I believe it was Mark Twain who once said, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
Much like the noted writer and humorist, the Penguins, too, have come back from the brink. A loss to Columbus last night would’ve placed our boys in a precarious spot in the chase for a playoff berth, with one skate squarely in the grave and the other perched on a banana peel.
However, after digging themselves an early two-goal hole in a game they simply had to win, the Pens rediscovered the resilience and moxie that made them back-to-back champions.
Powered by huge third-period goals from Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel, the Pens rallied in dramatic fashion to force overtime. Twenty-three seconds into OT, Sidney Crosby culminated an amazing comeback with an apparent game-winner.
Or so it seemed. While Sid was mobbed by his teammates, the league office in Toronto called for a review. Quicker than you can say ‘Jesse James’, the tally was disallowed due to goalie interference. A gut-punch of a call that stunned the delirious crowd at PPG Paints Arena and doused a frenzied victory celebration.
I confess. It felt like the Steelers-Patriots all over again, when an overturned touchdown transformed certain victory into heartbreaking defeat. I can only imagine the mood of the 18,652 fans in attendance. They probably felt as if Santa Claus had shimmied back down the chimney in a fiendish reversal of form to reclaim their Christmas presents at the height of their holiday revelry.
It’s been that kind of season.
With the fates cranked full bore against them, the Pens were socked with even more adversity in the form of a high-sticking penalty to Guentzel. If ever our guys were primed for a Steelers-sized letdown, this was it.
Remarkably, Matt Murray and the penalty killers stood firm, holding the Blue Jackets to a single shot on goal. In the shootout, Malkin and Sidney Crosby reclaimed our victory, not to mention the all-important second point, beating a suddenly vulnerable Sergei Bobrovsky through the five-hole. At the opposite end of the ice, Murray atoned for a rocky outing with stops on Blue Jackets rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois and sniper Artemi Panarin, who’d victimized him earlier for two goals.
“It was a real character win,” said Pens coach Mike Sullivan. “I thought it was the most resilient that this group has been all year long. Just kind of a never-say-die attitude.”
Indeed, with their backs to the wall, the Pens finally seemed to mine the enormous reserve of pride, spirit and competitive fire that has lain mostly dormant through a miserable first half. Even better, the big players scored big goals in a big game.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s hope for this season yet.
Oh, speaking of demises? The Penguins’ brass may want to rethink their all-but-stated intention to trade defenseman Ian Cole. Next to Malkin, I thought he was our best player. Harkening back to his gritty playoff performances, the Notre Dame grad logged a team-high 4:23 of shorthanded ice time and was instrumental in killing off the penalty to Guentzel in overtime.
Puckpourri
Malkin paced the Pens with a goal and two assists to earn the game’s first star. Crosby, who collected an assist and a shootout tally, earned the No. 3 star. Kessel (1+1) and Patric Hornqvist (two assists) each finished with two points on the evening.
Conor Sheary opened the scoring for the locals, beating Bobrovsky at 5:57 of the second period off the rush. It was his 10th goal of the season and first since December 5.
Forward Bryan Rust and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel exited the game early with undisclosed injuries. In Ruhwedel’s absence, the five remaining d-men each logged 20-plus minutes of ice time, with Brian Dumoulin leading the way (24:12).
Kris Letang missed last night’s game with a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day. The Penguins have recalled defenseman Frank Corrado from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
They Said It
“Once you saw the replay, I don’t know what the hell they were arguing about after. It’s goalie interference.”—Columbus coach John Tortorella
“Instant replay is ruining pro sports.”—Penguins studio analyst Jay Caufield
Hey Rick,
Great lead in. I hope our demise has been greatly exaggerated. Time will tell.
I have got to be honest, I got so disgusted through the first period and start of the second that I shut the game off and missed the come back.
Murray really didn’t look all that sharp in his first game back after the Christmas break. Granted the first goal was a lucky bounce off the boards to a wide open shooter and the D gave up more odd man breaks giving Panarin a couple of golden opportunities that he converted, but on the 2nd goal against Murray was off his angles and giving away too much of the short side, looked a little slow on his glove on Panarin’s first goal and watching the replay of Panarin’s second goal, I am still wondering why he didn’t freeze that puck as it just sat there.
How much do you want to bet that if the reverse had been true in OT and CBJ had been the team to have a goal over-turned, Tortorello would have complained that either it was clearly a goal or that it was too liberal of an application of the rules like he did last game they met and Panarin got waived out of the FO circle and got a penalty. I am sorry, the man is a whining joke.
As I wrote in a reply yesterday, when I first read that Letang was to be a healthy scratch, I still wonder if he was held out because of trade negotiations. I am not saying he wasn’t healthy, but I would suspect that the precariousness of the team’s season would mean that he probably would be playing unless A. he was seriously hurt or B. the team didn’t want to risk exacerbating a bump or bruise minor issue before trading him.
Getting the W obviously was important but giving a beat up CBJ team a point wasn’t good.
I agree, Cole, playing the way he played the last 2-years is important to the team. And if Letang were traded, they may have the $$$ to re-sign him. regardless, there are other “D” men less effective than Cole.