In a game in which all hands were on deck for both teams, the Penguins gained a measure of revenge last night for last week’s embarrassing loss to Detroit’s B Team.
Skating before a packed house at Little Caesars Arena, the black and gold built a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes on power-play tallies by Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker, sandwiched around an even-strength marker by Josh Archibald. Then we fell into prevent mode in the third period, basically standing around while the homestanding Red Wings piled up an 18-6 advantage in shots on goal, including strikes by Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Larkin.
Fortunately, Casey DeSmith stood taller than a Big Sur redwood between the pipes, stopping 37 of 39 shots in a virtuoso performance that should dispel any concerns about his readiness and health. Embedded in those 37 saves were several of the 10-bell variety, including an unconscious four-save scramble during a five-second span with just over a minute to play.
Pens Plusses
DeSmith’s game-saving effort ranks at the top. Sans regular centers Teddy Blueger and Jeff Carter, the bottom six forwards performed ably. On the third line, Danton Heinen (an assist) was at his opportunistic, stealthy best. Center Ryan Poehling, iffy to this point, enjoyed a strong game. The former Canadien unleashed a game-high five shots on goal and won 53 percent of his draws. Along with Kasperi Kapanen, they were the only Pens line to register a positive Corsi (64.71) on the night. Although heavily underwater possession-wise, the recast fourth line of Brock McGinn, rookie Samuel Poulin and Josh Archibald totaled three points, including the latter’s goal at 4:52 of the second frame.
In a welcome reversal, the special teams were indeed special. The power-play went 2-for-2. We killed off both penalties against to boot.
Man the Life Boats
The top six generated points on the power play, but zippo at even strength. The Evgeni Malkin-Zucker-Rust line was a disaster, registering a 21.05 Corsi and yielding eight shots on goal to only two for 5v5. Sidney Crosby’s unit was better, but not by much (37.04 Corsi).
On defense, the tandem of high-profile newcomer Jeff Petry and holdover Marcus Pettersson was God-awful statistically. Granted, there’s an adjustment period involved as they learn the nuances of each other’s game. Still, it’s a bit disconcerting.
The other pairings were okay. The Jan Rutta–Ty Smith combo was on the ice for Larkin’s goal with 2:40 to play. Smith in particular was guilty of chasing the puck, then waving his stick in Ruth Buzzi fashion (as Other Rick is fond of saying) while Todd Bertuzzi slipped a pass off the end boards to Larkin in the slot.
Opinyinz
If I seem to picking on Smith a bit, it’s because Mike Sullivan and his staff appear to be fast-tracking the kid without proper justification.
With rival Pierre-Olivier Joseph as good as gone according to rumors, I’m hoping Sully will at least give incumbent Mark Friedman a look on the third pairing. He can do a lot of the things Smith can do offensively, and he’s much better in the defensive zone. Plus, he plays with an edge.
Unfortunately, we know how this works. Sullivan gets positively deer-in-the-headlights-ish when it comes to speed and puck movement, other attributes be darned.
Which means we’ll likely live (and die) with Smith.
