Nail-biter: Penguins Outlast Devils

To borrow from the Charles Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

I’ve used this lead-in before. But I can’t think of a more fitting way to describe the Penguins’ wild and woolly 7-6 triumph over New Jersey last night at PPG Paints Arena. Truly one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve seen a few in my day.

Following three so-so efforts, our guys came out with guns ablazin’ against the skidding Devils, losers of six in a row. In steady succession Mike Matheson, Bryan Rust, Brian Dumoulin and Jeff Carter scored to transform goalie Scott Wedgewood into the largest hunk of Swiss cheese east of Wisconsin and stake us to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Devils coach Lindy Ruff yanked his embattled netminder in favor of journeyman Aaron Dell to begin the second period. For all the good it did, he might as well have sent in the farmer in the dell. Barely a minute into the period, Teddy Blueger converted a beautiful no-look backhand feed from Evan Rodrigues. Speaking of E-Rod, he was next on the cavalcade of black-and-gold scorers, cashing in on the power play at 15:18 thanks to a picture-perfect setup from Jason Zucker.

For 40 minutes the Pens had throttled the Devils like few other opponents this season. Then they did their darndest to give the game away…and very nearly succeeded.

Actually, the turning point occurred late in the second period when Nathan Bastian buried Kris Letang with a high, hard hit along the boards. “Tanger,” who appeared to be shaken up, retaliated by taking down Miles Wood to draw an interference penalty.

Early in the final frame Bastian struck again, sending Dumoulin hard to the ice with a slew foot from behind. This time he was penalized. However, the hulking forward had made a statement in bold, block letters and the rest of the Devils followed his lead. They scored early in the frame on the power play and added a shorty with Bastian in the box.

Suddenly, visions of our ugly 4-3 come-from-in-front loss against Philly on March 4 began dancing in my head.

Nah, that couldn’t happen again. No way we could blow a six-goal lead…

Think again.

The Devils pulled to within three on a tally by Bastian (there’s that name again). Then Sidney Crosby scored what appeared to be the back-breaker at 11:15 to soothe my jangled nerves and bring my blood pressure back to acceptable levels.

But our foes still weren’t finished. They struck twice within a 64-second span, then closed to within 7-6 on a marker by Andreas Johnsson with 41 tics remaining. Somehow the Pens kept the swarming Devils away from a visibly shaken Tristan Jarry in the final moments to white-knuckle the two points.

Puckpourri

The Pens outshot the Devils, 32-30 (13-5 in the first period) and won 55 percent of the faceoffs. We were one-for-two on the power play, New Jersey one-for-four.

All but four Pens registered at least a point. Crosby, Rodrigues, Rust and Jake Guentzel (two assists) led the way with two points apiece.

Matheson has three goals and 10 points during his past 11 games. Cody Ceci has a goal and nine points over his past 12. Dumoulin three goals in his past eight.

The Devils scored on six of 11 shots in the final period.

The Pens restored their nine-point bulge (61-52) over the fifth-place Rangers, who lost to the Islanders, 6-1. We’re presently one point behind the Isles and Capitals and three ahead of Boston, who have two games in hand.

Bennett Watch

I don’t get things right all that often. So when I do I need to toot my own horn.

For the past year I’ve implored the Pens to acquire former Flames forward Sam Bennett, a tidy package of speed, skill and aggression. Don’t know if we ever seriously looked into it, but our loss is most assuredly Florida’s gain.

Sprung from whatever was ailing him in Calgary, Bennett’s been on fire. Through three games with Florida he has three goals and five points to go with a plus-seven. Each of his goals have come from the dirty areas.

Did I mention a fight for coming to the aid of a teammate?

Don’t have to tell you how much we could use a player of his ilk. Which leads me to…

Opinyinz

I’ve expounded more times than I can count on the importance of physical play and the need for a deterrent. Well, last night’s game provided an A-one example of what I’m talking about.

The Devils were dead in the water until Bastian ran Letang. The hit changed the whole tenor of the game. That and the Pens’ typically feeble non-response.

I’m going to freeze-frame right here. An opponent takes out your star defenseman? The very next time he’s on the ice you send your toughest player over the boards to deliver a message. Oh that’s right…we don’t have one.

Okay, unfreeze. Because no one says “boo” to Bastian, he feels emboldened. So early in the third period he slew-foots Dumoulin.

Let’s freeze frame again. Had the Pens acquired Bennett or Nicolas Deslauriers as rumored, this guy would’ve been liquidated post haste. The game would’ve settled down and we likely would’ve have gotten an emotional boost as well. I doubt the Devils would’ve roared back the way they did.

That’s how physical play and a lack of response can turn the tide.

Say what you will about Letang, but he’s played really well this season and our Cup chances are reduced to nil without him. Ditto Dumoulin.

What does it take for our brain trust to realize you need to protect your star players? Crosby suffering another serious concussion?

I’ll go one further.

Think the Capitals and Bruins, two possible playoff opponents, are going to play nicey-nice while we skate circles around them?