Like a tiger shark dining on a school of mackerel, the Penguins continued to feast on bottom-dwelling Buffalo at Key Bank Center yesterday afternoon.
Powered by goals from Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust and a 28-save effort by Tristan Jarry, the black and gold blunted the Sabres, 3-2, to run their record to 5-0 against the MassMutual East doormats.
McCann opened the scoring midway through the first period. Scooping up a rebound of a Mike Matheson drive in the left corner, he unleashed a no-look shot from an impossibly sharp angle that glanced in off goalie Dustin Tokarski.
The Pens widened the gap to 2-0 at 5:57 of the second period. Teddy Blueger forced a turnover behind the Sabres’ net and slipped a pass to Rodrigues cruising through the left circle. “E-Rod” whipped the puck top-shelf over Tokarski’s glove, his second of the season against his ex-mates.
However, any thought of an easy victory were dashed moments later when hulking Tage Thompson pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Jarry.
Thanks to a high-sticking penalty to Anders Bjork, the Pens soon regained their two-goal edge on a fabulous play by Crosby. Cruising to the left faceoff dot, Sid spied Rust planted in the slot with his stick on the ice. Without hesitation, No. 87 banked the puck in off Rusty’s blade.
Incredible.
Although the Pens continued to pile up the shots and for the most part dominated play, Buffalo proved to be a hard out. Working with a man-advantage midway through the final frame, Rasmus Ristolainen found Casey Mittelstadt unattended in the slot. The 22-year-old forward made no mistake, blasting the puck home.
The Pens responded by carrying the play to the Sabres with renewed vigor while limiting their hosts to four shots on goal over the final 8:16.
Puckpourri
The Pens outshot Buffalo, 41-30. The Sabres won the faceoff battle (53 percent).
The power play was one-for-two. We’re presently ninth in power-play percentage (22.8), a remarkable turnaround from early in the season. However, our PK continues to struggle (a woeful 76.7 percent…25th in the league). Among teams presently occupying a playoff spot, only Toronto and Nashville are worse.
Jake Guentzel assisted on Rust’s goal, his 26th of the campaign. Cody Ceci and Mike Matheson assisted on McCann’s marker. Matheson paced the Pens with seven shots on goal. McCann, Rodrigues and Rust had five shots apiece.
Jeff Carter won five of nine faceoffs and was credited with two shots on goal in 16:35 of ice time. Radim Zohorna replaced Sam Lafferty and likewise had two shots on goal in just over seven minutes of play. Brian Dumoulin’s point-scoring streak was halted at six games.
With the victory, the Pens leapfrogged over the Islanders and into second place in the MassMutual East with 59 points. The fourth-place Bruins have 54 points with two games in hand.
Shades of Mario
Crosby’s marvelous pass reminded me of a similar set up by Mario Lemieux back in the day.
Prior to a faceoff, “Le Magnifique” instructed linemate Terry Ruskowski to spin off his man and go to the net with his stick on the ice.
Ruskowski did as he was told. The puck thudded off his blade and past the goalie.
“I was so stunned I forgot celebrate,” said the bewildered winger.
Don’t Look Back…Something Might Be Gaining on You
That sage bit of wisdom was espoused by baseball great Satchell Paige. Well, don’t look now but here come the Rangers.
Since whitewashing the Bruins back on March 13, the Blueshirts have gone 12-4-3…and 7-1-2 in their past 10. Paced by the “Breadman” Artemi Panarin, they have highest goal differential (+31) in the division and feature six players in double figures in goal scoring (two more than our Pens). Of their 12 remaining games, five are against comparative creampuffs Philadelphia, New Jersey and Buffalo.
If Rangers finish…say…9-3 the rest of the way, they’d have 68 points. The Pens would need to go 5-7 to outpace them.
Okay, so maybe they’re not a serious threat to us. But I were the Bruins? I’d be very worried.
