When I was a kid, one of my very favorite meals was sloppy joes. Occasionally they’d serve them on Fridays at Ben Franklin grade school and I always loved the meaty, saucy treats. I must say they lived up to their name. Often as I devoured them, a morsel or two would slip out from the bun and plop onto my lap or shirt. Part of the fun.
Well, last night’s wild, 5-4, come-from-behind-the-eight-ball overtime triumph over the Flyers reminded me of sloppy joes. Indeed, I’m hard-pressed to think of a more loosey goosey, slipshod effort than the one turned in by our guys. It was as if we felt all we needed to do was step on the ice and the floundering Flyers would wilt. To the contrary, our undermanned rivals came at us hard and nearly upset the apple cart. But in the end we snatched a delicious victory from the jaws of almost certain defeat.
Speaking of kids, Sidney Crosby (aka “Sid the Kid”) notched his much anticipated 500th career goal to the delight of teammates and the 18,385 partisans in attendance. In the process, becoming the 46th player in NHL history to do so. An amazing feat and wholly appropriate that it would come against the blood-rival Flyers.
Back to the game itself. While the visitors were dialed in from the outset, we came out looking like we were anticipating a leisurely Sunday afternoon skate. The Flyers grabbed the early lead at 13:47 of the first period off a 2-on-1, with captain (and rumored trade bait) Claude Giroux doing the honors.
The good guys knotted the score just 22 seconds later on a hustling play from a most unlikely source. Spinning off a check by Philly forward Connor Bunnaman, Dominik Simon arrived at the doorstep just in time to deflect Marcus Pettersson’s feathery feed from the top of the left circle over goalie Carter Hart. Setting the stage for Sid’s epic tally.
With the Pens working on a power play, Evgeni Malkin fed a quick pass to No. 87 in his office to the right of the net. Sid made no mistake and lasered the puck past Hart’s glove, touching off an emotional, bench-emptying celebration reminiscent of his “Golden Goal” in the 2010 Olympics.
Quick recap. Sid gets his 500th. Pens are up 2-1 going into the second period against the woebegone Flyers. No worries, right?
Wrong.
Philly tied the score just 57 ticks into the second frame on a marker by Scott Laughton, who drove the puck past Casey DeSmith from the high slot. Midway through the period the Flyers snatched a 3-2 lead thanks to defenseman Nick Seeler’s first goal of the campaign. Philly made it 4-2 with less than three minutes remaining in the period on a long-range blast from Justin Braun following a scramble in the Pens’ zone.
Between periods, black-and-gold skipper Mike Sullivan issued his charges a challenge. “Let’s see what we’re made of here.”
For a time, it didn’t look like much. But with the game clock ticking down to 7:24 remaining in regulation, Jake Guentzel struck for a huge power-play goal to breathe life back into his teammates…and the fans.
Say this about our Pens. Like sharks at a feeding frenzy, once they get a whiff of blood in the water…
On the ensuing rush, Danton Heinen spotted Chad Ruhwedel slipping through the back door uncovered and hit him with a perfect cross-crease feed. Ruhwedel swept the puck into the open side of the net to knot the score at 4-apiece.
Having battled back, the locals nearly blew it when Guentzel drew a hooking penalty a short time later to hand Philly a power play. With 6’6” Isaac Ratcliffe planted in his grille, DeSmith made an unconscious…and likely game-saving…glove save on Morgan Frost.
In the opening minute of overtime, Kris Letang broke up a Philly rush and blazed back into the Flyers’ zone on a 2-on-1 with Crosby. Looking pass all the way, Tanger suddenly pulled the trigger and beat Hart through the five-hole with an ice-hugging bullet, touching off a wild celebration among teammates and fans alike.
A delectable if slovenly win for our boys.
Just like sloppy joes.
Puckpourri
The Pens outshot the Flyers, 34-27, but won only 42 percent of the faceoffs. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but the Flyers probably deserved a better fate.
Aside from Mario Lemieux, has there ever been a better sharp-angle shooter in the history of the game than Crosby?
Our fourth line of Brian Boyle, Zach Aston-Reese and Simon was once again dominant (Corsi of 75), collecting two points on the evening. Boyle’s doing a fantastic job filling in for injured Teddy Blueger and Simon continues to impress with his diligence and hustle.
The Malkin line had a better game, but I still think adjustments are necessary. Note to Sully…try shifting Jeff Carter to Geno’s right flank. And for goodness sake, REUNITE EVAN RODRIGUES AND KASPERI KAPANEN, who showed great chemistry earlier in the season. A case where two wrongs…or in this case…ice-cold forwards, could make a right.
DeSmith didn’t have his best game (23 saves on 27 shots) but he hung tough when he needed to.
In a welcome departure from the recent norm, ten different Pens showed up on the score sheet.
Winners of four straight, the Pens (31-11-8, 70 points) remain atop the Metro with a three-point lead over Carolina. Starting with Thursday night’s matchup with Toronto north of the border, the road gets considerably tougher for our guys from here on out.
Rick,
Sloppy Joes were a favorite of mine too.
There was an episode of the Simpsons where they went to Australia and ended up at the American embassy there. The drains in the southern hemisphere swirl in the opposite direction than they do here in the USA (the coriolis effect), so Homer went into the John to observe the reverse swirl in the toilet bowl. When he flushed, it started to swirl accordingly, then this high pressured water jet forced it to swirl in the same direction it does in the USA, all while playing the star spangled banner.
It was a funny scene of American Hubris, but it kinda reminds me of Sullivan and his system. Whether its hall of famer Jerome Iginla , Ryan Reeves or Evan Rodriguez…. they play where he puts them , period end.
He has often talked about the interchangeability of personnel in interviews and I don’t think he’ll invest much effort in trying to find the best complimentary pairings especially for the second and third lines.
I really hope they up their level of play here soon.
Hey Lightning,
Overall I think Sullivan’s a really good coach. But at times he appears reluctant to go back to combinations that seem to work. Of course, he’s on the ice with these guys every day and obviously has insights we don’t. But in the very brief time they were together Malkin and Carter worked well, especially with Radim Zohorna on left wing. And Rodrigues and Kapanen just seemed to click. Would like to try them with McGinn, although Heinen could work there, too.
Given our drop-off in secondary scoring over the past month or so, it sure couldn’t hurt to at least try some different combinations.
Rick
Rick
I think Sully’s a good coach too. He evidently was the one pulling for E-Rod , which I frankly did not see from last years play.
He definitely coaches to a system. Some coaches are able to change their systems to exploit the skill set of personnel they have.
Im sure both have their pluses and minuses.
If they make it to the playoffs and go out early again, maybe even in the first series… is that enough?!
If that occurs, really want to see what Hextall does this off-season with re-signings ( or lack there of) , the draft and free agency / trades.
In the meantime, I hope they can go deep in the playoffs and I’m hoping for the best.
Hey Lightning,
Interesting and astute observation about Sullivan coaching to a system and not being especially open to adjusting his style to fit his personnel. I think we saw instances of that when Rutherford tried to add some size for a couple of seasons after the Cups (Reaves, Oleksiak, Gudbranson, Bjugstad). It seems Sully didn’t know what to do with them.
It’s really the one bone I have to pick with him, but it’s a biggie. I think most of us agree the Pens would benefit from adding some functional size and pushback for the playoff grind. But Sullivan generally doesn’t have use for that type of player, unless you can land a guy like Carter who has size and can skate and produce. Unfortunately, those guys don’t exactly grow on trees.
Rick
Rick
Unbelievable watching Crosby get his 500th goal – It was almost like the emotion of him scoring took
a little wind out of the Pen’s and they had to regroup which they did. Great game to watch.
Couple of thoughts:
**Fourth line has really played well and as much as I don’t love Simon I have to give him his due. He’s
been relentless on the forecheck.
**I don’t see ZAR dressing when Teddy returns to the lineup.
**I had to hold my breath when McGinn went down after being hit by a shot from the point – he brings
so much to the table – hard guy to replace in the lineup. It was nice to see him back on the ice.
**Although I think DeSmith has held his own in net I still feel like Hextall needs to find a solid Vet backup
for Jarry at the deadline. I’m not comfortable with DeSmith as our goalie during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
**Side note – I got to watch a late game on Center Ice and Deslauriers put it on Oleksiak pretty good. I
would still love to see Hextall swing something with Anaheim and add Deslauriers to the roster.
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
You called it when Sid was struggling early in his return and you said not to worry. My goodness, has he come on like gangbusters. I don’t remember the exact time frame, but he leads the league in points going to back to the start of 2022 (or something like that).
He’s so remarkably consistent and great game-in-and-game out, I confess it’s easy to take what he does for granted. But he’s had an extraordinary career. And even though the odds are against it, I really hope he gets another Cup before he hangs up his skates. Just an exceptional player.
Simon’s grown on me, too. He really works his butt off and more and more I’m appreciating all the little things he’s does.
Interesting thought on ZAR. But I think Sullivan keeps him in the lineup and slots him with Blueger and McGinn when everyone’s healthy, as much out of familiarity and comfort level as anything else. Yes, agree about McGinn. He’s an incredible penalty killer and one of the big reasons why we improved so dramatically in that area.
I hear ya about DeSmith…and also Deslauriers. That was one heck of a go with Oleksiak, who got in some pretty good lefts. Check out their first fight back in 2015. The Big Rig destroyed him. But I digress.
Yeah, I’d love to have one guy who can go. Nick Ritchie intrigues me, too, big hitter who can really fight, but he’s a plodding skater at best. We know how that goes. Even if we acquired one of those guys, Sully wouldn’t play him.
As an aside, now that Calgary got Toffoli they’re going to be very tough. My sleeper choice to win the Cup.
Rick