Former St. Louis penalty king and frequent Penguin pounder Barclay Plager once said, “It’s not who wins the fight that’s important, it’s being willing to fight. If you get challenged and renege, everyone wants to take a shot at you.”
Last night in the decidedly unfriendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center, black-and-gold defenseman Marcus Pettersson embraced Plager’s credo to the fullest measure. Early in the second period of what ultimately became a 4-1 Penguins victory, Flyers hit man Nicolas Deslauriers barreled into our zone and leveled Kris Letang with a booming check, knocking over Pettersson as well.
As the Philly hammer skated away unscathed, unpenalized and wholly unreptentant, much to his surprise he was pursued and challenged by Pettersson. Deslauriers dangled one of his gloves as if to say, “Are you sure you want to do this?” When it became apparent that Pettersson, indeed, intended to engage him, he released his glove and a fight ensued.
To digress, Deslauriers a professional pugilist…akin to a hired gun in the old Wild West. Not to mention one of the very best fighters in the league if not the best. Risking bodily harm, Pettersson showed a ton of heart and guts by taking him on. A TON.
No, Marcus didn’t win the fight. But he surprisingly held his own against a very tough foe and even unleashed several long rights. I guess the fighting lessons he received from Erik Gudbranson a couple years ago took.
“The Dragon’s” courageous act had an immediate and positive impact. Fifty-five seconds later Ryan Poehling scored on a deflection for the first of his two goals to give us a 3-0 lead. Who says a fight can’t inspire a team?
As for the game itself? Pretty much a walkover. Skating without a fistful of their top players, including Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson and James van Riemsdyk, Philly pretty much iced a hybrid NHL-AHL squad. As I wrote a few days ago, imagine the Pens without Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Rickard Rakell, Jason Zucker, Brock McGinn and Jeff Petry.
I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
Our fourth line (Corsi of 75) paced the attack. In addition to Poehling’s two goals, the second on a wraparound jam at 13:37 of the second period, Josh Archibald tallied a goal and an assist and Teddy Blueger collected three assists.
In the six games since Blueger returned, we’re 5-1 (and winners of five straight) and haven’t allowed a power-play goal against. Better still, the line has jelled into a fast, feisty unit capable of producing on the score sheet. They’ve combined for four goals and 11 points during that span.
On this night, they were more than a match for the banged-up Flyers.
Puckpourri
The Penguins dominated statistically, holding an edge in shot attempts (60-48), scoring chances (35-17), high-danger chances (16-10) and faceoffs (63 percent). Philly did win the third period, outshooting us 15-5 with Kevin Hayes potting the lone goal of the frame.
Crosby notched our second goal at 19:29 of the first period on a beautiful redirect of a perfectly placed Pettersson shot-pass.
Tristan Jarry continued his roll, stopping 29 of 30 shots for his 101st career win. (I missed calling out No. 100 on Wednesday night.)
Poehling (No. 1), Blueger (No. 2) and Archibald (No. 3) earned star of the game honors. Don’t know for sure, but perhaps the first time in club history a fourth line has garnered the three stars.
In addition to Pettersson’s set-to with Deslauriers, McGinn was drawn into a scrap with Nick Seeler in the second period, which led to a Pens power play. Although he doesn’t fight often, McGinn is one of the few locals who can actually throw ‘em a little.
Speaking of fighters, the Rangers dealt old friend Ryan Reaves to the Wild on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in the 2025 Entry Draft.
Doppelganger
Is it just me, or does the red-haired Deslauriers bear more than a passing resemblance to the Flyers’ mascot Gritty?
Pass the Mustache Wax…
Among his many positive attributes, coach Mike Sullivan is known as a good motivator. Recently he went the extra mile, promising his troops he and the coaching staff would grow mustaches and keep ‘em until the Winter Classic in January if the boys swept last week’s road trip.
Sweep they did. So Sully, Todd Reirden and Mike Vellucci are upholding their end of the bargain. Likely to the chagrin of wives and loved ones.
On a more serious note, kudos to Sullivan and his assistants for tweaking our system and making key adjustments personnel-wise. The recast lines and defensive pairings are for the most part clicking, and everyone seems to be filling their proper role. A not-so-underlying factor in our five-game winning streak.
On Tap
The Pens (11-7-3) return home to take on Toronto (12-5-5) tonight. The Leafs are playing quite well despite the absence of several top defensemen. Former Pens goalie Matt Murray (4-1-1, a .921 save percentage) is a big reason why.
Speaking of Murray, in a bit of a classless act he snubbed an attempted greeting from Marc-Andre Fleury prior to last night’s Maple Leafs-Wild game. During the 2017 Stanley Cup celebration, “Flower” sought out and handed the Cup to Murray, who’d displaced him as our starting goalie.
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I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
lol
Starting to wondering if the Pens problem was just some sort of bug running through the locker room for a couple of weeks. They seemed very sluggish, several players sat a game or two out with and "Illness" I realize these aren't the best teams they are beating, but they also look faster.