How Do the Penguins Spell Relief? D-e-S-m-i-t-h

Back in the day there was a TV commercial for Rolaids antacid tablets that posed the question, “How do you spell relief?”

Yesterday our Penguins spelled it D-e-S-m-i-t-h, as in backup goalie Casey DeSmith. While his teammates struggled mightily to find their legs in the second of back-to-back games, DeSmith was superb, denying a fusillade of Grade-A shots while keeping his team in the game.

Casey had a little help from his friends, most notably captain Sidney Crosby and newcomer Rickard Rakell. Sid scored two huge goals, including the overtime winner, and assisted on the other to pace the Pens to a 3-2 nail biter over Nashville. Rakell had helpers on all three black-and-gold tallies.

The Pens grabbed an early lead at 4:58 of the opening frame thanks to some precision puck movement. Rakell beat Predators goalie David Rittich to a loose puck along the end boards and chipped it to a pinching Kris Letang. Tanger quickly nudged it back to Rakell, who made a buttery pass around d-man Matt Benning to a late arriving Crosby. Sid blew the puck past Rittich for his 27th goal of the campaign.

Following the goal, our attack turned colder than an Antarctic glacier. DeSmith held the fort until late in the period, when Matt Duchene took a stretch pass from Mikael Granlund in stride. Duchene left a sprawling Marcus Pettersson in the dust and coolly beat DeSmith stick side to knot the score.

It was all Nashville through the early part of the second period. By mid-period the visitors had piled up an astonishing 19-4 edge in shots on goal. It looked as though the Pens would meekly go down to yet another inglorious defeat.

However, an incident near the eight-minute mark proved to be the turning point. Staying true to his “Smashville” roots, Preds power forward Tanner Jeannot crushed Letang with a huge open-ice hit. Mike Matheson didn’t hesitate. He flew in from across the way to challenge the bristling Preds’ rookie to a fight. Although the ginger defender didn’t win the battle, he won the war.

The chippy play intensified. Pettersson flattened Jeannot with a hard check along the wall. At the horn the Preds’ Mark Borowiecki roughed up Evgeni Malkin.

Big mistake. Geno whacked the stick from the edgy defender’s hands. When Borowiecki attempted to shove back, No. 71 beat him to the punch so to speak with a cross check to the mush. Malkin received a double-minor for high-sticking, the bloodied Borowiecki a slashing minor. He would not return.

After snuffing out the Preds’ power play, the Pens continued to find their legs in the third period while closing the gap on the shot clock. However, Nick Cousins struck from the slot at 4:31 to make it 2-1 Preds.

The Pens kept plugging. Four minutes later Rakell drove into the Preds’ zone and dropped an artful, between-the-legs pass to Crosby, who in turn fed Jason Zucker in the slot. The star-crossed winger snapped off a backhander that deflected in off the stick of a backchecking Eeli Tolvanen.

Although both teams had their chances, the goalies held firm and the game went to overtime.

Just past the two-minute mark of the extra frame Matheson boldly burst down the slot, only to be denied by Rittich. Crosby scooped up the loose puck and danced around Mattias Ekholm before trying a return pass to Matheson, who’d been taken to the ice. The puck skittered out to an onrushing Rakell, who sent a beautiful shot/pass Crosby’s way. Sid bunted it home from a sharp angle to grab the extra point and touch off a wild victory celebration.

No, it wasn’t pretty and it sure isn’t the way you draw it up on the chalkboard. But the Pens showed a lot of heart while turning in a gritty, gutty effort. And the losing streak, mercifully, is over.

At least for now, a little something to cheer.

Puckpourri

Thanks to the Pens’ sluggish start, the Preds held the advantage in most statistical categories, including shot attempts (66-59), shots on goal (35-30), scoring chances (33-26), faceoffs (53 percent) and hits (41-27). The lone exception? High-danger chances were 11-10 in favor of the Pens.

DeSmith made 33 saves to earn the second star. Crosby was named the No. 1 star, Rakell the third star. Sid’s overtime winner was the 1400th point of his career.

Is anyone else intrigued by the Crosby-Rakell combination? My word, do they display a palpable chemistry, not to mention a sixth sense for each other. I’d be tempted to try Sid with Rakell and Zucker for a game or two, and see how Malkin does with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, a combination that shone a couple of seasons ago.

A huge shout-out to Matheson and Pettersson for sticking up for a teammate.

Call me a Neanderthal if you like. But other than setting himself up for a possible suspension, I wasn’t at all dismayed by Malkin’s response to Borowiecki. I’m tired beyond tired of watching our guys, our stars in particular, take it on the chin from opponents. If I’m GM Ron Hextall, I make signing a guy who can fight a priority over the summer, Mike Sullivan’s preferences be damned.

With the victory, the Pens (42-22-10, 94 points) snapped a four-game losing streak and maintained a four-point bulge over the Capitals in the battle for third place in the Metro. Following a brief respite, we travel to Long Island to take on the always nettlesome Islanders on Tuesday night.