Penguins Nip Blues in OT, 3-2

 

Back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, the Penguins and Blues were bitter rivals. Clashes between the clubs invariably featured rough-house play, bloodletting and occasional fisticuffs. Bob Plager slugging it out with our combative goalie Al Smith. “Bugsy” Watson tangling with Blues behemoth Noel Picard. Barclay Plager battling Bryan Hextall, father of our present GM.

While his son, Ron, puzzles over how best to improve his embattled hockey team before the trade deadline, the skidding Pens took matters into their own hands and beat the Blues, 3-2, in overtime. In the process snapping an ugly four-game skid and vaulting, at least temporarily, back into the second Eastern Conference wild-card slot.

In a matchup of slumping, demoralized teams, our Pens got the early jump, piling up a 21-7 edge in first-period shots on goal. However, Blues goalie Jordan Binnington flashed his Cup-winning form and kept us at bay during the opening frame…with a little help from his friends. Indeed, it was a “five-iron affair,” as the Pens struck metal five times, including a pair of clangers by Jason Zucker.

After circling the wagons…or more precisely…our net, the Blues snagged the lead just 23 ticks into the second period. Shortly after we killed off a double-minor to Zucker, Robert Thomas swung around our cage and fired off a shot from the top of the left circle. Tristan Jarry stood tall to blunt the rising rubber, only to be beaten on a high-to-low deflection through the five hole by Pavel Buchnevich.

The Pens have been fragile of late, and giving up a goal in the first minute of a period is hardly a blueprint for victory. But we kept at it and were soon rewarded near the seven-minute mark. Marcus Pettersson made a nifty bounce pass off the side boards to an onrushing Evgeni Malkin, who worked a beautiful give-and-go with Bryan Rust. Number 71 directed the return pass into a yawning net to knot the score at 1-1.

An unlikely cast of characters factored in on our go-ahead goal at 14:32 of the third period. Stationed along the wall in our zone, Drew O’Connor alertly spotted Teddy Blueger flying up the middle of the ice and hit the snakebitten forward in full stride. Employing the center drive to perfection, Blueger drove the Blues’ defense back and dished a pin-point drop pass to a trailing Pettersson. In an event that occurs as often as the parting of the Red Sea, “The Dragon” slung the puck past Binnington for his first goal since April 29. Dedicated, no doubt, to his newborn son Frans (Dragon Jr?).

Alas, as so often is the case, we couldn’t hold the lead. Justin Faulk struck following a 10-car (player) pileup in front of our cage with 2:27 to play to send the game to overtime.

Fortunately, this one had a happy ending. Seventy-six ticks into the extra stanza, Rust cut through the Blues’ zone and ripped a hard shot on goal. The rebound caromed to a trailing Malkin, who lasered a perfect pass to his linemate at the side of the net. The Rusty Razor drilled it home to bag a crucial second point for our Pens.

Kappy Klaimed

Remarkably (perhaps mercifully is a better adjective) the Blues claimed forward Kasperi Kapanen off waivers, in the process clearing his onerous $3.2 million salary off the books and eliminating one of Ron Hextall’s costliest mistakes.

My parting take on Kappy? Extremely talented player who possesses all the physical tools. Had he kept the game simple, used his speed and driven to the net? I think he would’ve enjoyed at least a measure of success here.

However, he seemed ill-suited to our cycling game and almost clueless when confronted by traffic, which more often than not stopped him in his tracks and/or caused him to curl away from the net. Effectively taking himself out of the play.

Our failure? We didn’t find a way to get him the puck in open ice (penalty killing?) where he could use his blazing speed and rapier-like shot to full advantage.

Of course we wish him well.

Puckpourri

Stats-wise, we dominated, piling up huge advantages in shot attempts (83-51), shots on goal (48-27), scoring chances (55-30) and high danger chances (a staggering 22-9).

With the extra Kap space (pun intended) we were able to bring Jan Rutta off IR. Paired with Pierre-Olivier Joseph, the big Czech played a solid game and was a welcome addition to the lineup. Danton Heinen replaced Kapanen on the third line.

All our forward lines had positive possession stats, even the much-maligned third line. Malkin, Rust and Pettersson paced our attack with a goal and an assist each. With 60 points in 58 games, Geno is quietly enjoyed an excellent season at age 36.

Speaking of players from across the pond. In the off-the-beaten-track department, Blues power forward Alexey Toropchenko is the son of Leonid Toropchenko, the first Russian ever drafted by the Pens (260^th overall in 1993). Straying further from the beaten path, Blues coach Craig Berube bears more than a passing resemblance to my brother, Dan.

On Tap

The Pens (28-21-9, 65 points) have a quick turnaround, returning home to face Tampa Bay (37-17-4, 78 points) this evening. The Lighting also played last night, beating Detroit 3-0.

We’re presently perched atop the pig pile that is the race for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The Capitals, Panthers, Red Wings and Sabres all trail us by a point.

Great for hockey. Bad for the ticker.