Penguins Blow Lead, Bow to Montreal in OT

In one of my articles this summer, I questioned how our Penguins might fare when they weren’t at the top of their game. Kind of a like a pitcher in baseball who didn’t have his best fastball.

Would we be able to grind out wins?

For 57 minutes and change at the Bell Centre in Montreal it appeared we would do just that.

Like the aforementioned pitcher, we clearly didn’t have our best stuff last night. In stark contrast to our first two games, we had precious little hop. Instead of pressuring the Canadiens with an incessant attack, we spent the better part of the evening chasing the puck and the play, not to mention those sporting bleu, blanc et rouge jerseys.

In those rare instances when we did carry the play, there was little puck support. A lot of one and dones. A lot of perimeter.

The fact that we were able to salvage a point was due largely to the supreme efforts of Evgeni Malkin and especially backup goalie Casey DeSmith.

Resembling the Geno of yore, the rangy Russian struck for two second-period goals. The first came at 3:52 of the period on an absolute rocket of a shot from the right dot off a nifty cross-ice feed from Marcus Pettersson. The second, four minutes later from close range, courtesy of a juicy rebound off the pad of Sam Montembeault. Set up by a blind backhand shot by Bryan Rust.

Unfortunately, Geno’s heroics would go largely for naught. Holding a 2-0 lead entering the third period, our Pens proceeded to fritter it away. Seventy seconds in Nick Suzuki scored for Habs, courtesy of some leisurely d-zone coverage by our boys.

Yet DeSmith nearly stole two points for us, robbing Sean Monahan with a fabulous glove save on a shorthanded 2-on-1 and stoning top-pick Juraj Slafkovsky and Perry Anderson from in tight. However, with Montembeault pulled for an extra attacker, Jonathan Drouin found budding star Cole Caufield (no relation to Jay) all alone in the left circle with a laser of a pass. DeSmith had no chance.

Still, Casey continued his magic in overtime, stopping Monahan on a breakaway. But with Jeff Petry languishing in the box for cross-checking, our penalty killers predictably wilted. Kirby Dach cashed in on a backdoor play for the overtime winner.

As play-by-play man Steve Mears pronounced, “Casey deserved a better fate.”

As for our Pens? Coach Mike Sullivan summed it up succinctly in a postgame interview. “We didn’t deserve to win.”

I agree.

Puckpourri

The Habs outshot the Pens 39-28. The black and gold controlled the faceoff circle, winning 52 percent of the draws. Malkin (54 percent) continues to be strong in that category through the early going. Speaking of No. 71, they talk about countryman Alex Ovechkin’s shot, and rightfully so. But, man, can Geno fire the puck.

Underscoring our sloppy effort, we had 19 giveaways, including a game-high three by Kris Letang.

DeSmith made 36 saves, many of the 10-bell variety.

Following dominant performances in the first two games, our top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell fell off a cliff (36.67 Corsi). The trio registered six shots on goal and was a combined minus-five.

Likewise, the power play slipped into some bad old habits, overpassing the puck and yielding odd-man breaks by the bushel. We misfired on three man advantages.

Danton Heinen almost staked us to an early lead, one that might have changed the complexion of the game. But his bullet from the left circle at 1:52 of the first period rang off the crossbar…the far post…and out.

Up Next

The Pens return to PPG Paints Arena to host Los Angeles Thursday night before embarking on a five-game road trip starting Saturday night in Columbus. Including the Kings contest, 14 of our next 18 games are on the road.

Yikes.