Our Penguins put on a show last night at the Capital One Center. The “Rusty and Jarry Show.”
At the far end of the ice, Bryan Rust was a virtual one-man wrecking crew, scoring two huge goals while pretty much deciding the outcome of the game. A 3-0 triumph for our boys, by the way.
At our end of the rink, Tristan Jarry coolly denied 24 shots to post his second shutout of the season and second in a week. Both against fierce rivals and potential hurdles on the road to the Stanley Cup.
Clad in quite possibly the ugliest uniforms man ever created, Washington opened the proceedings with a strong cycle in our zone. However, when expatriate d-man Justin Schultz kicked the puck back to Garnet Hathaway at the point, the Caps’ disturber promptly fell down.
Rust pounced, scooping up the loose puck and flying into the Caps’ zone with Sidney Crosby trailing a few strides behind. Betraying no hint of a pass, the hustling winger ripped the biscuit past Ilya Samsonov to the glove side.
A mere prelude of what was in store.
On the opening shift of the second period, the “Rusty Razor” struck again on a brilliant individual effort. How brilliant you ask? Perhaps play-of-the-year brilliant.
After blocking a shot attempt by Dmitry Orlov with his skate, No. 17 turned on the jets and flew past the Caps’ defender with an incredible burst of speed. Displaying more moves than Mae West (thanks, Mike Lange) Rust went forehand to backhand to forehand again, freezing poor Samsonov in his tracks.
Our third goal, which occurred midway through the period, required a little hidden vigorish, or puck-luck if you prefer. Jeff Carter won a faceoff to the left of the Caps’ cage and swept the puck toward the sideboards. Kris Letang beat the hapless Hathaway to the puck, spun and sent a hard shot-pass in the direction of Carter, who’d cut in front of Samsonov. The puck glanced in off the big guy’s skate and in.
That was pretty much all she wrote for the Caps. Rather than retreating into a defensive shell, the Pens kept the pressure on during the final 20 minutes, outshooting their hosts, 11-5. In response, the Caps resorted to goonery as Brenden Dillon roughed up and then pounded Teddy Blueger in a brief go.
Though outgunned, give Teddy a “G” for guts. And the Pens an “A” for effort in a key divisional matchup.
Puckpourri
The Pens outshot the Caps, 26-24, and won 57 percent of the faceoffs. Frederick Gaudreau won seven of nine draws.
Predictably, Washington led in hits, 31-18. The Caps had nine giveaways to our four. Despite the final score, the game was evenly contested, as each club had 21 scoring chances 5-on-5. The home team had a slight edge (10-9) in high danger chances 5v5.
Jarry earned the No. 1 star, Rust the second.
In the stats-can-fib department, the Crosby line finished a combined plus-six. However, they were once again dominated in terms of possession (a collective 29 Corsi For, 47 Corsi Against). A disturbing trend.
The top defensive pairing of Letang and Brian Dumoulin was a combined plus-six. “Tanger” registered the only assist for the black and gold.
The Pens just can’t seem to stay healthy. Late in the second period Mike Matheson took a Jarry clearing attempt squarely in the face. After lying prone on the ice for a long minute, he left the ice under his own power clutching a bloodied towel to the left side of his face. No update on his status.
Could the MassMutual East race be any tighter? We lead the pack with 71 points, two head of the second-place Caps and four and five up on the Islanders and Bruins, respectively. Washington has a game in hand, Boston two.
Opinyinz
I really hate to suggest this, but could Crosby be wearing down at precisely the wrong time? Sid’s last three games, against heightened competition, have not been his best. He’s been held without a point, his longest dry spell of the season, and his Corsi For (43) vs. Corsi Against (60) is downright ugly.
A worrisome thread with the postseason fast approaching.
I know there’s nothing we can do it about, other than fly in Gary Roberts for a crash course in fighting on skates. (Or better yet, activating him as a player.) But it sure is hard to watch our guys take a beating in every go ‘round.
