Two very important events took place last night before 17,068 witnesses at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins snapped an ugly four-game slide with a 4-2 victory over visiting Arizona. And…drum roll please…we struck for a power-play goal! Two actually, bringing to an end a horrendous, month-long 0-for-37 drought that threatened to sink our season.
Honestly, the way things were going, I thought we might never score with the man advantage again.
Actually, a whole lot of good things happened last night. Thanks in no small part to a three-day break, our guys displayed plenty of zip and intensity while dominating a Coyotes squad that honestly appeared a bit dog-eared from playing the night before.
Despite our banged-up condition, coach Mike Sullivan was able to cobble together four reasonably cohesive lines. The recast third line of Lars Eller centering for the Mutt-and-Jeff combination of Radim Zohorna and ex-Coyote Vinnie (Minnie) Hinostroza was particularly effective, driving play to the tune of a staggering 82.88 expected goals for percentage.
Best of all, we scored goals…four of ‘em…with all of the tallies occurring on plays reasonably close to the opposing net. Imagine that.
Wonder of wonders, the power play struck early, 72 seconds after the opening draw thanks to a holding penalty to Michael Kesselring. After playing pitch-and-catch with Erik Karlsson, Valtteri Puustinen slipped a pass to Sidney Crosby below the goal line. Sid fed Jake Guentzel, who beat ‘Yotes goalie Connor Ingram with a short-side snipe from the lip of the left circle.
Unfortunately peace on ice, good will toward Pens didn’t last too long, due in part to a penalty strewn first period. No sooner did our power play spring to life than our penalty kill, sagging of late sans Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto, surrendered power-play goals to Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli within a five-minute span.
However, as the old saying goes, he who laughs last laughs best. With the ‘Yotes working on their fourth power play of the period thanks to the whistle-happy refs, Drew O’Connor used his speed to force a turnover and spring Jeff Carter on a 100-foot breakaway. Big Jeff cruised in and beat Ingram with a backhander to the stick side to knot the score at 2-2 heading into the first intermission.
The Pens continued to carry the play though a scoreless second period while launching 18 shots downstream on Ingram before grabbing the lead early in the third with their second power-play goal of the game. Remarkably, Carter did the honors again, deflecting a center-point rip by Kris Letang past Ingram while parked on the doorstep.
Guentzel made it academic with 1:23 left to play, fighting through a check by J.J. Moser to pot a twisting, diving empty-netter.
Great effort by Jake and an equally great win for our Pens.
Puckpourri
The locals dominated statistically, according to Natural Stat Trick. We held a decided edge in shot attempts (77-59), shots on goal (44-21), scoring chances (35-26) and high-danger chances (18-14).
While hardly a work of art, the power play was better. The troops worked low-to-high instead of vice-versa, forcing the Coyotes penalty killers to turn. In particular, Puustinen seems to have injected some life into a previously moribund unit.
Pierre-Olivier Joseph returned to the lineup for the first time since November 4 and played reasonably well. Paired with John Ludvig, POJ was a plus-one in 13:16 of ice time with no discernable runs, drips or errors. Ryan Shea was a healthy scratch.
Speaking of defense, I thought Ryan Graves (plus-two) played arguably his best game of the season. He used his wingspan and wheels to great advantage and his decision-making was sound. Hopefully a sign of better things to come.
Incredibly, we’ve allowed the third-fewest goals in the league! What in the name of Martin Brodeur is going on? Superb goaltending from last night’s winner, Tristan Jarry, and backup Alex Nedeljkovic, that’s what.
Up front, Sullivan reinstated Zohorna, who responded with his best game (75.06 xGF%) in quite some time. Rookie Marc Johnstone sat out.
Speaking of Sully, the Pens’ skipper recently received a strong vote of confidence from his boss, Kyle Dubas, which may have had a settling effect on the team.
What can you say about Guentzel? He isn’t the biggest or strongest or fastest guy on the ice, but his skill, smarts and compete level are off the charts, to say nothing of his consistency. Indeed, Jake has points in 22 of 27 games this season. What a player!
Nice to see Carter get those goals. If the coaching staff can manage his ice time properly and resist the urge to overuse him, the big guy may still have some gas left in his tank.
Not to dredge up a negative, but does anyone else shudder when Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin team up? They take high-risk passing to another level. A turnover waiting to happen.
This was a great (and much-needed) win and overall our guys performed well. But it’s only one game. Let’s see us bring this kind of energy and results on a consistent basis.
They’ve yet to prove they can.
On Deck
The Pens (12-12-3) take on the nettlesome Canadiens (12-13-3) north of the border tonight. Then it’s on to Toronto for a Saturday night matchup with the Leafs (15-6-5).
We’re four points out of a wild-card spot…and four points out of the Metro cellar.
While I am certainly glad that they finally scored on the PP and won the game, the amount of unforced giveaways has got to stop. 87 about 20 seconds into the game puts the puck on a Coyote stick right in front of the goal. Sullivan had such a look of disgust on his face. Not sure how the NHL tracks giveaways. Malkin was credited with 1, Letang with 2. I thought that just about every time 71 had the puck, the Coyotes had it next. Finally the play by Karlson near the end of the game. Went deep down the right boards and left a drop pass for Malkin that was picked off and turned the other way is pretty much inexcusable. If they are going to make a run at the playoffs, these types of plays must stop.
I hear ya, Horse.
Unfortunately, it seems careless, high-risk plays are just wired into this team’s DNA. We’ve lived by the sword, skill-wise, for so long and gotten away with it to extent because of the extreme talent we’re able to put out on the ice. However, as our core ages, not so much any more.
As I wrote, Karlsson and Malkin together send chills down my spine. I can’t count the number of times they’ve been in close proximity at the opposing blue line and attempted these lazy, lateral passes (lobs) to each other. Opposing checkers just salivate in anticipation before they pounce and turn the play the other way, more often than not on an odd-man break.
Rick