Penguins Top Panthers, 7-6, in OT Thriller

To borrow from the old 1970s tear jerker, Love Story, where do I begin to describe the events that led to the Penguins rousing 7-6 overtime triumph over Florida last night at PPG Paints Arena? There were so many story lines, honestly it could take 10 game summaries to cover them all.

I’ll start with Kris Letang. Playing in his first game since his father passed away, Tanger turned in a monster performance. The quicksilver defenseman tallied two goals, including the OT winner, and two assists while unleashing six shots on goal and delivering four hits in 26:29 of ice time.

The fourth line (yes, you read that right) combined for two goals and seven points! With a goal and two helpers, Danton Heinen snapped a goal-scoring drought dating back to October 22. Improving Drew O’Connor notched a goal and an assist and Ryan Poehling collected two assists.

The big guns produced as well. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each tallied a goal and two assists. Rickard Rakell scored a goal, too. However, for Geno (minus-3) and RikRak (minus-2) there was a pronounced caveat…they breathed life into the team at one end of the ice but nearly snuffed it out at the other.

On at least two of the Panthers’ goals, most notably Aaron Ekblad’s mid-game shorty, Geno was guilty of drive-by defense. As for Rakell, two shanked passes, one in the o-zone and another in the d-zone, led to a potentially soul-crushing (and game stealing) tying goal by Carter Verhaeghe with 2:32 left in regulation.

To say surprise starter Casey DeSmith had a rough night between the pipes would be an understatement along the lines of stating the RMS Titanic had a hole in its hull. Although not all of the Panthers’ six goals were his fault, in staying with a nautical theme he appeared to be swimming at times and lost his net on several occasions. Sending out an SOS for Dustin Tokarski, post haste.

As for the game itself…my goodness!! To say it was an entertaining affair jam-packed with ebbs and flows and momentum shifts doesn’t do it justice. Adjectives like thrilling, pulsating and breathtaking come to mind. When it comes to excitement, we as Penguins fans sure don’t get cheated, although more often than not that covers both ends of the spectrum.

When the Panthers got the early jump on goals by Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk, I thought it was going to be one of those nights. Little did I know what was in store. Rakell and Heinen struck on plays around the net a minute apart to knot the score at 2-2. Letang scored on a masterful deflection from the right circle at 18:14 to give us a 3-2 lead. But DeSmith gambled and lost a footrace to a loose puck in the final minute of the period to Verhaeghe and yielded the game-tying goal.

Then came Ekblad’s shorty midway through the second period, courtesy of a sloppy cross-ice pass by Jake Guentzel in the neutral zone and a half-hearted effort to get back and defend by everyone in a black-and-gold uniform.

Thank goodness for Crosby. Dialed in of late, the Pens’ captain pounced on a pass from Guentzel amid three Panthers and pulled away with a quick burst before beating Alex Lyon five-hole for a last-minute power-play goal.

The third period featured more of the same. Skating in place of injured Sam Bennett, Ottawa refugee Colin White scored from the doorstep at 4:10. O’Connor returned the favor for the good guys at 10:29, setting the stage for Malkin’s go-head power-play laser at 14:30.

Then Rakell appeared to pull a sand wedge out of his golf bag when he needed a three iron, in the process handing the puck to a wide-open Verhaeghe breaking in from the right circle. DeSmith had no chance.

The thought of 3-on-3 overtime made me cringe. Initially my trepidation appeared well-founded, as a shaky DeSmith was forced to make saves on Anton Lundell and Tkachuk.

However, to my considerable astonishment and delight, the Pens gradually took over. Culminating in Tanger’s delicious power-play tally from the top of the left circle with 54.1 seconds to go.

Leaving me spent and elated all at the same time.

Puckpouri

Stats-wise, for the most part our guys dominated. We ran up a staggering 91-69 edge in shot attempts, a 49-39 advantage in shots on goal and a 46-34 edge in scoring chances. High-danger chances favored the Panthers (21-20).

Letang was paired with his old partner, Brian Dumoulin, who’s enjoying a bit of a resurgence. Marcus Pettersson rejoined Jeff Petry. The Pierre-Olivier Joseph–Chad Ruhwedel tandem remained intact. After appearing to blossom, POJ’s received sheltered minutes of late (only 9:44 of ice time last night).

Speaking of Tanger, how good was it to see him being mobbed by his teammates at the end of the game. It’s apparent this has been an extremely emotional time for him.

Expected to start last night, Tristan Jarry is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

On Tap

The Pens (24-15-8, 56 points) travel to DC to take on the Capitals (25-19-6, 56 points) Thursday night. We’re presently tied with the Caps for fourth place in the Metro with three games in hand. Following an extended hot streak, the Caps are 2-5 in their past seven games.