As I watched in slack-jawed awe from my perch on a bar stool at the Pennsbury Station last night while our Penguins pounded visiting Toronto, I confess to being astounded. Not to be negative, but I figured this would surely be the night when all the injuries and illnesses caught up to us. After all, we were down top guns Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and Jeff Carter, not to mention ace blueliner Kris Letang. Flex Seal be darned, here are only so many holes you can patch before a ship starts to take on water and sink, right?
Yet to my utter amazement, not only did we stay afloat, we destroyed the Maple Leafs in the process. For the record, a pretty good team.
Drew O’Connor drew first blood for our boys just past the midway point of the opening period. Planted in the crease, the big rookie served as a bank board for Marcus Pettersson’s long-range shot. However, the Leafs quickly knotted the score less than a minute later on a tally by Jason Spezza to cap the scoring for the opening 20 minutes. Giving scant indication of the fireworks and utter domination to follow.
Mike Matheson lit the fuse on the Pens’ pyrotechnics 98 tics into the second stanza. Gathering in a pass from Kasperi Kapanen, he turned Leafs defender and former Pens draft pick Jake Muzzin into a blue-and-white pylon, circled behind the net and beat netminder Jack Campbell to the far post.
On the ensuing shift Jason Zucker lasered the puck past Campbell from the left wall to make it 3-1 good guys. From there we proceeded to methodically pour it on. O’Connor notched his second goal of the night, working a give-and-go with Danton Heinen before barreling past Alexander Kerfoot and banking a shot in off Muzzin’s stick blade. (Dare I say shades of Kevin Stevens?) Less than three minutes later Pettersson scored on a prudent pinch to make it 5-1.
Hoping to salvage something from the game, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe pulled the beleaguered Campbell in favor of Michael Hutchinson to begin the final frame. It made no difference who was stationed in the Leafs’ net. Brian Boyle struck on the opening shift, taking a pretty saucer pass from Dominik Simon in stride and blowing it past Hutchinson. Two minutes later Evan Rodrigues scored on a top shelf power-play snipe with Jake Guentzel providing net-front interference.
Down 7-1, the visitors grew surly. Michael Bunting elbowed Brock McGinn up high. Following a scrum around the Toronto net, Wayne Simmonds roughed up O’Connor and whacked the rookie with his stick for good measure.
Welcome to the NHL, kid.
Call me Neanderthal, but I kept hoping Boyle would answer the bell. Minutes later I got my wish. As Simmonds toted the puck through the neutral zone Mark Friedman gave him a shot with his stick. Simmonds responded, chopping down the feisty Pens defender before running Simon in the corner. Boyle flew in like a freight train to intervene.
The big guy didn’t win the ensuing fight. In fact, he absorbed a pretty good beating from Simmonds, one of the genuine tough guys in the league. But standing up for his team?
To borrow from an old MasterCard commercial.
Priceless.
Puckpourri
The locals outshot Toronto, 33-29, and dominated the faceoff circle (64 percent). Just about every other aspect of the game, too, including blocked shots (17-8) and hits (33-20). Zach Aston-Reese led the way with a whopping 10 hits.
Pettersson paced the black and gold with three points (1+2), followed by Heinen, Kapanen, Matheson, O’Connor and Rodrigues with two apiece. Eleven Pens tallied at least a point. Pettersson and Friedman led the way with a plus-five each. Marcus is now a league-best plus-10 on the season!
Tristan Jarry quietly turned in another stellar performance, stopping 28 of 29 shots. He presently owns a sparking 1.47 goals against average to go with an equally impressive .943 save percentage. Shades of 2019-20, when Tristan earned an all-star game berth.
The Pens are presently tied for second place in the tightly packed Metro with a record of 3-0-2 and eight points, one behind the division-leading Rangers.
Next up, Tampa Bay on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Sully for the Adams
Mike Sullivan doesn’t get a lot of love on our blog. I’ve personally had issues with him from time to time on matters of personnel. But there’s no denying the magnificent job he’s done thus far. The league should call time out and award him the Jack Adams right now.
Seriously.
Sullivan’s performing absolute wonders with his banged-up squad. Everybody’s playing a role. Five games into the season, 14 different skaters have scored goals. That’s remarkable. He’s got guys like Rodrigues thinking (and playing) like he’s Crosby. To say Sully’s pushing all the right buttons would be the understatement of the century. He’s motivating, teaching and preparing…and the guys are producing…in spades.
Perhaps most important, the Pens have melded as a team. I sense a unity and cohesiveness, an all-for-one-and-one-for-all spirit at this early stage that other teams (the Leafs for example) lack. Again, that reflects on the coach and his staff.
Bravo, Mike, for a job well done!
Hey Rick,
The current Stanley Cup Champions just gave us a big reality check tonight ! 5-1…
I think that is a fair assessment with all our injuries.
Jim
Rick
A couple of quick comments: Malkin’s potential return sometime in December or early January definitely
concerns me. His game has slipped noticeably and IMO he hasn’t made the proper adjustments
to compensate for this stage in his career.
Your thoughts on who Sully pulls from the lineup when the team is healthy will get really interesting but things
have a way of playing themselves out. For me personally, if everything stays status quo and I know he had a
whopping 10 hits vs the leafs Ashton Reese would be the guy I would look to pull from the lineup. You talk about a
quiet 10 hits!! “LOL” We have so many players that can kill penalties and with the acquisition of players like
Carter and Boyle – ZAR should be the odd man out.
Side note: I got a kick out of Boyle in the penalty box talking to Friedman – he told him he couldn’t get his
f___ing glove off. Boyle quietly has been another very good addition to the Pens. Hextall deserves a ton
of credit and his patience in acquiring both Carter, and Boyle were savvy moves that are paying dividends.
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
Great to hear from you as always and read what you have to say.
Regarding who comes out of the lineup when we’re completely “healthy” (which, given that this is our Pens and may never happen) that’s a tough one. Usually with Sullivan, the grit/size guys get stripped out of the lineup first. Last season it was Angello, Lafferty and Zohorna who were first to exit. This season?
I think Lafferty’s a given. Even though he’s played pretty well…Simon. On merit…yeah Aston-Reese…although I don’t know if the coaching staff will agree. Man, I’d hate to see them sit O’Connor with the way he’s playing. He looks like the real deal. Rodrigues has done a really nice job and I like his versatility. And I like the element Boyle brings with his size, faceoff and defensive ability…and the way he stepped up to defend the team.
With a little luck (???) maybe we never get completely healthy and don’t have to face those hard choices…lol
Regarding Hextall, I don’t want to say too much because I’ve got an article bouncing around in the back of my head. But, yes (yes and yes), it looks like he made some really astute moves…under very difficult circumstances.
Heck, I really like Friedman, too, who he picked up on waivers.
Rick
Hey Rick,
What a team effort by our Non Stars squad! It reminds me of a College team/AHL level American team that went on to beat the BIG RED MACHINE over forty years ago.The media called it a Miracle on Ice. Any body would have thought the Leafs would loose 7 to 1 to a Penguins team without 5 of their “star players” would tell you the Tooth Fairy is real. Not possible…But it happened.
It shows us how a team playing as a team and everyone playing as one can accomplish major things. The Pens actually out HIT the Leafs 33 to 20! Aston-Reese had 10 hits alone. Sam Lafferty had 4 hits too.. When did a previous Pens team ever out hit it’s opposition by such a margin? We also dominated in the face off circle.64% .
We won because we played a defensive style with an up tempo flair plus our goalie played very well.
The real question Rick is how can the Pens keep this Team Defense concept when Letang, Crosby, Rust, Malkin and Carter return ?? None of these Star players are especially defensive oriented. Just wondering…
Regardless last night was a great team effort. Well done… I am still in shock.
Cheers
Jim
Hey Jim,
I was in shock too, not that they beat Toronto, but by how badly they beat them.
Our friend Rick used an old business saying in his last post, “Location, Location, Location”. Well there is a 2nd business truism, “Timing, Timing, Timing”. As a former goalie (meaning that I am very superstitious) I won’t say more, I prefer to ride the wave while it lasts.
Hey Coach,
Great point.Timing.
7-1 Hockey games should NOT occur at the NHL level. Period !
Forget the fact that the Leafs top 5 players are nothing to take lightly.They are super stars on anyone’s team.
Watching the Pen’s play reminded me of the New Jersey teams of 15- 20 years ago when they had a great Goal tender and they ” trapped” the much more talented opposition until they got frustrated and started to make stupid mistakes and ultimately got away from their original game plan. I know I will be in the minority here but this will be the way forward for the Pen’s as the core break up and or retire.
Future Pen’s teams will have to win as a total team effort I believe.
BTW, You will see some major changes coming in Toronto Coach.
cheers
Jim
Hey Jim,
I have already heard/read some of the fallout after their embarrassment at our hands. Personally, if it were me, my wrath would be at both the GM and the Coach. Certainly the Coach hasn’t gotten the most out of his players but the team has $33 million tied up in 3 players so they have absolutely no Cap space. They had to have an emergency call-up Goalie as a back up with Mzarek down.
I always prefer teams that are teams vs superstars so I can handle wins anyway you get them. Granted, it is always better to beat the number 1 ranked team than the 21st, 22nd, and 32nd ranked teams, but a win is a win is a win. I just take them and smile while they last.
Hello Jim.
Great to hear from you and read what you have to say. Excellent analogy to Team USA’s “Miracle on Ice” triumph. A commenter on another site wrote that the Pens are reminding him of the great Detroit teams circa 2008-09 that moved around the ice in one cohesive unit (in his words a “school of fish”) instead of five individual skaters. I agree. Sullivan’s got everyone on the same page and, man, is it paying dividends.
A point very well made about what happens when the stars come back. I’m not so concerned about Sid…he plays a pretty solid 200-foot game. To Letang’s credit, I think his decision-making has improved, although he’s always going to be a bit of a wild card. To my eye, the main system wrecker is Malkin, who obviously loves to freelance and can be undisciplined at times (drop passes at the blue line, etc.). Don’t get me wrong…Geno’s a magnificent player…the closest thing I’ve seen to Mario when he’s on. But he does change the dynamic in both positive…and at times…negative ways.
Actually, the real issue may be pulling guys from the lineup to make room (O’Connor, Boyle, Rodrigues) who are playing with a fire in their belly and something to prove. You definitely need that element on your team to be successful.
Anyway…for now I couldn’t be more pleased with the way we’re playing.
Rick
Hi Rick
We finally have some “size” on the roster with some grit and yes in the past these players would be sent back to WBS. That would be a mistake in my opinion. Trade time !! You know what I am saying.
Just like in 2017 when we had a rash of injuries and PEN’S leadership had NO choice but to play the kids from WBS…and we Won. After we won it all the” talking heads” said what “Genius ” Pen’s management were. THEY HAD NO OTHER OPTION !
If we lost in 2017 everyone would be looking for a New Job. But we Won.
Same situation here.You can not put the genie back in the bottle.
Cheers
Jim