If…and at this stage of the season it’s still a big IF…our Penguins regroup and make the postseason for a 17th straight year, last night’s exhilarating 5-4 comeback triumph over the Canucks may well serve as the springboard.
Casey DeSmith, the hero of Sunday night’s victory in the desert, simply didn’t have it. The Canucks struck three times within a span of 139 seconds (on five shots) to snatch an early 3-0 lead and send Casey to the bench in favor of journeyman Dustin Tokarski.
Perhaps it was our veteran leadership. Or maybe the boys vowed to win one for Kris Letang, whose father passed away recently. Perhaps the coaches offered a sage word or two. Whatever the source of inspiration, the Pens simply refused to lose.
The Canucks unwittingly opened the door for our comeback when Curtis Lazar and native son J.T. Miller took overlapping penalties to hand us a 5-on-3 near the nine-minute mark.
Appearing more confident with each passing game, Ty Smith skated in from the left point and delivered a gorgeous no-look pass onto the waiting stick of Evgeni Malkin in the right circle. The big Russian ripped a shot off goalie Spencer Martin’s glove and in.
Next it was Sidney Crosby’s turn. With just over five minutes left in the period and the Pens buzzing like Mike Lange’s bees around Vancouver’s hive, Brian Dumoulin walked into the high slot and angled a perfectly placed shot/pass to Sid, who artfully steered it home.
Incredibly, the Peskies knotted the score at 16:30. Malkin, vastly improved in the faceoff circle, drew the puck back to Jason Zucker at the top of the left circle. The madcap winger let ‘er rip and his knuckling shot banged off the crossbar and in to cap a pulsating period of hockey, not to mention a lively celebration.
The march of the Penguins continued in the second period, albeit with a detour or two. Pierre-Olivier Joseph was hit with a four-minute high-sticking penalty, mercifully mitigated by a phantom tripping call to Elias Pettersson.
In the midst of a monster season, Canucks sniper Bo Horvat somehow missed a wide-open net. Moments later Jan Rutta hounded Ilya Mikheyev into a turnover at the Vancouver line. Malkin scooped up the loose puck and worked a seamless give-and-go with Zucker before burying the return pass.
In a flash of Geno’s wrists the Pens were up 4-3.
However, the aforementioned Pettersson (not to be confused with our “Dragon”) nearly notched the equalizer shorthanded, but was stopped thanks to an incredible toe save by the spread-eagled Tokarski at the post.
The Pens promptly rambled up ice and scored, as Rickard Rakell swept a juicy rebound past the besieged Martin to make it 5-3 in favor of the good guys.
Of course, our boys can never do things the easy way and this game was no exception. After killing off a 5-on-3 late in the second period, Travis Dermott scored at 12:52 of the final frame to make for a tense home stretch.
In the closing minutes, Rutta inexplicably dumped the puck into a corner instead of shooting into an empty net, and Brock Boeser made a tremendous hustling play to sweep away a long, lazy black-and-gold clear miliseconds before it crossed the line.
Naturally, the game ended with a flurry around our net, but Tokarski was up to the task.
Never the way you draw it up on the whiteboard. But we’ll gladly take the two points and run.
Puckpourri
Despite the rocky start, the Pens dominated the stat line. We held the high ground in shot attempts (66-47), shots on goal (36-24), scoring chances (50-25) and high-danger chances (29-13). Faceoffs, too (63 percent).
Malkin was superb, tallying two goals and two assists to earn top-star honors. With his power play tally, Rakell snapped an eight-game goalless drought.
Smith collected two assists and finished a plus-two in 19:45 of ice time. And what can you say about Tokarski? Appearing in his 77th career NHL game, the former Memorial and Calder Cup winner came off the bench to stop 18 of 19 shots in relief, including several saves of the 10-bell variety.
Rutta’s misadventure reminded me of the late Pens defenseman Bryan Watson. An early incarnation of Mark Friedman, the rambunctious Watson had a breakaway one night while playing for the Capitals. “Bugsy” skated in all alone, cut loose a shot…and missed the net by 30 feet.
Confronted by an exasperated Tom McVie when he returned to the bench, the former penalty king quipped, “Coach, I just couldn’t get my stick out of cross-check.”
Speaking of rambunctious, is it just me or does Zucker have more than a little “Mad” Max Talbot in him? Love his game, his passion and his personality. Wish we had three or four more like him.
On Tap
Next up, the Pens (21-13-6, 48 points) take on the high-flying Jets (26-14-1, 53 points) at PPG Paints Arena on Friday night. Friday the 13th, for those of you who are superstitious.
We’re presently in sole possession of fifth place in the Metro and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, one point up on the Islanders.
Hi Rick!
Well, it was a kind of rollercoaster game! I felt pretty down in the dumps after the 4-0 lead but flat out elated when I heard the final buzzer!
It could be a booster for the Pens but I remain cautiously optimistic. Tristan Jarry is on the IR and it is not good news as far as I am concerned. DeSmith and Tokarski are not NHL full-time goalies. They are mostly AHL goalies. I don’t know if GMRH will look for an experienced goalie, not necessarily a super star but someone who can be reliable. I must admit there aren’t too many.
Geno was on fire! I haven’t seen that for quite a while. When healthy, he can be pretty dangerous (in good way of course!).
Question for you Rick (and to anyone who wants to jump in): Will GMRH be a buyer of a seller?
Hey Rick
The boys showed some push back and pulled out the win. I am glad they got the much needed 2 points.
I did not know to much about their alternate Goalie, Justin Tokarski but he got the job done. Lets hope he can muster
a few more wins while Jarry is out on IR.
Cheers
JIM
Hey all,
While I’m making callouts, another really good article over on Pensburgh by Gretz titled, “What would a Jason Zucker contract look like, and would it be worth it?”
Rick
Rick
I think everyone on the Blog knows how I feel about Zucker as a player. He’s always aggressive and In the
article it’s pointed out the chemistry issues with him and Malkin were not warranted. At that time I always
felt like Malkin was in a funk and playing poorly. I would like to see the Pen’s resign him for a number of
reasons but I think it will take a compromising by both parties. I said this before when people were saying
he should be traded and I really didn’t have a problem with that but when you move a top 6 forward who
plays with the aggressiveness of a Zucker you have to find a player to replace what he was bringing to the team.
Go Pens
Hey Mike,
You really were the Lone Ranger at times in sticking to your guns about Zucker. I confess, I just didn’t see it. Which probably speaks volumes about just how banged up he was these past couple of seasons.
Count me among those who thought he and Geno had zippo chemistry. This year…a night and day difference! They’re blending together like peas and carrots (perhaps for the reasons you noted). Every time they read each other well or make a nice play it’s truly a revelation to me. A happy one.
And I just LOVE what Zucker brings to the table. Like I said…wish we had three or four (or five or six) more like him!
Rick
Hey all,
Just a quick update. Tristan Jarry and Ryan Poehling have been placed on IR, the former retroactive to January 2 and the latter December 30.
The Pens also returned Mark Friedman to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In three games with the Pens (all losses) he managed to register a plus-three with 12 hits while averaging 13:08 of ice time. He drew one penalty and didn’t take any.
Sure wish we could find a role or spot for him…perhaps as an Ian Moran-type swing man. No offense to Chad Ruhwedel, but I’d place Friedman ahead of him in the rotation. Alas, Mike Sullivan just doesn’t seem to trust him and we know how that works.
Rick