Penguins Show Heart, Fight Off Leafs, 3-2

In my game summary following the Penguins’ crippling 3-2 loss to the Sabres on Friday night, I wrote that they needed to come off the ropes and land a haymaker against the Maple Leafs.

Against steep odds, our guys did just that. Less than 24 hours after arguably the most disheartening loss of the season, the Pens came out swinging. The result? A hard-earned 3-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena last night.

Although the stat-line was virtually dead-even in terms of shot activity, in reality the contest was three games in one. The first period was a saw-off, with both clubs attempting 28 shots as the Leafs grabbed a 2-1 lead. The second period was all Pens, as we piled up a staggering 37-12 edge in shot attempts while rallying to snatch the lead. The third period belonged to the Leafs. Indeed, the visitors sent pucks flying from every direction in a vain attempt to knot the score.

Fortunately for the black-and-gold, Tristan Jarry continued his run of superb play between the pipes. I mean, the Leafs are loaded with high-end offensive talent, including Auston Matthews and William Nylander. But Jarry was up to the task.

The game didn’t start so well for the locals. Tyler Bertuzzi struck for the Leafs from the doorstep a tick under four minutes in, courtesy of some “soff” net-front coverage by Erik Karlsson.

Before I had time to think, “Uh, oh, here we go…” the Pens tied it 28 seconds later on an absolutely gorgeous tic-tac-toe passing play. After gathering in an outlet pass from Ryan Graves, Sidney Crosby cruised over the Leafs’ line and fed a wide-open Drew O’Connor in the high slot. Instead of shooting, DOC sent a nifty shot-pass to Jake Guentzel parked at the back door, resulting in a slam-dunk tally.

The Leafs regained the lead on a goal by young gun Matthew Knies at 7:48, thanks in part to some overpassing by Karlsson that trapped three of his teammates up ice. Calle Järnkrok led a four-man break back and thumped a shot off Jarry’s right pad. The rebound lasered right to the stick of Knies. Easy pickins for the husky rookie.

At this juncture I’m sensing impending doom. But Jarry stiffened and so did our Pens. Even more surprising, our worker bees ignited the comeback.

Midway through the game Noel Acciari hounded T.J. Brodie into a turnover along the end wall, then wheeled toward the net. With linemate Matt Nieto alertly circling the cage to run interference, Acciari coolly picked his spot with a short-side, top-shelf snipe. A beauty of a goal.

“Cookie,” so named for his pregame snack, figured in prominently on the next goal as well. With a half a minute remaining in the period, Jeff Carter won a faceoff in the right circle and moved the puck quickly to Kris Letang, who one-touched a pass to Karlsson center point. With Acciari setting a tailor-made screen, EK65 made amends for his early gaffes by rocketing the puck past Leafs netminder Joseph Woll.

Up 3-2 entering the final period, we immediately dug a hole when Radim Zohorna was whistled for boarding less than two minutes in. Shades of the night before, when Evgeni Malkin took a costly penalty that led to a power-play goal.

I admit, my heart sank. However, with the Leafs’ snipers bombing away, Jarry made three big saves, including a pair of bang-bang stops at the end of the kill on Connor Timmons and Järnkrok. The visitors proceeded to pour it on, but on this night Jarry was simply magnificent. The No. 1 star in my book.

Thanks largely to his efforts, our Pens live to fight another day.

Puckpourri

As for those numbers I referred to? According to Natural Stat Trick, the Pens nipped the Leafs in shot attempts (73-72) and shots on goal (35-33). Scoring chances (34-apiece) and high-danger chances (16-16) were even-Steven.

Acciari played easily his best game of the season against his ex-mates and earned second-star honors. (Karlsson was somewhat inexplicably awarded the first star.) At his hard-checking best, Noel was a force at both ends of the ice and typified his team’s gritty, gutty performance. In fact, the fourth line saw considerably more ice time than the third unit and was often deployed against the Leafs’ top guns.

I don’t toot my own horn very often. However, the other day I suggested the Pens may want to use Acciari on the power play as a net-front disturber. His role on our game-winning tally was a perfect illustration.

Speaking of the power play, it was bad once again (0-for-3), although coach Mike Sullivan reunited Crosby and Malkin on the top unit. Suggestion No. 2, I wonder if we’d consider letting Guentzel run the proceedings from the left half wall a la Phil Kessel? Smart and extremely crafty, Jake’s a good puck distributor and he sees the ice very well.

Just a thought.

As awful as the power play’s been, our penalty killing…led by Acciari and Nieto…has been that good (7th in the league at 85.7 percent). Letang’s had a big hand in our short-handed success as well.

In a surprise coach’s choice, Sullivan sat Vinnie Hinostroza in favor of Jansen Harkins, who’d bombed in an early season trial. Although limited to 6:38 of ice time, Sully went out of his way to praise the former Jet, citing his speed, physicality (two hits) and offensive instincts.

According to NST, the Cleveland native indeed played a strong game with a Corsi and xGF% of 100 each!

Personally, I’d play Harkins and Hinostroza over Carter, who in all fairness had a pretty decent game. But Sullivan seems determined to play the big guy, perhaps in no small part due to his faceoff prowess (71.4 percent).

O’Connor is looking like a really nice fit with Sid and Jake. Which could free up Bryan Rust to join Geno and Reilly Smith upon his return. Ice-cold following a jack-rabbit start, the second line (bad again) could sorely use a boost.

Does Karlsson remind anyone else of Paul Coffey? Great in the offensive zone and…to be kind…not so great defensively.

Man, are we getting some stellar goaltending from Jarry and backups Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg. Kinda stinks that we only have a 10-10 record to show for it.

Love the fact that Kyle Dubas drafted Knies with the 57^th overall pick in 2021. The kid goes 6’2”, 210 and is a force on the ice. Maybe Dubas can unearth a similar (and much needed) power winger for our Pens.

On Deck

The Pens trek to the Music City to face the improving Predators (9-10) on Tuesday night before visiting Tampa Bay (10-6-5) on Thursday.

We’re presently three points out of a wild-card spot, with very little margin for error. Bottom line…we’ve got to start playing consistent, winning hockey if we expect to land a postseason berth.