Penguins Display Heart and Soul in Big Win over Capitals

Heart and soul, I fell in love with you. Heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly…

It might be a stretch to say I loved the way the Penguins played during our 5-4 overtime victory over Washington last night at PPG Paints Arena. After all, it wasn’t exactly the way coach Mike Sullivan would draw it up on the chalkboard. Give up two late goals in the first period to fall behind, 3-1, and look flatter the proverbial pancake while doing it.

For good measure, allow a three-on-oh (dear Lord) break early in the second period to really give your opponent a chance to bury you. Oh, and lose a couple of defensemen to injury in the process.

In the end, maybe that’s what made victory all the more stirring…and satisfying. When the chips were down, our guys stood up. Maybe developing some cohesion and team chemistry in the process.

In my mind, Casey DeSmith was the backbone. No, his numbers weren’t pretty. Twenty-two saves on 26 shots, a less-than-pedestrian .846 save percentage. But Casey kept his composure and kept battling, stopping 14 of the last 15 shots he faced to keep our guys in the game. Including a HUGE stop on ex-Pen and former HBKer Carl Hagelin on that three-on-oh, when his teammates were for all intents and purposes looking for a place to roll over and die.

Then, with the Pens trailing 4-2 late in the second period and two-men short, he coolly gathered in a loose puck at the side of the cage and lofted a beautiful aerial pass to Teddy Blueger, who broke into the Caps’ zone all alone and slipped the puck between the pads of rookie Vitek Vanecek for a five-hole goal. Igniting a black-and-gold rally, not to mention our competitive fires.

Heck, even Evgeni Malkin skated with his old passion and intensity. When T.J. Oshie reefed Marcus Pettersson with a dirty blindside hit late in the frame to hand us a power play, No. 71 made him pay. After calling for the puck, the rangy Russian blasted a rocket past Vanecek from the top of the right circle to knot the score at 4-all.

Vintage Geno.

Welcome back from zombie-land, big guy. We’ve missed you.

As poorly as the Pens played through the early going, I thought they were equally impressive over the last 30 minutes or so. At times, their speed up front was telling, unsettling the Caps’ defense and pinning them down in their own zone. My goodness, can Brandon Tanev motor, disrupt and disturb.

And what can you say about the work of Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, John Marino and unsung Chad Ruhwedel in the final frame? The quartet was terrific, perhaps in no small part because they gambled less and paid more attention to their defensive duties.

Letang, in particular, was sensational. There are times when No. 58 plays like he leaves his brain at home. This wasn’t one of those nights.

When he gets dialed in and puts it all together? You can see why “Tanger’s” regarded as an elite defenseman. For the record, I can’t remember the last time he looked so sure and quick and decisive. All the while logging a stout 28:41 of ice time.

But I digress.

The Pens had a golden opportunity to secure two points in regulation, but Vanecek stopped Jake Guentzel from in tight with 2:24 remaining to send the game to overtime.

But the black and gold…or more to the point…Sidney Crosby, would not be denied. A minute into the extra stanza Guentzel found some open space with a nifty self-pass off the boards. He fed Letang in stride and Tanger blasted the puck on net. The rebound popped loose to Sid, who wheeled around Vanecek and whipped it home. Earning two huge points in the process.

No, it wasn’t a perfect win, not by a long shot. But it was perfectly delicious.

Kapanen Debuts

Kasperi Kapanen made his much-anticipated Penguins debut last night. Much to my surprise, Sullivan penciled No. 42 in on the fourth line next to Blueger and Colton Sceviour. At first I didn’t like the move. But it gave us four reasonably effective lines. And the flying Finn sure didn’t disappoint, doing the heavy lifting on our first goal by Sceviour (and collecting an assist) while making his presence felt with his wheels and adroit puckhandling.

Puckpourri

After going with fairly set lines through the first three games, Sullivan did some juggling last night. He elevated Tanev to the second line alongside Malkin and dropped Rust to the third unit. A bit of a surprise, since Tanev and third-line center Mark Jankowski have displayed good chemistry.

The one change I wish he’d make? Guentzel to Geno’s wing and Jason Zucker to Crosby’s. Zucker and Malkin have shown about as much synergy as oil and water.

Guentzel scored his first goal of the season, finishing off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play with Crosby and Rust on a 5-on-3 power play at 5:45 of the second period for the Pens’ second goal.

Sid paced the Pens with a goal and two assists and won 84 percent of his faceoffs. Blueger (75 percent on draws) and Guentzel each tallied a goal and an assist. Letang (two assists) registered four shots on goal, three hits and a blocked shot.

Pettersson and Juuso Riikola are being evaluated for upper-body injuries. No word yet on the exact nature or severity.