Penguins Crunch Blue Jackets in Finale

As I watched our Penguins close out a topsy-turvy season on a high note with a 5-3 victory over Columbus last night, I couldn’t help but feel wistful and even a little sad.

The reason? While nothing’s set in stone, in all likelihood it’s the last time our big three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang will play together in the regular season. With Geno and Tanger pending UFAs and the team struggling to keep pace with younger, faster, fresher opponents, change is most definitely in the wind. Perhaps signaling the end of a glorious era in Penguins hockey.

If, indeed, this was their last regular-season game together, they went out in a blaze of glory. Seizing the moment not to mention the game’s No. 2 star, Malkin was vintage Geno…fast, forceful, straight-line and at times…devastating. As he has done so many times throughout his storied black-and-gold career, the big Russian got us off and running, streaking down the slot at 3:51 of the opening frame to beat Blue Jackets goalie J-F Berube for his 20th goal of the campaign.

Less than three minutes later, No. 71 took a pass from Brian Boyle and swooped behind the Jackets’ net like a giant bird of prey before setting up Marcus Pettersson for our third goal. Finishing off the beleaguered Berube in the process.

As for Letang? With the score 3-1 and the game still very much up for grabs, Tanger burst through the back door and one-timed a pretty feed from Brock McGinn past relief goalie Elvis Merzlikins. Not only notching what proved to be the game winner, but in the process establishing a new career high in points (68) while capping off what I believe was his finest season at age 35.

As for the game itself? As much as I’d like to write a glowing review, in truth it was a mixed bag. Borrowing from the iconic Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone western, I’ll break it down into the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good

I’m happy to report the reverse PenguinPoop curse is alive and well. Several players I labeled as passengers in my previous article responded with strong games. In addition to Malkin’s big night, third star Evan Rodrigues snapped a 10-game goalless drought and unleashed five shots on goal, second behind Geno’s seven.

Teddy Blueger played with a surprising edge, sparring with Vladislav Gavrikov and Carson Meyer and collecting two assists. McGinn tallied an assist and narrowly missed an empty netter.

And Pettersson? I don’t know who super-charged his Wheaties, but the rangy Swede played a fabulous game, fearlessly jumping into plays while collecting a goal and two assists to garner top-star honors. By far his best game sporting the black and gold.

The occasional lapse aside, the Pens played on their toes while piling up 74 shot attempts and 50 shots on goal. It should be noted the Blue Jackets, having played the night before, gave our guys plenty of room to operate, especially during the early going. Time and space we aren’t liable to get starting next week.

Perhaps it’s a moot point because we’re never 100 percent healthy. But for my money, Boyle (a goal and an assist) needs to be in the postseason lineup, even if it means scratching a certain forward from Finland who shall go nameless. No, “Boyler” won’t win a fastest skater competition. But he adds much needed size and leadership, not to mention sterling work on the pk. To say nothing of the fact that he’s surprisingly productive. I’ll take his 11 goals and 21 points from a fourth-liner any day of the week.

With 33 saves (and .917 save percentage), Casey DeSmith turned in another gritty, determined effort between the pipes. As goalies go, he’s kind of an Ugly Betty in terms of stats. But Casey made a plethora of big saves with the game on the line, including big stops on Oliver Bjorkstrand, Gustav Nyquist and Jake Voracek from point-blank range.

Love the way he battles.

The Bad

There’s an overall sloppiness to our play that just won’t go away. Last night was no exception. We yielded countless 2-on-1 breaks while working on the power play. We continue to take our foot off the gas pedal after we score. While it didn’t come back to bite us in the *BLEEP* last night, against a strong team like the Rangers it most assuredly will.

Along those lines, we seem constitutionally unable to protect a lead. Up 5-1 heading into the third period against a tired opponent, we should’ve been able to lock this one up. Instead we allow two third-period goals to make it interesting. We could easily have yielded more had it not been for DeSmith.

Net-front play, or lack of, continues to be an issue. We allowed the Blue Jackets to crash the net, especially late, with nary a box-out. Give Rangers 50-goal man Chris Kreider that type of unfettered access and…

…somehow, someway, Mike Sullivan and his staff have to encourage more responsible play, even if it means tweaking his system to favor a more defensive posture when the situation (and opponent) demands it.

Our once potent power play continues to sputter (0-for-3 last night). We haven’t tallied a man-advantage goal since the proverbial eighth-grade picnic…or more accurately the Detroit blowout a week ago. Before that, the 5-4 shootout loss to the Islanders on April 12.

The Ugly

God bless Brian Dumoulin. It’s been an uphill battle for the veteran defender at times and last night was no exception. After being hobbled by a shot off the inside of his left knee (ouch), Dumo appeared to get clipped and cut in the facial area by a skate blade, forcing him to leave the ice for repairs. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.

A shove from Bjorkstrand sent Jake Guentzel flying, kamikaze-style, up and over Merzlikins and into the crossbar full force. It looked really ugly at first, especially with the way Jake’s head snapped back, but thankfully he got his arms up to protect his face and he seemed no worse for the wear. FYI: Jake had an assist to tie Sid for the team scoring lead with 84 points apiece.

Still, all-in-all, a much needed confidence booster, especially for some of the players mentioned. Too, it gives us a bit of momentum heading into our first-round matchup with the Rangers, which begins Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.