Penguins Punch their Playoff Ticket

Please forgive me for propagating that played-out catch-phrase particularly after you had to endure Penguins’ TV announcers not just beat, but pound that horse posthumously throughout the broadcast last night.

Honestly, I didn’t count the number of times I heard one of the announcers make, or allude to that hackneyed saying, nor do I recall the first time it was used as a hype statement pregame but after hearing it over and over again, eventually the iteration evoked images in the muse of my mind. Eventually the banality of it all brought forth the animated Tom Hanks as the train conductor of the “Polar Express” punching the tickets of children on the cusp of losing their belief.

Just like in that movie, the Penguins almost lost their ticket. Detroit opened up the scoring when Matt Puempel converted a Jake Guentzel interference penalty into a goal by redirecting a Filip Hronek point shot while standing in the mid slot. And just like the movie, that ticket seemed to elude their grasp, floating around the frozen wastes as young, lightning quick legs pressured some of the slower more veteran legs of our locals. Even though they weren’t getting a lot of shots, the Red Wings were getting some chances.

Fortunately, the Wings got clipped fairly soon after by none other than the man who gave the upstarts their hopes. Guentzel was Johnny-on-the-spot, slipping into a dead spot in Detroits’ defense as Olli Maatta picked a perfect time to jump into the play, circling into the left corner before slipping the puck back up to an open Guentzel in the face-off circle. Guentzel made short work of that pass, potting it behind Jimmy Howard with a one time shot.

It took a little time (Howard did play well) but before the period was over and after nearly 18 shots, the Penguin machine started to gain traction when Phil “the thrill” Kessel slammed home a power play scramble in front of a beleaguered Howard‘s net. Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby with power play specialist Patric Hornqvist caused the mayhem, distracting Detroit defenders, allowing Kessel to get open.

Kessel, extended the Flightless Fowl’s lead 15 minutes into the second frame as the Penguins peppered Howard 18 more times. Kessel‘s second goal came off of a clean speed draw win by a returning Evgeni Malkin.

Crosby iced the game in the 3rd period with another power play goal. This time Kessel and Hornqvist were the ones who distracted Detroit‘s PK (Penalty Kill) while Captain Sid snuck in (relative term – one Red Wing did try covering Crosby) to the left of Howard to deposit a lose puck into the net. The goal drew Crosby to within 2 points of the century mark.

Perhaps the real hero to the Penguins’ playoff hopes was and is goalie Matt Murray. After a rocky start to the season Murray has been a wall despite facing a barrage of not only shots, but high quality shots. And once again last night, Murray sparkled, turning back 33 of 34 shots.

This brings us to the question; What did Conductor Hanks punch into the tickets of the Penguins?

Maybe “60 Minutes”?

How about “Play to win, not to not lose”?
Maybe, “At least get in the way of opposing forwards”?

If he punched in “shoot the puck!!”, the team may have been listening, at least last night. They had 46 shots on goal.

If he punched in “Stop alienating your players” on Mike Sullivan‘s ticket, he may already be learning, according to announcer Bob Errey, Sullivan was over heard giving Kessel a pat on the back for some solid defensive play.

Any thoughts, Penguin Poop faithful?

Odds and Sods

With the win last night, the team will make its 13 straight playoff appearance, extending their team record for playoff appearances. The previous best streak was 11 seasons.

Guentzel‘s goal was his 39th goal of the year. He only needs 1 more to eclipse the 40 mark. If he can score one more goal, he will be the first Penguin Winger to hit that mark since James Neal did it in 2011-2012.

Penguins’ prospect Kasper Bjorkqvist and his Providence Friars teammates find themselves in the semi finals of the NCAA’s Frozen Four. Bjorkqvist has 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points, 3 shots, 2 penalty minutes and his plus/minus is even at 0 in the 2 tournament games thus far. Go Friars! Go Bjorkqvist!