Back in the day, the Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz Company was famous for its “57 varieties.” In fact, “Heinz 57” became a popular brand. So popular that defenseman Shawn Heins wore No. 57 when he played for the Penguins back in 2002-03.
Well, last night the Pens’ brand was “Malkin 71.” Following a ceremony to commemorate his 1000th NHL game, Geno and his teammates took to the ice wearing No. 71 jerseys during the pre-game warmup. A sight to behold. By the end of overtime, the Pens had accumulated 71 shot attempts according to play-by-play announcer Steve Mears. (Raspberries to Natural Stat Trick for ruining a good story and reporting 72.)
As for the glazur’ na torte (icing on the cake in Russian)? In the fourth round of the shootout, Geno swooped down the right side of the Calgary zone like a giant bird of prey before cutting into the slot and beating Flames goalie Dan (Darth) Vladar with a silky backhander. In the process securing a 2-1 shootout victory for his mates and touching off an emotional victory celebration.
Truly, a storybook ending. Indeed, a Hollywood script writer couldn’t have penned a better tale. It’s as if the good Lord said, “Geno this is your night.”
In between the warmup and Malkin’s game-winning heroics, there was a hockey game. Sixty-five minutes of hard slugging between two evenly matched teams.
In recent seasons the Flames have followed a simple formula to defeat the Pens…use their size and strength to push us to the perimeter and grind us down, with a helping of stonewall goaltending thrown in.
Last night was a different story. Thanks in part to the offseason additions of bigger bodies Jeff Petry, Ryan Poehling and Jan Rutta, not to mention feisty Josh Archibald, the Pens held their own in the trenches.
Speaking of Rutta, he tallied the game-opening goal at 2:09 of the first period. Jeff Carter scooped up a chip from Danton Heinen in the neutral zone and drove into the Flames’ zone, in the process clearing out a defender before dropping the puck off to Rutta. The Pens d-man walked down the vacated slot and beat Vladar with a perfectly placed snap shot high to the stick side.
The Pens nearly made it 2-zip at 9:42 when Malkin set up Bryan Rust for a one-timer from the right circle. Unfortunately, Rusty’s would-be goal was waved off…Jason Zucker was offside on the play.
The Flames knotted the score at 8:37 of the second period as Dillon Dube deflected a Chris Tanev blast past Tristan Jarry. After that, it was plenty of hard farming. The Flames tilted the ice in the second period and the Pens returned the favor in the third. Both goalies stood tall, as Jarry and Vladar made big saves to keep the score knotted at 1-apiece.
Following an uber-shaky start to the overtime that had me shielding my eyes, the Pens went on the power play thanks to a hooking penalty to Elias Lindholm. Alas, we couldn’t convert on the 4-on-3, sending the game to a shootout.
In stark contrast to their earlier efforts, both goalies were exposed in the shootout. Jarry yielded tallies to Jonathan Huberdeau and Rasmus Andersson. Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby returned the favor for the Pens. After a Jake Guentzel misfire, Jarry stopped Mikael Backlund. Setting the stage for Geno’s game-winner…and euphoria.
Puckpourri
Despite a difficult second period, the Pens held the edge in most statistical categories, including shot attempts (72-60), shots on goal (39-34), scoring chances (40-29) and high danger chances (14-7). We won 54 percent of the faceoffs. The Flames had a slight edge in hits (41-39).
Heinen had the unusual distinction of finishing minus-1 in a 1-1 game despite picking up an assist on the Rutta goal. The blonde-haired winger had exited the ice before his teammate’s shot tickled the twine.
Following a particularly porous stretch, Jarry’s stopped 65 of 66 during his past two starts. Both wins.
Malkin received a silver stick for his achievement and was voted the No. 1 star. Following the game, AT&T Sportsnet played a series of video tributes from family members and teammates former and present, including Marc-Andre Fleury. Very touching. Made me doubly glad we decided to keep the old gang together.
Is it me, or does something appear amiss with Guentzel? Yes, he has a team-best 10 goals (in only 16 games). But he hasn’t scored a non-empty net goal since November 5, a span of eight games. And I’m noticing him for all the wrong reasons in the defensive zone. Like his weak play along the wall late in the third period, leading to a Grade-A scoring chance for Lindholm.
Wonder if Jake’s fully recovered from the injury that caused him to miss four games?
On Tap
The Pens (10-7-3) travel to the City of Brotherly Shove to take on Philly this Friday. Decimated by injuries, the Flyers have lost eight in a row. Then it’s home again on Saturday night to wrap up the season series with Toronto.
HAPPY THANKGIVING TO ALL!!!!
