Penguins Clip ‘Canes 3-2, Snag Second Place in Metro

I was all set to write my summary of Sunday’s 3-2 triumph over Carolina when my community experienced an electrical outage.

Plans temporarily short-circuited, I decided to make the best of things and went out for an early morning walk while the utility company restored our power.

Reminded me a bit of yesterday’s contest. Although the Penguins got off to a sluggish start, they remained patient and capitalized on opportunities when they arose, instead of forcing the issue.

The result? A workmanlike win.

The Pens yielded too many shots (35—including 13 in the final period) to call it a blueprint for the playoffs. But we’re gettin’ there, slowly but surely.

Once again, Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary grabbed the spotlight, offsetting a somewhat flat performance—statistically speaking—by linemate Sidney Crosby (one shot, minus-1). The kids each tallied a power-play goal and combined for seven shots on goal.

Not a bad day’s work.

Guentzel made the most of his 37 seconds with the man advantage. With Klas Dahlbeck in the box for tripping, the peppery forward raced to the net and tapped home a made-to-order setup from Chad Ruhwedel at 11:28 of the first period.

After Jeff Skinner knotted the score two minutes later with a determined, second-effort goal, the game settled into a typical Pens-Canes thriller. Featuring plenty of end-to-end action and momentum swings.

Then the Pens’ lunch-pail crew chipped in midway through the second period with a nice bit of teamwork. Following a prolonged cycle in the Hurricanes’ end, Carter Rowney cut through the left circle and snapped off a shot. Carolina goalie Eddie Lack made a right-pad save, but couldn’t smother the rebound. Scott Wilson arrived on the doorstep to jam the puck beneath Lack’s pads and over the goal line.

“When guys step up at different times and different people make contributions each and every night, that’s a sign of a real competitive hockey team,” noted coach Mike Sullivan.

The locals gained a little breathing room early in the third period—again on the power play. This time Sheary did the honors, one-timing a beautiful feed from Patric Hornqvist past Lack from the side of the net for his 22nd goal of the season.

The ‘Canes made things interesting, thanks to a freak power-play goal by Justin Faulk at 9:38 of the third period. Faulk’s blast from center point smacked off the Plexiglas and hit Matt Murray square in the numbers. Displaying remarkable reflexes, the rookie goalie tried to make a circus glove save in behind-the-back fashion, but the puck eluded him and bounded in.

The Pens staved off a late push by the visitors to leapfrog Columbus and regain second place in the hotly contested Metro Division.

“I think Washington’s going to be tough to catch if they keep winning, but Columbus is definitely within reach,” said Sheary. “If we want to come into the first round with home ice, I think it’s important to keep playing hard and keep playing for two points.”

Puckpourri

Carolina outshot the Pens, 35-26, and won 58 percent of the faceoffs. The black and gold held a slight edge in hits (32-30).

The line of Rowney, Wilson and Josh Archibald was a physical force, accounting for 13 hits. The trio totaled four shots on goal in a combined 33:46 of ice time.

Archibald replaced Chris Kunitz, who suffered an upper-body injury while blocking a shot during the late stages of Friday night’s victory over the Rangers. Sullivan described the injury as “longer term.”

Sullivan set a franchise record for first-year coaches with 48 wins, eclipsing the previous mark held by Dan Bylsma and Michel Therrien.

The Pens trail Washington by five points in the Presidents’ Trophy race. They presently hold a one-point lead over Columbus in the quest for home-ice advantage. Each team has four games left to play in the regular season.

The Pens and Blue Jackets meet in a showdown at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night.