Pass the Prozac, Penguins Win Another Nail-Biter

Is it just me, or are Penguins games taking on the feel of a tennis or ping-pong match? Back-and-forth, back-and-forth. You take the lead. No you take it. No, I insist, you take it.

Our Pens were at their eyeball-bleeding best (or worst) during last night’s improbable 5-4 overtime conquest of the Rangers. Showing an innate inability to play from in front, we coughed up three leads. Our sloppiness and general ineptitude reached its nadir during an especially calamitous second period in which our boys yielded three goals on 13 shots.

During one particularly insidious 36-second interval, the Rangers had a breakaway opportunity and a two-on-oh while killing off a penalty to Brendan Smith. Mercifully, Pavel Buchnevich obliged us by missing the net on the former chance. Not so with the latter. Our guys afforded Kevin Rooney about a day and a half to convert a feed from K’Andre Miller.

Enough to make your brain explode.

I kind of felt like Axl Rose in the Welcome to the Jungle video, strapped to a chair in a straight-jacket and forced to watch all sorts of seamy images on an array of video monitors.

I’d been watching the game at a local pub but decided I’d seen enough. As I bellied up to the bar to pay my tab, I got to see Kasperi Kapanen (man, does he have skills) bust up ice courtesy of a pretty head-man pass from Evgeni Malkin and fire the puck past Alexandar Georgiev. Good guys 3, bad guys 2.

I thought briefly about ordering another beer…for about as long as it took Frank Zappa (Chris Kreider) to pound home a juicy rebound off Casey DeSmith’s pads to knot the score at 3-all.

Check please!

Morbid curiosity got the best of me. I tuned in on my car radio just in time to catch Artemi Panarin’s go-ahead power-play goal. Of course.

Being a glutton for punishment, I listened in on the radio when I got home but soon dozed off on the couch. From the accounts I’ve read I missed the one period worth watching. Our Pens piled up a 16-7 advantage in shots on goal and tied the game on a dirty net-front tally by Jake Guentzel, who shoveled home a rebound courtesy of Cody Ceci’s hard and well-placed shot from the point.

Fortunately, I woke up in time to hear Josh Geztoff’s account of Sidney Crosby ripping the OT-winner past Georgiev from the high slot.

Another hugely bi-polar effort, but another win. Thank goodness we’re resilient.

Puckpourri

Thanks to our strong third period, the Pens outshot the Rangers, 38-34. We controlled the face-off circle as well, winning 57 percent of the draws.

Jason Zucker (his second) and Brandon Tanev (his third) notched the first two Penguins goals. Sam Lafferty dressed in place of Colton Sceviour. His stat line? A shot, a hit, a blocked shot and a takeaway in 9:12 of ice time.

Kris Letang exited midway through the first period, leaving the Pens with only five defensemen, including newcomer Yannick Weber (minus-two). But the rest of the rearguards picked up the slack. Ceci had another strong game, registering an assist, three hits, two shots on goal and a blocked shot while logging a robust 24:41 of ice time. John Marino likewise rose to the occasion. The second-year pro had three shots on goal, three blocked shots and an assist. He was a plus-one on the night. Which leads me to our…

Shining Star

Rookie Pierre-Olivier Joseph continues to shine like the Hope Diamond. He enjoyed a terrific game, setting up three of our five goals, including the OT-winner. His stat line was equally impressive…three assists, a plus-three, two shots on goal and a hit in a whopping 25:58 of ice time.

Credit his former head coach and current Pens assistant Mike Vellucci for using Joseph in all types of high-pressure situations with the Baby Pens last season. We’re clearly reaping the benefits.

I’ve already described P-O’s skill set and intangibles but they bear repeating. He’s positionally sound…remarkably so for a 21-year-old…and cool as the proverbial cucumber. He has a long, powerful skating stride, handles the puck with authority, is heady and reads the play well. His helper on our first goal was a thing of beauty…a perfectly placed shot-pass right onto the waiting stick of Zucker.

Maybe it’s way too early for this type of praise. But I think Joseph has the potential to be our best defenseman, better than the aging and mistake-prone Letang and rock-solid but defensive-oriented Brian Dumoulin. He’s so obviously NHL-ready, it begs me to ask…

What in the Wide World of Sports was JR Thinking?

Indeed, what in God’s name was Jim Rutherford thinking when he tied up a huge chunk of cap space, now and into the future, to acquire talented but troubled Mike Matheson? Or more to the point, how could he and his staff not know what they had in Joseph?

Hidden in broad daylight.

What happens when we get healthy (if that day ever comes)? Dumoulin, Joseph and Marcus Pettersson are our top three left-handed shooting defensemen, with Juuso Riikola in support and capable of supplanting the latter should a trade opportunity arise. In my mind Matheson, the soon-to-be $6.5 million man, is clearly on the outside looking in.

It both rivals and reminds me of JR’s signing of Alexander Semin to a five-year, $35 million contract in 2013 (huge money back then) as a parting gift to Carolina. Semin lasted only three seasons with the Hurricanes and became an enormous albatross. Requiring an equally onerous buyout that the ‘Canes won’t pay off until the end of this season.

Perhaps it’s a good thing JR resigned.

Opinyinz

Anyone else think we should scrap the first power-play unit and just go with the second? Thus far, Kapanen, Jared McCann, Drew O’Connor and Zucker have been far more effective than their ballyhooed counterparts.