It’s taken 24 games and over a quarter of the season. But as the calendar turned into December, our Penguins may have finally forged an identity.
Down 2-0 early last night against a very tough Vegas team, our guys simply refused to lose. We outskated, outhustled, outworked…pretty much outeverythinged the Golden Knights en route to an inspired 4-3 victory at PPG Paints Arena.
Despite the early deficit, the Pens skated with intensity, purpose and passion for a full 60 minutes. The forward lines clicked, the defensive pairings were solid and balanced. We got big-time goaltending from Tristan Jarry, who made critical saves at crucial moments. And…holy hand grenade Batman…we even scored a power-play goal!
To my eye, our finest game of the season.
As mentioned above, it didn’t start out so well. Playing with a full shield to protect an injury, Jack Eichel converted a short cross-slot pass from Mark Stone at 3:59 of the opening frame to stake the Golden Knights to a lead. Vegas made it 2-zip late in the period on a power-play goal set up by old friend Phil Kessel. Working the left half-wall to perfection, “the Thrill” delivered a sharp cross-ice pass to Reilly Smith in the far circle. With time and space, Smith roofed a shot over Jarry’s glove and in off the cross bar.
Giving up goals early and late in periods isn’t a recipe for success. And with Vegas goalie Logan Thompson giving a passable imitation of a brick wall, things didn’t look too good for our Pens. Especially after the silly-sider stoned Jason Zucker on a breakaway early in the second period. But our boys simply wouldn’t be denied.
At 2:23, Jeff Carter won a puck battle behind the Vegas net and slipped the puck to Brock McGinn, who shot from a sharp angle. Proving the old adage that no shot is a bad shot, the puck hit defenseman Ben Hutton and went in.
The Pens proceeded to skate roughshod over the visitors, piling up a 15-7 edge in shots on goal during arguably our best 20 minutes of the season. Just past the 13-minute mark Sidney Crosby forced a turnover along the back wall. In the shinny version of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance, he relayed the puck to Jake Guentzel, who in turn zipped it to Rickard Rakell for a door-step goal.
At this point, the Pens had all the momentum. But Zucker took a tripping penalty in the closing seconds of the period and it cost us. Working with the man advantage and a fresh sheet of ice, Shea Theodore unleashed a drive from center point that sailed past a chorus line of traffic and into our net.
A potential killer.
Showing all kinds of mettle our Pens struck back, and on the power-play no less. Working on a 4-on-3, Evgeni Malkin slid a beautiful pass into Guentzel’s wheelhouse. Jake dropped to a knee and wired the puck home from the right dot to knot the score at 3-3. Setting the table for an unlikely hero to emerge.
Midway through the period Brian Dumoulin uncorked a blast from the right point. McGinn retrieved the puck off the back wall and fed a short pass to Kasperi Kapanen. Stationed to the right of the cage, Kappy pounced, ripping the puck past Thompson’s blocker to give us our first and only lead of the night and touching off an emotional celebration.
At the other end of the rink, Jarry made sure our lead stood up. He made three huge saves in the final 26 seconds, one on Eichel and two on Theodore to preserve the victory.
A big-time performance and a big-time win.
If we can repeat this type of effort on a semi-regular basis? We just might have something here.
Puckpourri
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Pens dominated. We held an edge in shot attempts (85-64), shots on goal (47-37), scoring chances (43-31) and high-danger chances (19-8). For good measure, we outhit Vegas 41-30.
Each of our forward lines registered a Corsi of 50 or better, with Geno’s line leading the way (71.43).
Coach Mike Sullivan singled out Pierre-Olivier Joseph for praise. “It might have been P.O’s best game,” Sully said. “I thought he played a strong game tonight, on both sides of the puck.”
How great was it to see Kapanen get the game-winner and win top-star honors to boot? With a goal and an assist, the Flying Finn appears intent on seizing his latest (and perhaps final) reprieve.
Likewise, it’s great to see McGinn (1+1) producing. The Brock Star’s quietly tallied six goals and 10 points over his past 15 games.
Max Talbot’s presence in the broadcast booth may have provided a little hidden vigorish. The black-and-gold potted two goals with “Mad Max” chiming in.
Crosby said the Pens were inspired by the plight of fallen teammate Kris Letang, who suffered a stroke earlier this week.
The Golden Knights were 10-1-1 on the road entering last night’s contest.
On Tap
The Pens (12-8-4, 28 points) host St. Louis (11-12, 22 points) on Saturday night. Like us, the Blues are digging out from a horrendous start that included an eight-game losing streak.
