I’ll be honest. I wasn’t looking forward to the Penguins’ matchup with the Sabres and their NHL-best offense last night on the Niagara Frontier. Especially in the wake of the blue-and-gold’s recent 9-4 destruction of Columbus and Tage Thompson’s Mario-esque five-goal performance.
These guys are young, fast, hungry and skilled. My worst nightmare for an opponent.
My fears were reinforced during the first period as the Sabres ran up a sizeable 13-6 edge in shots on goal while using their wheels to dictate the tempo. Fortunately for the black and gold, Tristan Jarry stood taller than a bell tower to keep the Sabres off the board.
The second period was more of the same, with our hosts again pushing the pace. Then the Pens caught a break. Just past the 14-minute mark Casey Mittelstadt ran Rickard Rakell hard into the wall to nab an interference penalty. While the call may have been borderline, the results were not. Evgeni Malkin tried a short pass to Sidney Crosby that glanced off the stick of Mattias Samuelsson (son of Kjell) and directly to Jake Guentzel in the left circle. Stationed in a soft spot amid three defenders, Jake’s shot found the back of the net, thanks in no small part to a perfectly timed screen by Rakell.
Unfortunately, our lead was short-lived. With 1:42 left in the period, Tyson Jost threaded a pass through two defenders to Victor Olofsson cruising down the slot. The noted Penguin-killer avoided a diving attempt by Crosby to break up the play and went backhand to forehand to beat Jarry and knot the score.
Suddenly on a roll, the Sabres struck again with 45 seconds left in the period. Mittelstadt worked a give-and-go with Jeff Skinner (more on him later), then slipped a cross-slot pass to Thompson in the left circle. The big guy fed Skinner on the doorstep, who whirled and beat Jarry stick side.
Two-one Sabres, and shades of our earlier meeting on November 2, when they spotted us a 3-1 lead and roared back to win, 6-3.
I thought we were goners. However, if there’s a quality that’s earmarked the Pens’ play over the course of our 9-1-1 streak, it’s a steely determination. That attribute was on full display in the third period. Our guys simply refused to lose.
Another trait? We’re going to the net. Or buzzing like bees around a hive, as Mike Lange was so fond of saying.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have your captain playing like a man possessed. Near the three-minute mark Crosby made an absolutely astounding play to flag down a wraparound clearing attempt at the left point. That would have been amazing enough, but while still down on one knee he sent a zone-wide backhand pass to a breaking Danton Heinen along the right wall. Heinen tried a pass that kicked off the stick of a defender and smacked off the far glass. Rookie Owen Power scooped up the puck but handed it to Heinen, who rifled a shot off Craig Anderson’s chest. The rebound popped to Rakell, who cut diagonally across the slot and beat the veteran goalie to the right post with room to spare, knotting the game at 2-all.
The Pens proceeded to press the attack, piling up a 17-7 edge in third-period shots on goal. Their diligence was duly rewarded with 3:30 left in regulation when Brock McGinn ripped a wide-angle shot off the far-side iron to stake us to a 3-2 lead.
For a few fleeting moments it appeared the “Brock Star” might have notched his fourth game-winning goal. But the Pens rarely do things the easy way. Twenty-eight seconds later Malkin took a hooking penalty to put the kybosh on an early victory celebration. Moments after Anderson exited the ice to make it a 6-on-4, Sabres captain Kyle Okposo hopped over the boards and steamed into the high slot before beating Jarry clean. A word that would hardly describe the next sequence of events.
With 21 tics left Rakell and Guentzel each gave Anderson an extra poke after he’d smothered the puck. Belying his figure-skating background, Skinner pursued Guentzel and gave him a whack. When Jake responded in kind, Skinner went berserk and cross-checked Jake up high, the second time squarely in the mush. In the process taking a five-minute match penalty that carried over into overtime.
At 1:36 of the extra stanza, big Jeff Carter deftly corralled a partially blocked shot from Rakell with his right skate, nudged it to his left skate and onto his stick blade before potting the game-winner from the doorstep.
Who says extracurriculars don’t pay off?
Puckpourri
Feeling a little under the weather, so this will be short and sweet.
The Pens held a surprising edge in most statistical categories, including shot attempts (58-46), shots on goal (33-31), scoring chances (31-24) and high-danger chances (14-8).
Rakell (1+1) and Malkin (a pair of helpers) paced the Pens with two points apiece. Heinen, Kasperi Kapanen, Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta picked up assists. Malkin and Pierre-Olivier Joseph paced the Pens with five shots on goal each.
After being mind-numbingly bad for so long, the power play has erupted for six goals over our past four games. We’re presently ranked 26th in the league at 19.6 percent.
Jarry is 8-0-1 in his last nine starts.
Kris Letang has returned to practice. Remarkable. No, make that REMARKABLE.
On Tap
The Pens (15-8-4, 34 points) and Sabres (12-13-2, 24 points) resume hostilities at PPG Paints Arena this evening.
No word yet on whether Skinner will play.
