I’m pleased to report the reverse PenguinPoop curse is alive and well. Yesterday I opined in my season preview that this could potentially be a fall-back campaign for the black and gold.
Based on last night’s game at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins are out to prove me wrong. Dead wrong. Playing with threshing-machine precision, our guys annihilated an overmatched Sabres squad, 7-1. A contest that was every bit as lopsided as the score would indicate.
If our Pens go on to the win the Stanley Cup you’ll have me and my cracked crystal ball to thank (lol).
As Eminem once rapped, back to reality.
Following a largely uninspired preseason in which coach Mike Sullivan rightfully gave liberal amounts of ice time to the kids for evaluation purposes, he went with the full monty last night. The results were impressive to say the least.
The forwards buzzed like bees around Mike Lange’s proverbial hive and the defense, plus Pierre-Olivier Joseph and minus projected regular Marcus Pettersson, was virtually air-tight. Making for a leisurely 22-save evening between the pipes for Tristan Jarry.
Our peas-and-carrots combo of Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel got us off and running at 7:04 of the opening frame. Sid hounded Vinnie Hinostroza into a turnover behind the Buffalo cage and quickly fed Guentzel cruising down the slot. Flashing his 40-goal form, Jake whipped the puck over Eric Comrie’s right shoulder.
The big guns were just getting warmed up. Midway through the period they struck again. Looking smooth and skilled as ever, Rickard Rakell threaded a pass to Guentzel in the right circle. Jake patiently waited for an opening, then slipped the puck to Crosby in the far circle. Sid wasted no time in directing the puck past Comrie.
The good guys pushed the advantage to 3-0 with 6:11 left in the period. Jan Rutta shanked a feed from Jason Zucker, but newcomer Ty Smith scooped up the biscuit in the left circle and lasered a perfect shot/pass off the blade of Bryan Rust and into the net.
Shrugging off a shorty by Hinostroza early in the second period, the Pens proceeded to pour it on. Sid struck on the power play at 10:11, ripping a sharp-angle shot from the right circle past Comrie.
Next it was Smith’s turn. The newcomer, who bares more than a passing resemblance to former Pen Ryan Malone, uncorked a seemingly harmless shot from long range that deflected off the stick of J.J. Peterka and knuckled past Comrie.
Danton Heinen and Rust capped the scoring gusher in the third period.
A word of caution. The Sabres didn’t dress several of their big guns, including top scorers Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and stud defenseman Owen Power. Still, it was a mighty impressive victory for the black and gold, who evened their preseason slate at 3-3 and finished on a pronounced upswing heading into the regular season.
Beware the ‘Guins?
Three of our four lines registered a Corsi of 50 or better according to Natural Stat Trick, including the Crosby (87.5) and Evgeni Malkin (60) units. The fourth line broke even…the third line was heavily underwater (26.92).
Eleven black-and-gold skaters registered at least a point. Six enjoyed multiple-point games. Crosby (2+1), Guentzel (1+2) and Malkin (3 helpers) paced the attack with three points apiece. Sid and Rust potted two goals each.
Heinen (1+1) had two points. Rakell and Rutta picked up assists, along with Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen and Jeff Petry.
Speaking of Kapanen, following a failed offensive foray he caught my eye by backchecking with fervor. In the process, hounding a Sabre puck carrier into a turnover in our zone. If Kappy continues to work that hard? Perhaps we can expect a bounce-back season from the flying Finn after all.
Joseph (plus-1) enjoyed a strong game, with two shots on goal, two hits and two takeaways. Whether it’s enough to save him from the waiver wire and/or trade block remains to be seen.
Speaking of young defensemen…
Eating Crow: Part One
I got my first good look at Smith last night. I must admit, I was impressed. I can certainly see why Sullivan and his staff are so high on him. He’s an excellent skater who joins the rush easily and naturally. Once in the offensive zone, he operates much like a fourth forward a la Kris Letang.
He’s similar in many ways to the departed Mike Matheson, although Smith’s a better puck distributor while MM possessed a better shot. He’s a lot more affordable, too.
Like Matheson, there are some defensive deficiencies to be ironed out. Again like Matheson, the Pens feel confident the Lloydminster, Saskatchewan native can be fixed.
If Smith plays as well (or close to it) as he did last night? The Pens could boast a strong third-pairing that would give them an edge over other clubs.
