Penguins Beat Goes On

Early in 1967, iconic recording duo Sonny and Cher released The Beat Goes On, a pop classic that rose to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. For some reason the catchy tune (“lawdy dawdy dee, lawdy dawdy dah”) reminds me very much of our Pittsburgh Penguins, present vintage.

Last night the black and gold overcame a 1-0 deficit in Calgary, no easy place to play because of the altitude (3428 feet above sea level) and opponent, to grind out a methodical 4-1 win. In the process, dousing the piping hot Flames (7-1 in their last eight games) with a bucket of ice water.

The Pens out-hit their hosts, won 52 percent of the draws and, following a typically sluggish start, came on like gangbusters to rack up a 27-17 edge in shots on goal over the final 40 minutes.

Ho hum. Same old story. Just another day at the office, right?

Wrong.

There’s a whole lot of extraordinary wrapped up in all that ordinary. Tristan Jarry continued his meteoric rise to the head of the NHL goaltending class, stopping 33 shots to earn No. 1 star of the game. Making like a firewall, he stoned Milan Lucic on a 2-on-(oh dear Lord!) break with 2:20 left in the second period to literally halt the Flames in their tracks.

Since taking over the goaltending reins from a faltering Matt Murray a month ago he’s been nothing short of sensational. The Surrey, BC, native’s posted a sterling 9-2 record with a 1.72 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.

Let those numbers sink in for a moment.

It’s fair to say, “As Jarry Goes So Go the Pens.” Or “In Tristan We Trust.” Fitting slogans both.

Number 35’s not the only one to shine. The newly formed top line of Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust continues to burn up the ice. Following a two-game absence and bout with the flu, “Geno” celebrated his return to the lineup in grand style, notching his 400th career NHL goal and two assists.

Not to keep spouting statistics, but Malkin’s bear repeating…five goals and 15 points in his last eight games! So do the rest of the unit’s, for that matter. Despite a rare pointless outing, Guentzel was a plus-three for the night. He has eight goals and 22 points in his past 15 contests. And Rust continues his stunning transformation from grinder to scorer, potting his fifth goal in his last eight games and eighth in his past 11.

Look out Rocket Richard. Here’s comes Rusty.

There were heroes aplenty on the back-end as well. Skating nearly the whole game with Justin Schultz down (and apparently out again) the Pens ‘d’ proved its collective mettle. Love him or hate him, Kris Letang thrives with a heavy workload and last night was no exception. “Tanger” tallied a goal and an assist in 27:54 of ice time. He’s got four goals and 12 points in his last 10 games.

And what can you say about John Marino? My word, has this kid been a Godsend and a revelation. All of his production (four goals and 15 points) have come in the last 23 games…an impressive clip for anyone let alone a rookie out of Harvard who was acquired for a conditional sixth-round pick.

Perhaps not by coincidence, the Pens’ present hot streak coincides neatly with Marino’s stunning emergence. They’ve gone 14-5-4 during that span and 10-4-3 sans captain Sidney Crosby. Oh, a little good news on the injury front…Sid’s been skating for the past week as he recovers from abdominal wall surgery.

Are the Pens a perfect team as presently constructed?

No. They’re relying a little too heavily on Jarry and the Malkin line for my taste. In particular, secondary scorers like Dominik Kahun, Jared McCann and snake-bitten (or spider-bitten) Alex Galchenyuk need to dial it up a notch. To say nothing of grinder Zach Aston-Reese and Mike Sullivan favorite Dominik Simon, who’s literally fallen off the planet of late (four assists, minus-10 in his past 21 games).

For now, I’ll take the points any way I can get ‘em…and gladly. Especially considering how banged up we are.

In the meantime? The Penguins beat goes on.