Penguins Clip Capitals, 6-3, for Second Regulation Win

I’d mentioned in my previous game summary that I thought our Penguins finally looked like the team they’re meant to be. That impression held up through yesterday afternoon’s scintillating 6-3 triumph over Washington at PPG Paints Arena.

With the exception of a sloppy start and a slight letup in the closing minutes of the second period, I thought we played a strong game. We had three lines more-or-less rolling and the defense, while not back to 100 percent, played well, sparked by an impressive performance from newcomer Mike Matheson.

The only question mark was in goal. Tristan Jarry let in a couple of softies, again while playing deep in his net. But Jarry regrouped in the final 20 minutes to slam the door on the Capitals.

How it all Went Down

The Pens started the game with one skate on the banana peel, drawing a pair of penalties before the game was four minutes old. Matching the Caps’ top-rated power-play (35.5 percent) against the Pens’ porous penalty kill (28th at 70.7 percent) is a little like pitting King Kong against Bambi, so it was no surprise when Evgeny Kuznetsov struck on the second man-advantage to give the Caps the early lead.

Yet our guys are nothing if not resilient. At the 10:29 mark Matheson worked a give-and-go with Sidney Crosby and slipped a crisp diagonal pass onto the blade of Bryan Rust, who steered the puck home.

A scant 32 seconds later, Cody Ceci uncorked a drive from the right point. The rebound popped off Vitek Vanacek’s pads and onto the waiting stick of Brandon Tanev. Two-to-one Pens.

The Caps evened the score early in the second frame on a tally by Jakub Vrana. Again, the Pens displayed their trademark resilience. Rust scored his second goal of the game and fifth of the season, ripping home a pretty pass from Kris Letang.

Four minutes later it was Jake Guentzel’s turn. Looking more and more like his old pre-injury self, the tousle-haired winger snapped off a shot from the high slot, followed up his own rebound and buried it to hand the Pens a 4-2 lead…incredibly their first two-goal edge of the season.

It appeared our guys were firmly in the driver’s seat. But nothing comes easy for this team. At 17:49 of the period, Nicklas Backstrom picked Evgeni Malkin’s pocket in the slot and chipped a short backhander past Jarry.

The Pens would not be denied. Again they pushed back hard, piling up a 17-8 advantage in shots on goal in the final period. The outcome was in doubt until the final minute, when Zach Aston-Reese fired home an empty-netter from the wall inside the Pens’ zone. Crosby tacked on a second empty-netter for the final margin of victory.

Puckpourri

The Pens outshot the Caps, 38-31, and dominated the faceoff circle, winning 62 percent of the draws. Jarry stopped 28 of 31 shots for a .903 save percentage.

The Guentzel-Crosby-Rust line was deadly, collecting four goals and eight points while racking up an astonishing 14 shots on goal. A team-high six by Rust.

Likewise the third line impressed, registering two goals, five shots on goal and seven hits. At one point Tanev went nose-to-nose (or nose-to-chest) with Caps’ heavy Tom Wilson while they engaged in a heated discussion.

ZAR to the Rescue

Is Aston-Reese the glue that holds us together? While it may sound preposterous to suggest a third-liner could be such an important piece of the puzzle, our sudden resurgence has coincided with his return. He and Teddy Blueger and Tanev just click, giving us a potent third line.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the wheels fell off our wagon last February when ZAR, the top-rated defensive forward in the NHL, went down with a shoulder injury. The Pens were 4-8 in his absence. His erstwhile linemates fared no better, combining for a lone goal and a minus-nine without him.

Ian Cole filled a similar role a few years back. Kind of like the apple in the middle of a stack of apples in the supermarket…the one that causes the whole display to tumble if you pluck it out.

Matheson Shines

Matheson enjoyed a second straight strong game. He was surprisingly sound defensively and a threat in the offensive zone as well. Assistant coach Todd Reirden reminded him to keep his feet moving, and he’s looked fluid and mobile all over the ice.

Could something so simple fix our $32-million dollar man? It’s early yet. But if Matheson continues to play the way he has, I’ll be eating my words…along with some humble pie…when I labelled his acquisition a disaster.

For the record, Mike collected an assist and three shots on goal, to go with a hit and a plus-three in 21:55 of ice time. Better still, he has only one giveaway in five games.

Some love for Ceci as well, who’s been quietly effective. The durable defender recorded two assists, three shots on goal, a hit, three blocked shots and a takeaway. He, too, was a plus-three and earned the game’s No. 3 star.

On the flip side, rookie Pierre-Olivier Joseph…so good in his first few games…was a minus-two. His inexperience showed on a couple of plays around the net, most notably the Vrana marker. Still, he fired off three shots on goal and continues to display a ton of promise.