Thank goodness for the Detroit Red Wings. Our old Stanley Cup Final foe seems to bring out the best in our Penguins.
Yesterday afternoon’s thrashing of the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena was a virtual carbon copy of the previous encounter between the two clubs, minus four goals on our part.
We started sluggishly (wish the NHL would do away with 12:30 games) before finding our legs and filling the back of the net. It should be noted that the Red Wings gave our guys a virtual Grand Canyon’s worth of time and space to make plays. Time and space they most assuredly won’t get come the postseason.
The Goals
Our game-opening goal at 13:44 of the first period came from an unlikely source. Brock McGinn won a puck battle in the far corner of the Red Wings’ zone and nudged the biscuit to Teddy Blueger. Teddy spotted Chad Ruhwedel wading through a wide-open (and I mean wide-open) back door and hit him with a sharp cross-slot pass. Easy pickins’ for Chad.
We doubled our pleasure 94 ticks later. Employing the center drive to perfection, Sidney Crosby burst over the Wings’ blue line and dished the puck to Rickard Rakell at the top of the right circle. Displaying exceptional hands, the ultra-smooth Swede freed the puck from his skates and feathered a return pass to Sid, who nudged it home for his 30th goal of the campaign.
At this stage, it appeared the rout was on. But Jeff Carter took a tripping penalty and Jakub Vrana capitalized, lacing the puck past Casey DeSmith from the right faceoff dot.
Seventeen seconds into the second period the score was knotted at 2-apiece. Taking full advantage of an ill-advised pinch by Kris Letang, Michael Rasmussen beat DeSmith on a 2-on-1.
For a few tense minutes it looked as though our guys might fritter this one away. However, following a clutch save by DeSmith on Joe Veleno from point-blank range, Rakell flexed his muscles. Or more accurately, his incredible skill.
After receiving a long stretch pass from Mike Matheson, Rakell coolly stickhandled around sliding defenseman Jordan Oesterle. Then he veered to the net with a Jaromir Jagr-ish move and beat Thomas Greiss glove side from a sharp angle.
Just plain silky. There’s no other way to describe it.
The Pens widened the gap to 4-2 at 11:37 on an equally pretty goal by Letang. Atoning for his earlier gaffe, Tanger drove the vacant left side of the Detroit zone before snapping a seeing-eye shot through a screen and past Greiss.
With some breathing room at last, the Pens proceeded to pour it on. Quiet for most of the afternoon, Evgeni Malkin beat the luckless Greiss from the doorstep on a ‘continuation’ play that was actually whistled dead.
Early in the third period, Letang again drove the open left side of the Red Wings’ zone and fed a breaking Danton Heinen at the far post for an easy tap-in. Geno punctuated his return from suspension with a scorching blast from the left circle with 26 seconds remaining.
While it was great to come away with a victory and snag the two points, a word of caution. Detroit’s d-zone coverage (if you can call it that) was virtually non-existent. Indeed, during one particular sequence when Carter broke in all alone on Greiss, Wings’ color analyst Mickey Redmond lamented, “Where is everybody?”
A confidence builder? No doubt. But not exactly a tune-up for the playoffs.
Puckpourri
Taking full advantage of our host’s largesse, the Pens dominated most statistical categories, including shot attempts (59-42), shots on goal (38-25), scoring chances (39-20) and high-danger chances (22-11). We also won 63 percent of the draws.
Crosby reached the 30-goal plateau for the 10th time in his illustrious career, tying Jagr (with the Pens) and one behind the franchise record of 11 held by Mario Lemieux. With a goal and an assist, Sid was named the second star. Letang (a goal and two helpers) earned top-star honors.
His partner, Brian Dumoulin, finished a plus-three. So did Ruhwedel (1+1).
Other players reached milestones as well. Matheson’s assist tied his career-best (19). He reached 30 points for the first time. Rakell hit the 20-goal mark for the fourth time in his career.
I can’t say enough about him. My goodness is he impressive, not to mention elegant. A unique blend of size, skill, speed, smarts, hands and power. Again, very reminiscent of Marian Hossa in the chemistry he displays with Sid, not to mention his ability to make plays.
Just a very formidable player. Again, kudos to GM Ron Hextall for prying him loose from the Ducks at a very reasonable cost.
The only downside? Since being pulled off the number one line, Bryan Rust has gone colder than a North Atlantic mackerel (no points in six games). While I feel for Rusty, perhaps it’ll give pause to other teams looking to ink the hustling winger to a big free-agent deal. (I doubt it.)
On the flip side, Heinen (four goals in his past five games) remains hotter than a Fourth of July firecracker.
The victory enabled the Pens (45-23-11, 101 points) to maintain a tenuous grip on third place in the Metro over the Capitals, who have a game in hand. Up next, the Flyers in Philly this afternoon followed by Edmonton (Tuesday) and Columbus (Friday).
Speaking of milestones, we topped the 100-point mark for the fourth time in six seasons under coach Mike Sullivan.
