Penguins Keep a Rollin’

A couple of weeks ago I posted an article expressing my belief that our Penguins may actually have a legit shot at capturing the Stanley Cup. Just before a catastrophic wave of injuries rolled in like a giant shinny tsunami and swept away a handful of our key forwards.

I thought for sure we’d had it. The Sports Illustrated cover jinx has nothin’ on the Buker PenguinPoop jinx.

Yet our Pens have kept a rollin’ with near metronomic precision. A brief hiccup against the Devils aside, the black and gold has steamrollered every foe in sight to ring up a five-game winning streak. We’re 12-2-1 in our last 15.

Remarkable, especially when you consider the chunk of talent that’s been missing of late, none more critical to the team’s success than Mr. 101, Evgeni Malkin.

In that article, I drew comparisons to our 2016 Cup winners. How that team started slowly before it gradually gained momentum and caught fire down the homestretch. Just as this bunch is doing.

Did I mention that Malkin missed the final 15 regular-season games that year with an elbow injury? What appeared to be a death knell actually inspired that team to greater heights. It went an astounding 13-2 during the stretch. In fact, his injury led to the creation of the HBK Line.

We’ve gone 6-1-1 during the rangy Russian’s current absence, with players such as Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev and Zach Aston-Reese emerging as bona fide offensive threats. This isn’t to detract from “Geno’s” value in any way, shape or form, but rather a testimony to how well this group has responded to extreme adversity.

Speaking of ZAR, he got the Pens off and running barely two minutes into last night’s contest, courtesy of a pretty backhand area pass from Tanev. Then, near the 13-minute mark, Mike Matheson padded our advantage on a spectacular solo rush that hearkened back to Bruins great Bobby Orr.

After gathering in a short pass from Anthony Angello, the fleet defender sailed through the neutral zone and wheeled around Jeremy Lauzon with a final burst before beating B’s goalie Dan Vladar to the stick side.

A gem of a goal. One that showcased Matheson’s considerable skills.

Still, the Bruins weren’t going away. They picked up the intensity and the hitting in the second period. Midway through the final frame the guy you love to hate, Brad Marchand, struck on a back-door play to cut our lead in half.

As they’ve done all season long, our guys bounced back quickly. Less than two minutes after Marchand’s strike, Marcus Pettersson scooped up a turnover in the neutral zone and slipped the puck up the boards to Evan Rodrigues. Number nine cruised to the left faceoff dot and threaded a deft backhand pass around Matt Grzelcyk to Jason Zucker steaming down the slot. Zucker banged the puck home to restore our two-goal lead.

Jake Guentzel sealed with the deal with an excuse-me empty-netter…he appeared to lay the puck out for Bryan Rust to tap in, but a gassed “Rusty Razor” just couldn’t catch up.

A delicious win and a huge two points against a difficult foe.

Puckpourri

The Bruins dominated statistically, outshooting the Pens 31-23 (29-16 over the final 40 minutes) while winning 57 percent of the faceoffs. They outhit us as well, 35-29.

Casey DeSmith continues to dazzle, stopping 30 of 31 shots to earn the second star. Casey has the best save percentage (.933) and the second-best goals against average (1.84) among NHL netminders who’ve appeared in at least 10 games.

Tristan Jarry is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Former Bruins farmhand Maxime Lagace served as backup.

Total-team efforts continue to be the rule as eight forwards and four defensemen registered points.

The victory snapped an ugly 10-game losing streak in Boston (0-9-1). As incredible as it seems, it also vaulted the Pens into a three-way tie for first place in the MassMutual East with the Capitals and Islanders. Each team has 50 points, nine ahead of the fourth-place Bruins.

A shout-out to Tribune-Review columnist Mark Madden, who suggested before the season began that the Pens would benefit from embracing a defense-first, counter-punching style.

Opinyinz

Overall, I’m happy with the makeup of our team. Especially since Angello emerged as a regular. However, as they are wont to do, the Bruins finished their checks and played with a chippy edge.

While our guys played through it, I still feel we need to add a little pushback, especially if we meet a team like the Bruins or Capitals in the playoffs. An increasingly likely scenario. Not in the form of a knuckle-dragging fourth-liner, mind you, but a capable performer who can add a little spice and aggression to the mix.

Unfortunately, that type of player doesn’t exactly grow on trees these days, and teams usually aren’t anxious to part with them.

For lack of a better option, I keep cycling back to Calgary forward Sam Bennett, who possesses skill and the requisite toughness but is enduring a lost season with the Flames. Anaheim’s rugged left wing Nicolas Deslauriers could be another, lower-cost option ($1 million cap hit).