturday that superstar center Evgeni Malkin will miss six-to-eight weeks with an upper-body injury. One that likely will shelve him until the second-round of Stanley Cup playoffs.

Left wing Scott Wilson, too, was held out of yesterday’s key Metropolitan Division matchup against the Rangers. He was injured Friday night, courtesy of a heavy Dalton Prout check.

Into the maelstrom stepped two rookies from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton—Conor Sheary and 21-year-old Dominik Simon (pronounced See-MONE). For one game, at least, the kids stood tall.

Displaying an abundance of speed, energy and plain old hockey sense, Sheary popped in two goals—his fourth and fifth of the campaign—to pace the Pens to a huge 5-3 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

His first goal was a thing of beauty. With the score tied 1-1 early in the second period, the undersized winger alertly peeled off the boards and scooted into the slot, arriving just in time to deflect Justin Schultz’ low, knuckling drive from the right point past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

After the Rangers drew even at 2-2, Sheary struck again. Anticipating the play perfectly, the UMass-Amherst grad burst into open ice, gathered in a pretty backhand feed from Tom Kuhnhackl, and beat Lundqvist clean to the stick side on a breakaway at 15:55.

His heroics earned him the No. 1 Star of the game. And, some well-deserved praise from Pens coach Mike Sullivan.

“He’s a terrific kid,” Sullivan said. “You can see his offensive instincts. You can see his vision when he has the puck. And his effort is inspiring. I think it’s not just to the coaching staff. I think his effort is inspiring to his teammates as well.”

Simon was no slouch, either. Admittedly nervous skating in his first NHL contest, he displayed uncommon tenacity and an excellent stick. Midway through the third period the 5’11” 176-pounder won a puck battle along the boards against venerable Dan Boyle, setting the table for Matt Cullen’s game winner. Simon was awarded an assist on the play.

“His hockey IQ is off the charts,” Sullivan said of the Czech Republic native, who tallied 18 goals and 20 assists in 54 games with the Baby Pens this season. “I think his learning curve will be steep.”

Patric Hornqvist (power play) and Sidney Crosby (empty netter) also scored for the Pens, who ran their record to 29-0-0 when leading after two periods. Outdueling Lundqvist for the second time in ten days, Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves—18 during a lopsided opening period that saw the ice tilt heavily in favor of the New Yorkers.

“I thought Marc had some huge saves early in the game,” Sullivan noted. “He gave us a chance to win.”

The victory propelled the black and gold (36-24-8, 80 points) past Detroit and into the top Eastern Conference wild-card slot. The Penguins hold a one-point edge over the Red Wings with a game in hand. Arch-enemy Philadelphia trails the Pens by four points.

Kuhnhackl, Rust, and Wilson Sign Extensions

The Penguins extended the contracts of forwards Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl and Scott Wilson for two years beginning next season, GM Jim Rutherford announced today.

According to the team’s website, Rust’s contract carries an average annual value of $640,000. Kuhnhackl and Wilson will earn an average of $625,000 each.

By the Numbers (2015-16)
Player	Age	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-
Rust	23	Penguins	NHL	33	3	5	8	4	0
		Baby Pens	AHL	16	3	3	6	2	-5
Wilson	23	Penguins	NHL	24	5	1	6	12	0
		Baby Pens	AHL	34	22	14	36	19	4
Kuhnhackl	24	Penguins	NHL	28	2	4	6	10	2
		Baby Pens	AHL	23	7	8	15	18	10