A funny thing happened at PPG Paints Arena last night. Our Penguins won a hockey game.
They didn’t just win. They penned (pun intended) a near flawless performance en route to a thoroughly convincing 4-0 triumph over the previously unbeaten Avalanche. A foe many are touting as a legit Stanley Cup contender.
On this night our Pens bore more than a passing resemblance to one themselves.
Truly, I was expecting to write our obituary. Instead, I’m singing our praises.
We played with speed, maximum effort and riveting intensity…for a full 60 minutes no less. Our stars led and our support players supported. At our north-south best, we kept the game simple and drove to the net, making life difficult for Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev and their fleet defense.
Three of our goals came from the slot. Amazing things happen when you shoot from there. A goalie has to cover both sides of the net, making his job twice as difficult.
Our attention to those details coach Mike Sullivan so often refers to? Spot-on. We were patient, waiting for the Avs to make mistakes. Which enabled us to create offense from sound defense. To my eye, a blueprint for this team to follow.
As for the particulars?
Reilly Smith struck for the first of his two goals at 4:40 of the first period, a fraction of a second after Nathan MacKinnon stepped from the penalty box, thanks in no small part to some determined grunt work by Rickard Rakell in the left circle. RikRak’s effort, not to mention a favorable deflection off an Av defender’s stick, set the puck on a platter for Smith. The newcomer didn’t miss, wiring the puck top-shelf past Georgiev.
The Pens made it 2-0 with just over three minutes left in the period. Bryan Rust broke up a play high in our zone and slipped the puck to Evgeni Malkin, who steamed into the Avs’ zone on a 2-on-1 with Smith. Displaying a virtuoso’s touch, No. 71 slowed the play down and forced both Devon Toews and Georgiev to commit to him before dishing a pass to Smith for the finish.
Brilliant work by Geno. Simply brilliant.
Sergei Rachmaninoff couldn’t have played it better.
Not to be outdone, our third line chimed in with a huge goal six minutes into the second stanza. Chad Ruhwedel forced a turnover at our blue line and moved the puck to Drew O’Connor. The rangy winger pulled up in the right circle and slipped a cross-ice pass intended for Radim Zohorna. Josh Manson broke up the pass, but Big Z used his Pterodactyl wingspan to nudge the loose puck to Lars Eller. With Georgiev glued to the post, the Danish center backhanded the biscuit into a yawning net to make the score 3-0 for the good guys.
A fortuitous goal as it turned out, because we spent a good chunk of the period killing off penalties to Malkin, including an unfortunate double-minor that carried over into the final frame. Led by the stellar work of Kris Letang (yes Tanger!), to say nothing of goalie Tristan Jarry, our penalty killers slammed the door.
Sidney Crosby drove the final spike into the Avs’ coffin midway through the third period. Moments after Jarry coolly made a stunning glove save on Bowen Byram from the right circle (while using Letang’s stick), Jake Guentzel forced yet another turnover high in the Avs’ zone and fed the puck to Crosby. Transitioning in a flash from D-to-O, Sid ripped the puck past Georgiev from the high slot. A goal that compelled Avs skipper Jared Bednar to pull his beleaguered netminder.
To sum up, it was a consummate team effort. The kind I honestly never thought I’d see from this bunch. I can only imagine what this win did for our collective psyche and self-image. For a team in many ways still getting to know each other, a win to build on, for sure.
To borrow from an old Staple Singers hit, let’s do it again. (And again.)
Puckpourri
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Avs dominated statistically, holding a sizeable edge in shot attempts (64-48), shots on goal (31-29), scoring chances (34-23) and high-danger chances (13-4).
The numbers and outcome seem to support my theory that we achieve better results when we employ a more controlled, buttoned-down style. Or play within ourselves, to borrow from a popular phrase.
Jarry was superb, stopping 31 shots to post his second shutout of the young season. In the process, earning top-star billing.
In the eating crow department, I was very impressed with defenseman Ryan Shea, who finished a plus-3 on the night. He was solid in all aspects of his game. It seems Kyle Dubas may have unearthed a diamond in the rough, a left-shot version of former Pen John Marino.
His partner, Ruhwedel, deserves some love, too. He dished out three hits, including two on a single shift and looked quick and decisive to boot.
Speaking of defensemen shining, my goodness did Letang do yeoman’s work on the PK. He made a handful of forceful clears and in general made himself a nuisance. Can’t say enough about his team-first attitude, especially in the face of shifting roles.
Did I mention he logged a game high 26:26 of ice time?
My word do Malkin have Smith have chemistry. (No, make that CHEMISTRY!) It’s an absolute joy to watch Geno skate with a winger who reads and reacts to him so well…and vice versa. With a team-high nine points, the big Russian seems to have discovered the fountain of youth at age 37. He’s frolicking (and producing) like he did as a fresh-faced rookie.
The third and fourth lines quietly had very strong games. Both units registered a positive Corsi and expected goals for percentages.
Kudos to Sullivan for pulling the team together, getting them to refocus and coaxing an A+ performance out of them. I don’t know what Sully stressed in practice, but whatever it was he should bottle it.
Seriously, a great job by a coach who’s drawn his share of fire recently.
On Deck
The Pens take on the Sens Saturday night before wrapping up the homestand against the Ducks on Monday night.
