In what was arguably our best game since we beat the Rangers back on December 20, the Penguins overcame the Blueshirts and a dreadful no-call by the refs to win 3-2 in overtime yesterday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.
It was a gritty, gutsy, character win. Best of all, when the Rangers shoved we shoved back.
Wielding their sticks in a cavalier fashion, the visitors took three penalties before the game was six minutes old, including overlapping high-sticking minors to Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad. The Pens made ‘em pay, with Rickard Rakell doing the honors on a bullet from the slot following a tic-tac-toe setup from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
New York scrapper Barclay Goodrow knotted the score at 11:18 following a nice bit of work down low by the Rangers’ fourth line, Jimmy Vesey in particular.
The Pens regained the lead early in the second period, thanks to yet another tally by our not-so-secret weapon, Jason Zucker. After taking a pass from Brian Dumoulin, No. 16 ripped off an innocuous shot from the left point. The rubber was tracking well wide of the Rangers’ net before it bonked off Zibanejad’s skate and past a startled Jaroslav Halak.
To borrow from an old Jerry Reed classic, when you’re hot, you’re hot. Right now, Jason is hot.
Speaking of heat, the competitive fires threatened to burn out of control as the period progressed. Near the 16-minute mark old enemy Jacob Trouba leveled Alex Nylander with a bone-jarring but clean shoulder check at the Rangers’ line. Malkin hunted down the bruising d-man and was issued a cross-checking penalty for his stab at frontier justice.
A minute into the power play all hell threatened to break loose as players squared off around our net. A victim of Rangers rough stuff in the past, Marcus Pettersson turned from lamb to lion and cross-checked Chris Kreider up high before taking the hulking forward to the ice.
Physical play would also factor into the next goal, along with myopic refereeing. Approaching the midpoint of the third period, Trocheck banged into Malkin. The big center returned the favor with a heavy hit in the corner, knocking the Ranger to the ice and relieving him of the puck. After Malkin turned toward the middle of the ice and well after he disposed of the puck, he was blasted by Trocheck from behind. A textbook interference penalty if there ever was one.
Unfortunately, referees Chris Rooney and Dan O’Rourke turned a blind eye. As Geno lay prone on the ice, Trocheck led a 3-on-2 break before finding Kreider wide open in the slot. The big forward blew the biscuit past Tristan Jarry to tie the score at 2-2.
Livid over the non-call, the Pens refused to buckle. Sprung by Malkin, Nylander burst up ice on a partial break with 44 seconds to play in regulation, but his wrister was gloved aside by Halak.
Fortunately for the black and gold, justice was served in overtime. Artemi Panarin was caught with his hand in Mike Lange’s cookie jar and our power play sprang into action. Following some pretty passing by our Two-Headed Monster, Kris Letang rifled the game-winner past Halak from the high slot.
A monster of a win, too.
Nice to know that good guys finish first sometimes.
Puckpourri
The game was evenly contested across the board. The Rangers held a slight edge in shot attempts (62-61) and scoring chances (31-30). The Pens were up in shots on goal (35-29) and high-danger chances (17-15). Hits (45-44) and faceoffs (53 percent), too.
Jarry made 27 saves in a bounce back performance but still appeared a bit stiff and mechanical. Still wonder if he’s fighting through an undisclosed ailment.
Dmitry Kulikov exited in the second period and did not return. Likewise, Rakell went to the dressing room after blocking a shot, but returned to finish the game. Following a 10-game drought, the silky Swede has scored in back-to-back games.
In addition to tallying the overtime winner Letang was at his best while nabbing top-star honors. The fiery defender dished out a team-high six hits, to go with three shots on goal and three blocked shots in a staggering 28:07 of ice time.
Crosby and Malkin collected two assists apiece. Geno reached the 70-point mark for the 12th time in his illustrious career…the first time since 2019-20. Zucker has goals in four straight games, 11 in his past 13.
Although it isn’t a popular notion, give GM Ron Hextall a little credit for reinforcing us physically with the additions of Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta and Josh Archibald. While we don’t exactly play long-pants hockey, we’re better able to stand up to teams like the Rangers in playoff-style matchups.
Suddenly, we’re 7-1-1 in our past nine games.
On Tap
The Pens (34-22-10, 78 points) wrap up their five-game home stand Tuesday night against Montreal (26-34-6, 58 points). Let’s hope there’s no letdown.
With the win, we reclaimed fourth place in the Metro and the top Eastern wild-card slot, two points up on the Islanders.
Good stuff Rick.
It seems you can hear a pin drop on Ppoop every time the Pens string together a couple of wins or a 7-1-1 streak.