Unless your favorite hockey team happens to be a reincarnation of the great Canadiens dynasty of the 1970s (or the present-day Bruins), losing hockey games is as inevitable as death and taxes. The key is to nip potential losing streaks in the bud.
Our Penguins did just that last night at PPG Paints Arena. Entering the contest on a two-game slide, the black and gold righted the ship with a surprisingly strong team effort against defending Cup champion Vegas.
The result? A brisk 3-0 triumph. All the more impressive since we played (and lost to) Carolina the night before.
Fresh off a stint on LTIR, backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic earned the heroes laurels, not to mention top-star billing, with a sparkling 38-save performance. The Parma, Ohio native and unabashed Cleveland Browns fan had some help, mostly in the guise of a solid defensive effort by his teammates, who for the most part kept his sight lines clear and the Golden Knights away from the prime scoring areas.
Too, the Pens received something as rare in these parts as an alligator paddling down the Mon. Namely, secondary scoring.
Ryan Graves got us off and running just past the two-minute mark of the opening frame thanks to a great bit of work by our third line. Lars Eller picked Nicolas Hague’s pocket in the right circle and slipped a pass to Drew O’Connor at the lip of the crease. Knights goalie Adin Hill stopped DOC, but the big winger corralled the rebound and fed it to Radim Zohorna for a follow-up try. Hill denied Big Z as well, but the puck drifted out to an onrushing Graves, who banged it home for his first goal of the season.
Our second goal, which came at 11:39 of the second period, resulted from a little hidden vigorish as broadcasting legend Bob Prince was fond of saying. Literally the instant radio play-by-play man Steve Mears bemoaned Noel Acciari’s missed opportunities from the night before, the feisty forward found an opening to the left of the Vegas net and buried the puck behind Hill.
With “Ned” as sharp as a barber-shop straight razor, the Pens held serve at 2-0 until Evgeni Malkin potted an empty netter at 18:42 of the third period.
Again, to borrow a phrase from the ol’ Gunner, we had ‘em all the way.
Puckpourri
The visitors held the high ground in most statistical categories, including shot attempts (75-70), shots on goal (38-33) and scoring chances (40-38) per Natural Stat Trick. The Pens held a slight edge (13-11) in high-danger chances.
Nedeljkovic was superb. He’s cat-quick and his rebound control is extraordinary. You might say he had the Midas touch…every save he made was pure gold. (As in Golden Knights…ar ar. Sorry…)
The Pens lead the NHL with five shutouts. Yeah, you read that right.
Sidney Crosby (11) and Erik Karlsson (8) had their points streaks snapped. Jake Guentzel, who assisted on Geno’s empty netter, quietly ran his own points streak to eight games. Sid has points in 15 of 17 games, Jake 14 of 17.
The blonde-haired winger seems to be taking on more of a setup role a la Phil Kessel.
Great to see Acciari and Graves get on the board. The former’s tally was due in no small part to a strong play along the end boards by Jeff Carter, who replaced Vinnie Hinostroza (lower-body injury).
Now if we can just get Rickard Rakell off the schneid. I realize these situations are fluid, but if I’m Mike Sullivan I make every effort to put RikRak on the ice when opponents pull their goalies.
Our first and third lines were solid as usual. But Geno’s line? Woof…a Corsi of 15 and an expected goals for percentage of 16.62. Following his jack-rabbit start, the big guy seems to be dragging a bit. Sure hope he’s not hurt.
Speaking of the third line, the sequence leading to our game opening-goal showed the value of having some size on the ice, not to mention a willingness to crash the net. The Golden Knights couldn’t physically handle the combination of Big Z (6’6″ 220), DOC (6’3″ 200), Eller (6’2″ 205) and Graves (6’5″ 220).
Other Rick and I don’t always see eye-to-eye. But one player we agree on is Hague. He’s huge (6’6” 230), can move the puck and is tough as nails. Arguably the best fighter in the NHL.
Wish we had him…or a player of his ilk.
On Deck
The Pens (9-8) get two days off to savor the victory before hosting the Metro-leading Rangers (12-2-1) on Thanksgiving Eve.
We’re currently two points out of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
