As a general rule, Penguins visits to TD Garden go down about as well as a giant gulp of castor oil. Counting last night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins, our boys haven’t won in their last eight tilts in Beantown (0-7-1).
Still, there were plenty of reasons to feel encouraged by the Pens’ performance. Following a typically sluggish first period (outshot 11-6, trailed 1-0) we got stronger as the game progressed, much like a stud pitcher in baseball. And this against a very good Bruins team. Had it not been for the stellar goaltending of long-time nemesis Tuukka Rask, we would’ve come away with two points. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The Bruins grabbed the lead at 7:41 of the opening frame on a shorthanded goal by noted fink Brad Marchand, who beat Kris Letang with an inside move and ripped the biscuit past Tristan Jarry.
The Pens nearly knotted the score early in the second period on a rush by the Sidney Crosby line, but Rask stopped Bryan Rust cold. It was a theme that would recur throughout the game…the B’s netminder blunted five shots by the “Rusty Razor”…excellent chances all.
While the Pens struggled to mount any sustained pressure, the Bruins cashed in again on a 5-on-3 power play around the eight-minute mark, courtesy of a phantom tripping penalty to Brandon Tanev. In the process negating a heroic penalty killing effort by Mark Jankowski and company.
At this stage, there was very little to cheer for black-and-gold fans. Then someone threw an invisible switch.
Led by an inspired Evgeni Malkin, who resembled the “Geno” of old, the Pens buzzed like bees around Mike Lange’s hive in the closing minutes of the second period, setting the stage for a barn-burning final period. Our guys would dominate, and without key defenseman Brian Dumoulin, injured while blocking a shot before the horn.
Skating with buzz-saw intensity, Jason Zucker served notice with a crunching check on Chris Wagner along the boards. Midway through the frame the snake-bitten winger struck for his first goal of the season following a furious sequence of sustained pressure by the second power-play unit.
Like a boxer fading in the final rounds, the Bruins couldn’t keep the swarming Pens off. Rask stoned Kasperi Kapanen on a breakaway with five minutes remaining. But the flying Finn would not be denied. Moments later Kapanen gathered in a pretty pass from Malkin, gained a step on the defense and cut in front of Rask. The puck rolled off his stick at the last second but evaded Rask as well, slipping past the goalie’s right skate and into the net. Knotting the score at 2-2 and kapping (pun intended) yet another scintillating Pens comeback.
Overtime was…in a word…thrilling, as the teams exchanged Grade-A scoring chances. Rask stopped Rust early and Jarry returned the favor with an equally huge save on Craig Smith.
Malkin had a glorious chance to end it at 3:37 when he steamed in on a breakaway, but his missile rang off the crossbar. Moments later No. 71 had a chance to redeem himself on a 3-on-0 break. However, instead of shooting, the big Russian dropped the puck off to Letang, who tried an ill-fated return pass, muffing a golden opportunity to cop two big points.
Then the Pens got careless. With Crosby and John Marino scrumming along the wall in the neutral zone and the clock ticking down, Zucker veered toward the attacking zone, leaving the Bruins with a clear-cut 2-on-0 the other way. Smith beat Jarry with 11 seconds remaining to steal the extra point for the B’s.
A deflating end to a very entertaining game.
Puckpourri
Rookie forward Drew O’Connor made his NHL debut and didn’t look the least bit out of place. Skating on the fourth line and second power-play unit, he collected an assist (and a plus-one) in 10:51 of ice time.
The Bruins outshot the Pens, 36-30, and dominated the faceoff circle, winning 70 percent of the draws. Jarry made 33 saves.
Opinyinz
I was very impressed with rookie defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Taking a regular turn in the final 20 minutes, often next to Letang, he looked cool and poised. He skates well, handles the puck and passes well, possesses a good shot and doesn’t shy away from physical contact. Say what you will about the Phil Kessel trade, but the Pens definitely have something here.
His final misread aside, I thought Zucker played a terrific game. He fairly crackled with energy from start to finish and provided plenty of inspiration, not to mention a goal and an assist, four shots and five hits. Hopefully he can bottle this performance and lather, rinse, repeat.
The second power-play unit featuring Zucker, Kapanen, O’Connor and Jared McCann was dominant at times. Far more effective than our star-studded top unit.
On the flip side, while it’s hard to be critical of a guy who played almost 30 minutes, I thought Letang had one of his “brain-in-his-keister” outings. His defensive reads at times defied logic, and his puck distribution was iffy at best. Maddening.
I focused a little more on Cody Ceci and wasn’t exactly comforted by what I saw. During one sequence in the second period he joined the rush, only to flub a pass from Teddy Blueger. For good measure he bumped into his teammate, nearly knocking him down deep in the Boston zone, before laboring to get back into position. Impeding Jarry in the process. Very Jack Johnson-eque. But like JJ, Ceci’s giving it his all, so I won’t complain too much.
Ron to the Rescue?
Maybe I’m crazy. But if Dumoulin goes down for any length of time, I might be tempted to put in a call to Ron Hainsey. The 39-year-old vet is an unrestricted free agent. Conditioning might be an issue…it’s sure to take some time to knock the rust off his tires. But big Ron played very well for us in 2017, and subsequently for Toronto and even a bad Ottawa team last season. Despite his advanced age, he skated on the top pairing for the Maple Leafs as recently as two seasons ago (and was a plus-30). A left-handed shot, he can play either side with equal ability. I’m sure he could be had on the cheap. Might provide some veteran leadership, too.
Just a thought.
Rick, The Other Rick
“Rutherford just stepped down as Pen’s GM for personal reasons!!
Few observations from last nights OT defeat.
1) Pen’s players cannot take a pass cleanly. McCann’s inability to
control a cross-ice pass from Crosby resulted in Boston’s 1st goal.
I’m not signaling out McCann this happened repeatedly by Pen’s
players throughout the course of the game. “Letang sucks”
2) I know Zucker made a poor decision in OT but what was Marino
thinking about with OT running out – dump the puck in and get
off.
Hey Rick,
Great Recap!
Even though the team lost in OT, I thought they looked the best I have seen them all season.
On the good side;
As you said, O’Conner looked good, certainly an upgrade over Rodrigues. Honestly, the kids play on the 2nd PP-unit was nice to watch. Mike questioned (was it yesterday or the day before?) “other teams always seem to be keeping their feet moving in the attacking zone while our Pens always seem to be standing still, and did we have the same impression?” Well, I agree Mike, but O’Conner always seemed to be moving, making it harder to keep track of him. I wouldn’t mind seeing him move up to the top unit to try and get them off their collective duffs.
Agreed, POJ does look good, right now. I’ll enjoy and hope it lasts, the team could use a legit 2nd LHD, but I am not ready to anoint him yet. Seen too many play well during the honeymoon phase and then turn to zeros once the stars stopped shining and the regular grind kicks in.
Malkin was playing hard, not like he did last year, but certainly a step up.
On the down side,
With Kapanen’s goal, the Pens top 2 lines scoring has inched up to only 6 goals in 7 games (less than impressive and not really good enough). Crosby’s line has 3, while Malkin’s line has also chipped in the same amount. What is most concerning here is that 5 on 5 both Crosby and Malkin have only earned 2 Points each, 5-on-5.
Outside of a sweet pass to Rust in the slot, Crosby was invisible last night.
What the heck was Letang thinking, passing the puck back to Malkin on that 3 on 0 when Malkin was already almost below the goal line? Granted, if Malkin was going to defer to Letang on a pass, he should have been wider to draw Rask further away from the far post before passing to Letang, but Letang’s return pass was plain stupid. Letang should have shot the puck. But then again, that is Penguins hockey, pass up the shot for a one last pass.
After enjoying 6 straight games of FO circle dominance, our birds of winter couldn’t win a draw to save their lives last night.
Dumoulin injury was the last thing the blur line needed.
Speaking of the Dumoulin’s injury, saw a blurp by Kingarski, apparently JR has been in negotiations with St. Louis over Vince Dunn. Wonder if that gets fast tracked, or worse will JR over pay now that we are down to Czuczman on the LHD side?
Dunn is more of a Sully guy, middling size (72″, 203lbs), soft (averaging 47 Hts with 64 blks per 82 GP while giving the puck away 42 times while only taking it away only 22 times per 82 gGP). I have said many times and will say it again, I would go after Nicolas Hague (78″, 215lbs, 146Hts, 57blks, 20Gv, 25Tk per 82GP)