Sid-less Penguins Stun Flyers, 5-2

I won’t lie. When I learned our captain Sidney Crosby had entered COVID-19 protocol prior to last night’s game with blood-rival Philadelphia? Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly filled with confidence. After all, Sid’s been the one shining beacon of consistency through a season filled with ups and downs.

Yet this Penguins team continues to surprise me, especially when the chips are down. And against the odds last night, our guys authored perhaps their grittiest and most inspired effort of the campaign, drubbing a very good Flyers team, 5-2, before 2800 faithful at PPG Paints Arena.

Tristan Jarry led the way with a sparkling 40-save effort to earn the game’s No. 2 star. Following a rocky start to the season, he’s been money of late, posting a 2.36 goals against average to go with a 6-2 record and a .928 save percentage over his past eight starts.

Kasperi Kapanen scored two huge second-period goals to bring us back from the brink. The flying Finn narrowly missed a third, which would’ve given him his first NHL hat trick and a natural one at that. He was named first star of the game.

The PK unit, so porous of late, killed off five Philly power plays and looked impressive doing it. Speaking of power plays, Kapanen’s second goal came on the man advantage following an extraordinary passing display in which each member of the unit touched the puck. And the defense chipped in with goals from newcomers Cody Ceci and Mike Matheson.

Truly a total team effort.

Puckpourri

The Flyers dominated the faceoff circle, winning 62 percent of the draws. They outshot the Pens, 42-27, and outhit us, 33-30.

The Pens made a slew of roster moves prior to the game. Josh Currie and Drew O’Connor were recalled from the taxi squad. Currie centered the fourth line between Colton Sceviour and Anthony Angello (three hits in only 5:28 of ice time).

In a surprise move, Pierre Olivier-Joseph…so good early on…was demoted to the taxi squad. PO was replaced on the third pairing by recent pickup Mark Friedman. Playing the off side on the third pairing in his black-and-gold debut, the ex-Flyer registered two hits and finished a plus-two in 10:25 of ice time. He picked up the second assist on Ceci’s goal as well.

From what I saw, Friedman’s play seemed to reinforce the scouting reports. Gritty, good wheels and a decent puck mover.

In other lineup shuffles, Evgeni Malkin replaced Crosby on the top line between Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, reuniting the trio that tore up the league during Sid’s absence last season. They finished with a combined goal (by Rust) and three assists.

Jared McCann centered a highly effective second line featuring Kapanen and Brandon Tanev on the wings (a collective plus-nine on the night). However, the third line of Teddy Blueger, Zach Aston-Reese and Sam Lafferty was on the ice for both Flyers goals. Lafferty drew a pair of penalties, including a slashing minor early in the third period. Perhaps paving the way for a trip to Mike Sullivan’s doghouse.

The Pens are presently tied with the Flyers for fourth place in the MassMutual East in points (25), although Philly has two games in hand and a better points percentage.

Opinyinz

I continue to be pleasantly surprised with Ceci. On our critical fourth goal, which came 68 seconds after the Flyers closed the gap to 3-2, Cody led a 4-on-2 break, dished the puck to Tanev and drove to the net. Showing great patience and presence of mind, he lingered until McCann hit him with a return pass and deftly beat goalie Carter Hart from the doorstep.

A pretty play and a pretty goal.

Color commentator Bob Errey observed that, “Ceci’s been better than advertised.” I concur. Chalk up his signing as a win for former GM Jim Rutherford…and the Pens.

I thought our passing was crisper and sharper than in any other game this season. Two of our goals came as a direct result of tic-tac-toe passing plays. We also crashed the net with fervor.

A worrisome thread? An inability to win puck battles, especially in our end. At times the Flyers appeared to be working on a power play at even strength.

Marcus Pettersson (plus-one in 23:26 of ice time) has been quietly effective since slotting next to Kris Letang on the top defensive pairing.