Penguins Gain Ground, Clobber Rangers, 5-1

It’s getting to be de rigueur. For the second time in three games the Penguins cut loose with a frightful burst of offensive fury. This time they made it stand up, coasting to a 5-1 romp over the Rangers last night at PPG Paints Arena. A victory made all the more impressive by the fact the Pens were playing their second game in two days and third in four.

Things didn’t start out so well. Just 1:18 into the contest Mike Matheson got caught pinching at the Rangers’ line, springing the Blueshirts on a 2-on-1. Cody Ceci took away the pass, so Mika Zibanejad simply fired the puck over Casey DeSmith’s shoulder.

First shot. First goal. Ouch.

The visitors proceeded to pile up an 8-1 edge in shots on goal over the first 11 minutes. But the rest of the game belonged to the good guys. Just past the 16-minute mark Evan Rodrigues slid a drop pass to Kasperi Kapanen inside the Rangers’ line. Kapanen quickly fed John Marino and the young defender did the rest, skating the puck to the right circle before beating Alexandar Georgiev inside the far post for his first goal of the season. Lighting the fuse on another black-and-gold explosion.

Thirty-nine seconds later, Evgeni Malkin slipped the puck off the boards to Jared McCann, who smartly chipped it to a breaking Kapanen. Kasperi batted down the floating feed, tortured Georgiev with a little shake-and-bake and wristed the puck home.

On the ensuing shift Brian Dumoulin found Sidney Crosby with a pretty lead pass and Sid did the rest, splitting the Rangers’ defense and beating Georgiev to the glove side.

Wow. Three goals in 61 seconds. Breaking their previous trifecta against the Flyers by a full 10 seconds.

Hoping to settle his team, New York coach David Quinn called a timeout and pulled Georgiev in favor of ex-Devil Keith Kinkaid. Seizing the opportunity to do a little reinforcing of his own, an animated Mike Sullivan exhorted his troops to keep pushing. After all, you know what they say about a 3-1 lead in hockey.

Heeding their coach’s plea, the Pens maintained their focus. Malkin scored on a 2-on-1 at 13:57 of the third period to provide some breathing room. Less than three minutes later Zach Aston-Reese made it academic, cashing in on another 2-on-1 with a second-effort tally from the side of the net. Earning two big points for the Pens and capping perhaps our most solid 60 minutes of the season.

Puckpourri

The win was truly a total team effort, as a dozen black-and-gold skaters registered on the score sheet. Kapanen led the way with a goal and two assists to earn the No. 1 star. With a goal and an assist, Malkin was voted the game’s second star. Following a slow start, the big Russian is coming on. He’s averaging over a point per game in his past 10 games.

However, the Pens suffered a potentially debilitating loss when McCann exited late in the second period with an apparent upper-body injury. Hot since his return to the lineup (five points in six games), the Pens can ill-afford to lose him, especially with Jason Zucker on the shelf long-term.

Rodrigues slotted in on the second line and didn’t look out of place. But ideally Evan fills a bottom-six role.

In the unsung hero department, DeSmith stopped 23 of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage. He’s quietly provided the Pens with solid backup goaltending (5-2 record, 2.52 goals against average).

The Pens are tied with Boston for third in the MassMutual East with 29 points, although we’re technically in fourth place (the Bruins have a better points percentage and two games in hand). We’re two points ahead of the Flyers, who lost to Washington yesterday.

Sceviour Waived

The Pens have placed forward Colton Sceviour, presently in COVID-19 protocol, on waivers. If he isn’t claimed by another NHL team by noon tomorrow…not super-likely given his $1.2 million price tag and sparse production…the Pens have the option of moving Sceviour to the taxi-squad, which will reduce his cap hit to $125,000.

Perhaps a prelude to a trade?

In other personnel moves, defenseman Mark Friedman…injured Thursday night against the Flyers…was placed on injured reserve. Forwards Anthony Angello and Frederick Gaudreau and goalie Maxime Lagace were re-assigned to the taxi squad. Forward Josh Currie, defenseman Josh Maniscalco and goalie Emil Larmi were assigned to the Baby Pens.