Penguins Fall to Bratt Pack in OT

Back in the day I used to belong to a bowling league. I wasn’t a very good bowler, especially at first. In fact, I was lousy. Needless to say, strikes were rare. The harder I tried for them, the more pins I left standing.

Finally, as my average plummeted I decided to adopt a different approach. I discovered if I threw a straight ball rather than a hook, I could consistently knock down nine pins with my first ball. Which made it relatively easy for me to pick up a spare.

I called my approach “bowling for nines.” It helped me win the Most Improved Bowler Award in the second half of the season.

I think our Penguins are in a similar spot right now. With so many key forwards on the shelf, they need to play a simplified game. Less hook (east-west) and more straight ball (north-south), with an emphasis on scoring dirty goals. Hopefully we’ll pick up some points in the process. Just like we did yesterday.

This isn’t to say that I’m satisfied with our 2-1 overtime loss to New Jersey at PPG Paints Arena. Far from it. Especially after we took an early lead on a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play by the top line, culminating in one of those amazing sharp-angle goals by Sidney Crosby.

However, after we failed to pad our advantage through two muffed power plays and allowed the Devils to knot the score on a center-point blast by Sami Vatanen, I confess I was hoping we could at least hang on through regulation and earn a point, which we accomplished. And maybe even steal a second point in overtime or perhaps a shootout, where we figured to have a clear-cut advantage.

Alas, at 2:50 of overtime Jesper Bratt slipped through our guys like a greased pig on the rampage at a county fair to score on a wraparound. Bringing the proceedings to an unsatisfying end.

I won’t try to sugar-coat. We had a chance to grab two points against a less-than-stellar foe and let it slide through our fingers. Still, we did earn a point. At this stage, I’ll take every one we can get.

Puckpourri

The Pens outshot the Devils, 36-35, and held a slight edge in hits (26-24). The Devils won 52 percent of the faceoffs.

The black and gold played their fifth game in seven days; the Devils their fifth in eight days.

Skating in his second game following a return from injury, Jared McCann unleashed five shots while centering the second line. He won only one of six faceoffs, matching Sam Lafferty’s numbers.

On the flip side, Mark Jankowski won five of six draws. However, the big center misfired on a breakaway opportunity midway through the third period that could’ve reclaimed the lead for the Pens.

Mike Matheson (minus-two) may have inadvertently assisted on Bratt’s overtime-winner. The Pens’ defender wedged his stick against the post in an attempt to block Bratt’s shot, which appeared to prevent Tristan Jarry’s skate from making full contact with the iron. Speaking of Jarry, he stopped 33 of 35 shots to earn the game’s second star.

Brandon Tanev sat out his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. His status is listed as day-to-day.

In the convoluted MassMutual East playoff picture, the Pens hold third place with 40 points, four ahead of fourth place Boston and seven up on fifth place Philly. However, the Bruins have a better points percentage and four games in hand. The Flyers have three games in hand.

Up next, back-to-back games with Buffalo at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday and Thursday night.