Guentzel Rescues Penguins with Groundhog Day Heroics

As I watched from my favored perch at the Pennsbury Pub & Grille yesterday afternoon in muted horror, Philadelphia forward Scott Laughton burst past Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, gathered in a long stretch pass from Sean Couturier and torched Matt Murray on an eminently stoppable shot from the left faceoff circle.

Not only did the goal help transform an early 2-1 black-and-gold lead into an ugly 4-2 deficit, but Philly had all the momentum to boot.

Stunned by the sudden turn of events, my guts began a slow, agonizing twist. Good thing I’d refrained from taking a bite of my dollar-a-slice pizza, or I might have pitched my cookies then and there.

Shaking my head in disgust, I muttered to no one in particular, “Murray’s gotta’ stop that shot.” All the while flashbacks from our disastrous series loss to Philly in 2012 were dancing in my head, not to mention the darkest thoughts imaginable.

Dear Lord, we might blow this series.

As I often do, I began to rough out ideas for a game summary. Given our distinct downward trajectory, I thought I’d play off Other Rick’s ‘Oops’ theme from Game 5. Maybe ‘Double Oops’…or something like that.

Thank goodness for Patric Hornqvist. Back in the lineup for Game 6 after missing the previous two contests, ‘Horny’ finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby to pull the Pens back to within 4-3. Perhaps all was not lost after all.

Then Guentzel took over…with a little help from his friends. Mimicking the movie Groundhog Day, No. 59 embarked on a lather-rinse-repeat goal-scoring spree of epic proportion.

With 54 ticks left on the second-period clock, ‘Jake the Snake’ somehow deflected Olli Maatta’s blast from the point through Michal Neuvirth’s pads, a Crosby-esque sleight-of-hand that’s difficult to detect even on replays. More importantly, it reset the table and knotted the score at 4-4 just before the horn.

The kid wasn’t finished…not by a long shot. Thirty seconds into the final frame, he took a beautiful cross-crease dish from Phil Kessel and buried it behind a harried Neuvirth. I’d just begun to relax a little when Jake became entangled with Philly namesake Jake Voracek and was whistled off for interference midway through the period.

I won’t repeat my reaction, nor the words that spewed from my lips when Kris Letang took an utterly senseless cross-checking penalty moments later to hand the Flyers a 4-on-3 power play for a full 1:28. Let’s just say they’re not fit for public consumption. Nor is my overall opinion of Letang’s play. I’ll call his decision-making atrocious and leave it at that.

Much to my relief, Murray and the much-maligned penalty killers rose to the occasion. Determined to make amends, Letang whacked the puck away from Voracek along the boards…sending the big Flyer sprawling…before feeding Crosby, who in turn found Guentzel in the high slot. Jake turned and ripped the puck through Neuvirth’s exposed five-hole to complete his natural hat trick.

Ten seconds later the Omaha native slammed the lid on Philly’s coffin but good, finishing off a on 2-on-1 with Hornqvist. It was Jake’s fourth goal in a magical 13:52 span.

With a seemingly secure 7-4 lead, I thrust my hands skyward and let out a hearty victory whoop. Of course, our guys never make it easy, do they? They leaked for a third goal by Couturier, playing with a torn MCL, with just enough time left to make it interesting. Fortunately for my spiking nerves and blood pressure, Bryan Rust picked off an Ivan Provorov pass and fired the puck into a vacant Philly net with half a minute to go.

Finally, I exhaled. Even cracked a smile during the post-game handshake, secure in the knowledge that we’d moved on to Round Two.

To borrow from the inimitable Mike Lange, Hallelujah Hollywood.

Puckpourri

The Pens won their ninth-straight playoff series, matching the franchise mark set in 1993. Detroit was the last team to win nine series in a row, accomplishing the feat in 1999.

Crosby and Guentzel are currently tied for the NHL playoff scoring lead, with six goals and 13 points each. They’re tied with several other skaters for the top spot in assists with seven apiece. Letang is second among defensemen with seven points, one behind John Carlson (Washington) and Torey Krug (Boston).

Evgeni Malkin missed the game with a leg injury. Carl Hagelin, who scored the Pens’ second goal, was sent to the locker room midway through the game courtesy of a brutal but clean shoulder check by Philly captain Claude Giroux. Carter Rowney dressed for the first time in the postseason. He replaced Dominik Simon.

The Pens will face the winner of the Columbus-Washington series in Round Two.