New Year’s Eve 1978. Home on holiday break from college, I hunkered down next to my family’s stereo/radio console to listen to Mike Lange call the Penguins-Red Wings game. Following a dismal start, we were trailing, 4-0, when Pete Mahovlich scored what seemed to be an inconsequential goal a couple minutes before the second-period horn. Peter Lee followed suit at 11:35 of the third period to cut the Wings’ lead to two. With just under three minutes to play, Greg Malone struck to make it 4-3. Then Gregg Sheppard tied it at 18:17. Incredibly, with seven seconds remaining, Randy Carlyle blasted home a long-range slap shot to cap a thrilling comeback. The Red Wings’ goalie that night? Jim Rutherford.
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I must’ve burned through a half-dozen lead-ins for my Penguins-Blue Jackets game summary before I was reminded of one of the signature comebacks in franchise history. Wholly appropriate, I thought, in the wake of our titillating 5-4 come-from-behind triumph in overtime.
Needless to say, most of my initial ideas were none-too-complimentary. In fact, here’s how I summed up our nightmarish first period in my game notes.
Dreadful period of hockey. (We were) taken to the woodshed by the worst team in the league. No hop, no jump. Ghastly turnovers.
I didn’t record a positive comment until midway through the second period. By then we were down 4-0.
It took half a game, but Brian Dumoulin aggressively moved tough guy Mathieu Olivier away from our net. Someone did something…finally!
And then we woke up.
Leave it to bellwether Jason Zucker to sound the alarm, with a little help from his linemates. Pressed into service due to injury and illness, Alex Nylander bounced off a check from Erik Gudbranson and lured the Columbus d-man out of the corner before smartly reversing the puck to Evgeni Malkin. Geno placed the puck on a platter for Zucker in the slot and the plucky winger went forehand-to-backhand to beat goalie Michael Hutchinson. The goal…and No. 16’s typically fiery response…lit a fire under his slumbering teammates.
I remember thinking we needed to score another goal before the intermission to have any kind of chance. My hopes rose when Patrik Laine took a hooking penalty at 16:08, only to be dashed by our brutally ineffective power play.
Fortunately, the goal we so desperately needed came just 21 seconds into the third period when Jake Guentzel flew down the wing and beat Hutchinson five-hole to slice the Blue Jackets lead to 4-2.
To quote Robert Pastorelli’s deranged character from the Pittsburgh-based flick Striking Distance, “Now we got us a game.”
With the Malkin line buzzing like bees around the Blue Jackets’ hive, Zucker plowed into the slot and drilled a loose puck past Hutchinson at 3:16 to make it 4-3. Quicker than you can say SHAZAM we knotted the score 43 seconds later on a goal by, appropriately, No. 43 Danton Heinen. Enjoying a rare shift on the top line, the blonde-haired winger punched home Rickard Rakell’s perfect net-front feed, courtesy of a heady setup by Sidney Crosby.
Cue the tension. Having battled all the way back, would our boys give the game away on some funky breakdown? It nearly happened twice within a 29-second span near the 12-minute mark. But Casey DeSmith stopped Emil Bemstrom cold on a breakaway and followed up with a stunning spread-eagled right pad save on the sharpshooting Laine.
Needless to say, I breathed a deep sigh of relief when the final seconds of regulation ticked off the clock. And when Boone Jenner was whistled for hooking at 1:13 of overtime? Let’s just say I was hopin’.
I’m happy to report on this night dreams did come true. Malkin skated toward the slot to decoy the defense, then slipped a buttery pass into Crosby’s wheelhouse in the right circle. Sid stepped into the shot and blasted it past Hutchinson for the game winner.
In the process evoking memories of another night long ago when all seemed lost but in the end was regained.
Puckpourri
The Penguins dominated (and I mean DOMINATED) stats-wise, piling up huge advantages in shot attempts (98-48), shots on goal (47-27), scoring chances (53-24…wow) and high-danger chances (28-10…double wow).
Crosby (1+2) and Malkin (three helpers) paced the attack with three points apiece, while Zucker potted two goals, his 20th and 21st of the campaign.
Did I mention that I LOVE Zucker? If we don’t re-sign him, especially due to Mikael Granlund’s contract, axes should fly and heads should roll. I shudder to think where we’d be without him.
DeSmith was huge…the unsung hero. After replacing porous starter Tristan Jarry (who allowed four goals on 12 shots) Casey was calm, cool, collected and razor-sharp.
Nylander’s black-and-gold debut was a smashing success. He meshed beautifully with Malkin and Zucker, and I was really impressed with his offensive instincts, skating and skill. Reminiscent, in some ways, of Rakell. Hopefully a performance that earns him a longer look.
While I’m on the subject, raspberries to a writer from another media outlet (who shall go nameless) who suggested Nylander had nothing to offer. I beg to differ.
Nick Bonino is making a difference on the penalty kill, especially with his ability to clear the puck.
During a particularly onerous stretch of the first period I yelled, “Just play!” in exasperation. Not my favorite saying or mantra. But hockey makes for strange bed-fellows.
Bryan Rust (new daddy) and Granlund (illness) sat out. Coach Mike Sullivan went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, including newcomer Dmitry Kulikov. Credit Sully for calling a timeout during the disastrous first-period to rally the troops.
We snapped an 0-6-3 streak against our Metro brethren.
We now boast five 20-goal scorers, tied with Toronto and Buffalo for the most in the league.
On Tap
The Pens (32-22-9, 73 points) host the Islanders (33-25-8, 74 points) on Thursday night in a huge Metro showdown. The Isles remain one slot and one point ahead of us in the race for the top Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Rick, The Other Rick & Jim
My take on last nights game vs CBJ
1) Sully needs to find away to keep Nylander in the lineup – I know it’s one game but
I was impressed with his focus on playing at both ends of the ice.
2) I’m in agreement that against a better hockey club the Pen’s probably don’t come
back from a 4 goal deficit but I will also give them a slight pass on it being there first
game back from a road trip.
3) I wouldn’t extend Jarry until he show’s me he can stay healthy.
4) A question for the group – why does it seem like when players go to another team their
production increases??
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
Great points you make sir. Especially # 3….100% agree.
To answer point #4, I say it is for JOB SECURITY,. Same as Rust did last year and Zucker this year, It is all about getting a longer or better contract in my opinion.
Cheers
Jim
Hey Mike,
I absolutely agree about Nylander. I was just very impressed with his play and the way he handled himself. He didn’t look at all out of place or overawed skating with Malkin and Zucker…in fact he read and reacted to them very well. Also like the way he played down low and in the traffic areas.
Re: Jarry, that’s the million dollar question (or should I should the $6 million for 6-year question). Funny, but one of gym members asked me about that today. Honestly…I don’t know. I like Jarry, but yes he is injury-prone and you sure don’t want to tie up $$$ long term on a goalie who out of the lineup as much as in.
Problem is, if you don’t sign him who do you get? The popular rumor is John Gibson, but he’s under contract through ’26-27 at a hit of $6.4 million and, of course, would require a trade. Aside from that, there are lots (and lots) of teams hurting for goaltending.
Very perplexing…
Regarding point number 4, I take it you’re referring to Kapanen. I’m more concerned about what happens to our bottom-sixers under Sullivan. Blueger, Aston-Reese and Lafferty all flashed some offense when they first came up but gradually morphed into o-zone pillars of stone.
Anyway, good to hear from you as always.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Sorry, but not only is Jarry injury prone (which may be due more to the lack of defensemen capable of keeping opponents off him than anything organic to him) but he is simply NOT a great Goalie. In 12 of the 33 games he has played he has posted sub 0.900% Sv%. If he doesn’t want to sign a contract roughly the same as the contract he has now, then HE is simply not worth it. As I wrote yesterday, he is rumored to be asking for $6 million for 5 – 6 years. He is not worth that. If you don’t want Gibson for $6 +, you can’t accept Jarry for $6 +.
As for who do you get to replace him? Well, it shouldn’t be that hard to get a Goalie who understands that if he can’t get above the 0.900% mark in more than 1/3 of his games then he doesn’t deserve more than $2 or $3 million on 1- or 2-year deal to prove himself.
Matt Murray won 2 Stanley Cups before he technically was done with his rookie year, and was a virtual wall until his father passed away and if you go back to when he wanted the big money, I wasn’t willing to pay him $6 million. I said trade him. Well, I say the same for Jarry.
Quite frankly, Blomqvist will be the future anyway, unless bozo GMRH trades him like the GM clown JR traded Gustavsson. How would you like to see him between the Penguins pipes right now. Again go back several years when I wrote here on these boards that I thought he was better than Murray or Jarry and would should eventually be the Pens future Goalie.
just an addendum Rick,
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch Murashov play yet. His numbers look great, but I haven’t seen what he looks like on the ice, if it is him or his team. That is why I still like Blomqvist best among our Goalies – I have seen him play and he impresses me. Perhaps Musashov is better, his stats certainly are ridiculously great but even if he is, getting him to the NHL may be tricky.
Hey Mike,
I know some peoples’ undies are going to get all bunched up when they read this but to answer your question “why does it seem like when players go to another team their production increases??”
The quick and dirty answer is that Sullivan is not that good of a Coach. Yes, I said it again.
A deeper answer is;
1) Not all player’s production increases. Domink Simon’s production was never higher than it was when he was wearing black – and – gold. Why? Sully favored him. Simon never earned top 6 TOI yet he was often rewarded with prime ice time with Sid. Now Sid is not in the same stratosphere as Mario, as good as he is, he isn’t on the Mount Rushmore of Hockey with Mario, Gretzky, Orr, and Howe, but he is a generational talent. Mario made Scorin’ Warren Young and Robbie Brown look like Phenoms and probably could have bounced 30 or more pucks off Simon if he had the guts and size to go to the front of the net. Yet Sid is a generational talent and arguably the 2nd best Penguin in the history of this franchise and he found ways to get Simple Simon on the score sheet, ways that obviously no other Center could find.
2) Sully besides playing favorites among the players, always tries to coach the team he wishes he had rather than the one he does have. To that end he keeps trying to pound square pegs into round holes, putting players in positions to fail rather than succeed.
Case in point E-Rod. As I have written many times, E-Rod is a top 6 Center on a middle to bottom 6 team, not a top 6 Center on a Cup contender. Nor is he a top 6 Wing or a bottom 6 player of any kind. He lacks the skill sets for those positions. When Sid and Geno were hurt, and he was getting top 6 minutes last season he played well. But when they came back, and Sullivan kept insisting on playing him at Wing or Bottom 6 his production dropped off the face of the map. Sullivan put him in a position to fail.
(As you have noted many times, Mike, you don’t play top 6 players who don’t make your top 6 in bottom 6 roles.)
Now E-Rod has jumped to Colorado, since he couldn’t extort GMRH into an overpay contract. He is having a decent season (not a great one) playing top 6 minutes behind McKinnon. And guess what, Colorado isn’t elite this year, it is middling a touch better than our Pens.
3) Sullivan employs a team full of cream puffs so that the smallest of the small players get eaten alive. Conor Sheary has some skill as he has shown in Washington, but that team is large and he is the only smurf there, so he has big brothers to keep him from getting bullied. Has Sully used Reaves, Oleksiak, Sestito, Gudbranson, or any of those types of players, or even just stop choosing the smallest player when could find with some skill and instead choose the bigger guy with that skill set, then Sheary could of/would have been a fair fit on the Pens roster – at least better than Simon or E-Rod.
If Sully had his way he would have 4 lines of Simon/E-Rod/Sheary skating for him and he would keep telling them just play as one by one they get decapitated by Tom Wilson types.
Hey Rick,
Winning surely is better than losing but let’s not get too excited about coming back against CBJ. To be in position to make this comeback, our Pens needed to fall behind 4-0 first, to the bottom team in our conference, bottom by a country mile. What do you think the odds would be for the Penguins to come back against Merzlinkins let alone any other team in the Conference?
Question 2 – after last night performance would you give Jarry the $6.5 – 6 year deal I hear he is asking?
Nylander? You know Sully would never have given him TOI in the top 6 if he had a choice. In most other circumstances, Nylander would have been tossed out there on the 4th line, like he did with Puustenin last season so Sully could say see they can’t score either – except both Puustenin last season with 2 – pylons as line mates, and Nylander yesterday did make the score sheet. Even if they eventually cool off, if you want to win, you ride a hot player.
Bonino was only given 7:52 TOI. Carter was almost double that 14:42 Just saying.
Hey Rick,
I too am glad we won but I did not get this warm and fuzzy feeling that everything is all right in Pens’ vill….
The game i saw last night was not that the mighty Penguins magically became a super team and we stormed back to win…No sir, what I saw was the weakest team in the league scored 4 goals in the first two periods and then they ran out of gas. They are a very weak team and that is what weak teams do. I do not fault Columbus for losing in over time with a penalty called against them.They are probably ecstatic that they took a point from the once mighty Penguins.
i saw so many mistakes and missed assignments last night by the Pens, I was shocked Rick. Against the worst team in the league !!!
.I wonder if we did not get that Penalty call in over time where by they had to play 4 on 3 for a full 2 minutes if the game would have ended diffidently ?? This game should never been that close.
This team has another problem as well….Goal tending !!!!
Cheers
JIM
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I hear you Jim,
This was not a case of the Penguins winning a game but CBJ losing it.
I have been saying all season that Jarry was too Jekyll and Hyde but Kingerski and others have been saying pay him and give him a long term deal – really? And that is why the Pens are struggling, over paying limited veteran talent, emphasizing years, equating years to experience. However, there is a big difference between 2 or 3 season’s experience once and 1 years experience 10 times. But I tire of beating that drum for deaf ears. I will wait until the dust settles and let out with yet another “I told you so!”