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
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Sorry Rick but Geno was also the only one of the 3 that could have covered the late man. Petry and Guentzel were both angling away from the trailer while Geno was angling toward the trailer. Had Geno did what your bias wanted him to do, like a peewee hockey player would have done both he and Petry would have closed on the shooter with Guentzel also skating away from the trailer and DeSmith hopelessly out of position, having committed to the shooter.
The interesting thing about this play is had Crosby or someone else you didn't hold a negative opinion of made the play, would you still be arguing with me after I showed you the video and explained why it was the right play.
It was Guentzel's and Petry's Ruth Buzzi purse (stick) swinging defense, DeSmith's lackluster Goaltending and to a lesser extent the AWOL Crosby and Carter that get the blame. I know you won't admit it under pain of death, but Geno did exactly what he was supposed to do. If at least one other would have done their jobs as well as Geno, we would not now be talking about it - Guentzel making the smart Entry Pass, Guentzel Backchecking better, Petry better gap control, or even had Crosby or Carter hustled back to pick up the late man, so Geno could have done what you wanted him to do safely and not leaving a man uncovered.
...and I know you'll defend Geno's sometimes wishy washy defense to the death as well, while jabbing a finger at Crosby.
Contrary to what you think, I have a very high regard for Geno. Coming off major knee surgery to play the way he's playing at age 36 is HUGE. He's really improved on faceoffs and has shown good chemistry with whoever's been placed on his line. Including Zucker, which I didn't think was possible. To my eye he's been more north-south which makes him all the more effective.
Having said that, no one's ever going to confuse Geno for a Selke Trophy candidate (minus-4 this season). And it's a rare event when you see a guy record three points and a minus-3 in the same game.
Rick
Interesting thing is Rick, last game's -3 by Geno was his worst +/- game of the season and the -3 came on a night when the Goalie and rest of the team forgot how to defend their Goal. Up until that game -2 was his worst, Crosby was -4 on 11/2 against Buffalo, -4 on 11/15 against Toronto, and -3 against Detroit. In those 3 games, Sid had exactly 1 Point. He did absolutely nothing to help the team but facilitate GA. In the Buffalo game, only 1 of 5 non PP GA came without Sid on the ice, the same can be said of the Toronto debacle all 5 GA came with Sid on the ice. In the Detroit loss, none of the non PP GA came without Sid on the ice.
Last game Geno had 3 points, 2 on the PP. he was trying to make a difference.
And I only point my finger at Sid because of how you hold him up as a paragon of defensive acumen.
5 on 5 when Sid is on the ice opponents score 2.72 GA/60
5 on 5 when Geno is on the ice, Opponents score 2.53 GA/60, about 1/5th less G/60.
So, if Geno is not a Selke candidate, and I agree he is not, neither is Sid.
Hey Rick,
• Sorry Rick but your bias against Geno is showing, the Big Russian was not at fault on the shorty, he was only guilty of recognizing the trailing player. Watch the replay. That SHG was courtesy of (as you noted) Jake’s Gv on an errant pass trying to enter the attacking zone and then when he < Guentzel played drive-by-D as the cats broke into the zone. But Geno was no way at fault on the play. He cut across the back of the play to pick up the trailing player. The shooter was Petry’s responsibility. Guetnzel, Petry, and DeSmith were the ones responsible for the play. In fact, if you want to point fingers at anyone, Crosby and Carter deserve more finger pointing, since neither got back into the play at all. Maybe Geno should have dogged getting back like Sid and Jeff
• Not sure you would have wanted Tokarski last night Rick, he gave up 2 Goals on 8 shots in a WBS game (finishing the game suspended due to a power outage).
• If you recall the only Defenseman I gave a passing grade too at the midterms was POJ. This defense stinks. Giving up 37 SoG in regulation is check the waiver wire defense.
• Our Penguins didn’t win that game, Florida lost it.
• Last thought I will leave you with is this Rick. Wins are wins, there are no style points, I agree. Unfortunately, many wars were lost after winning a battle. Because of COVID, many younger kids develop will have no doubt been delayed. Last year and this year may have been the last 2 drafts with decently developed players. If the team’s goal is simply making the playoffs, they may still realize their objective. However, if the team’s aim is to challenge for the Cup, they are too, too fragile, both physically and mentally (odd to say that about a team as veteran as this but it is true – look at the number of times they whine about officiating). Winning this game and even making the playoffs this year with the corresponding poor draft position and a GM who has no horse sense and thinks drafting donkeys (Owen Pickering) in the first round rather than looking for thoroughbreds or at least draft horses will only serve to extend the rebuild and return to playoff relevance (barring divine intervention). I cringe at the thought of potentially having to watch our Penguins celebrating other teams losing to them rather than imposing their will and winning games.
TOR,
I call it the "Jack Johnson" in effect, put yourself so far out of the play that you don't get blamed for the play.
Jarry is out til feb 7th with an upper body injury. Maybe the puck to the head shot. It's time to call up one of the goalies you're saying we can replace Jarry with next year and see if they can play. I actually wouldn't mind replacing DeSmith full time with one if they are good enough.
Hey Phil and Rick,
I think DeSmith has ended his usefulness. I wish they would have traded him to Toronto several years back when the Leafs were considering him as an option. I am not sure if it is a question of never recovering from that injury of his or that his skills have eroded, but he has been erratic at best for several seasons now.
Rick, Lindberg out played all 3 other goalies in both his inaugural training camp and this past training camp. His not "lighting it up" in WBS is more of a question of the same BS that happens in PGH, no kid gets a chance to play when there is an old man option on the roster. no matter how inconsistent Tokarski plays and yes he has been playing very inconsistent, Tokarski gets the starts while Lindberg is chained to the bench. The old man Tokarski was getting 2 to 1 starts from the get-go. Lindberg has yet to really get a chance.
Tuesday night as I just noted above, Tokarski gave up 2 Goals on 8 shots in the final period of the continuation game from the game suspended due to a power outage. For every great save night he has played at the AHL level he has had a clunker with a Sv% under 0.900, all the while be given the chance to get rolling while Lindberg is being asked to develop by watching others play.
As for Gauthier, he has the best W% in WBS. Either Lindberg or Gauthier are better options than the other 2 Goalies, DeSmith who was once serviceable but has now apparently lost it and Tokarski whose NHL career has been miserable, 78 GP with a 0.902 Sv%. It is time to stop putting old player son the ice who have already proven that they stink and try out young players to see what they can do when given the chance and backed with the same confidence shown the loser veterans.
With all due respect, and I, too, wish we had a kid to play over the vets, I stand by what I wrote. Lindberg has a sub-ordinary .906 save percentage and 6-8-1 record with no shutouts in 16 games. Plus, he's injury prone.
As for Gauthier, he's got an .898 save percentage in a combined 22 games with Wheeling and the Baby Pens. While I'm hardly ready to shovel dirt over either one of them...plenty of goalies take time to develop...I'd be hard pressed to say I'd feel comfortable trusting either one of them over Tokarski.
You keep bringing up Tokarski's recent bad outing to support your argument. No mention of him coming off the bench to stop 18 of 19 shots against Vancouver or the fact that he performed admirably with very little support in a loss to Winnipeg.
Maybe you wing it with one of the kids in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. But I'd say at this stage the numbers argue against it.
Rick
Hey guys,
i may need to go with mr. buker on this one, at the same time I do not see anything great in Tokarski. DeSmith even when the Pens top two defensemen are in the lineup really hasn't been holding up his end of the bargain in net. TOR, I hear what you are saying about two goaltenders that judgmentally may or may not be playing better than Tokarski. All the same, neither has put up numbers on the pro level and between a 7th round draft pick and another that was skipped over twice by 31 teams 7 times in each draft, both have very poor numbers. I feel the best plan of action would be to try to fill the goalie position by recruiting externally.
Hey Rick and Phil,
I remember as a kid growing up being given these puzzle books from grownups. They contained word searches, crossword puzzles and logic puzzles. We all flew through the word searches but slowed down a little with the crossword puzzles. In the end, only a handful would even attempt the logic puzzles with only a few of us eventually figuring them out. The logic puzzles were set up in grids with 2 to 4 categories containing 4 to 5 items in each category and we had to use deductive reasoning to who did what, when sort of like Sudoku. Bottom line of all this is that once you discovered that X was not the answer you moved on.
All 3 of us agree that DeSmith is not the answer, that has been stated by all of us. However, Tokarski also has proven himself incapable. His body of work says he is less capable then DeSmith.
(Sorry Rick, but your argument of he stopped 17 of 18 shots against Vancouver pales in comparison to DeSmith’s stopping 43 of 45 shots against the Caps last night. By your argument of 1 discrete NHL game DeSmith is better than Tokarski but by your own admission DeSmith is not the answer)
If you open the discussion up to looking outside the organization, like you suggest Phil, at least you acknowledge both as incompetent.
However, unless or until we find a FA floating around to try and find lightning in a bottle (as Rick is wont to say) then logic dictates that the next best course is to actually try a Goalie who has not proved incompetent at the NHL level.
What is the saying? “Even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while” Both DeSmith an Tokarski may have strong performance every 4 or 5 games but that won’t get us to the playoffs let alone to the finals.
I am not saying that Lindberg is the 2nd coming of Matt Murray and going to win 2 Stanley Cups before he finishes his rookie season, nor am I going to say that he will even come close to half of what MAF accomplished in his HoF career. In fact, I would rate him as only the 2nd or 3rd best Goalie in the Organization.
I have not seen Murashov play, but his numbers suggest he may be the best. 30 GP, 1.18 GAA, 0.958 Sv%, 11 SO, with a 21-5-3 record in Loko Yaroslavl of the Russian Jr League MHL.
Of the players I have seen actually play, Blomqvist is, from a technical standpoint, the best. He has struggled a little this season in Finland’s top league, Liiga. However, he moves flawlessly from post-to-post, drops down for a save and back up on his skates like crease lightning. Most importantly, he tracks the puck calmly and better than any Penguin Goalie I can remember. He will be the Pens best Goalie unless they trade him like they did Gustavsson.
Lindberg comes in third. In the 2 preseasons he has been here in Pgh during 5 on 5 conditions
Lindberg – 0.947 Sv%, 0.00 Rebound Attempts Against/60
Jarry – 0.929 Sv%, 1.58, Rebound Attempts Against/60
DeSmith – 0.922 Sv%, 2.13 Rebound Attempts Against/60
Tokarski – 0.880 Sv%, 0.00 Rebound Attempts Against/60
In terms of who I feel are the best Penguin Goalies after Lindberg,
4. Tristan Jarry
5. Casey DeSmith
6. Taylor Gauthier
7 Dustin Tokarski
I do think Gauthier may prove to be better than DeSmith down the line but for now I only rate him above Tokarski. However, Rick, your little stat trick is extremely misleading and from a math standpoint illegal. When looking at stats you can only combine stats from like leagues. Combining Gauthier’s ECHL and AHL stats is just plain wrong, that is why I never do that when looking at prospects. It is comparing apples with oranges. In his brief stint in WBS Gauthier has a 4-1-0 record with a 0.905 Sv%.
To wrap up my rant, Phil, I would not argue that much with the idea of looking outside the Org for help this season, IF there is a reasonable chance to make a serious run at the Cup. However, given precious few trade chips and the reality that any FA goalies are probably no better than what we already have in WBS, don’t expect much.
And as for Tokarski, that is an illogical choice. He has already proven to be well below adequate.
Hey Phil,
I'm with you on DeSmith. Never mind the back drop, I thought he looked awful on Tuesday night. Every once in a while he'll make a spectacular save, but he rarely seems to make the big save when you need it the most.
Not that he's the second coming of Georges Vezina, but from what I've seen I'll take Tokarski over DeSmith.
Your point about the kid goalies is well-taken. But neither Lindberg, who I'd rate a disappointment so far, or Gauthier are lighting it up for the Baby Pens. Joel Blomqvist, arguably the best of the bunch, isn't even under contract. So the pickins are pretty slim.
Rick
PS--I'm going to add a bit of a caveat and walk the dog back in a tad. In fairness to Casey, his recent rough stretch has coincided with the injuries/absences of Letang, Petry, Rutta and even Pettersson for a couple of games. So it's fair to say he probably hasn't been given the best defensive support.
And even with his fall-off this season, he's got a career .913 save percentage. For comparison's sake, Jarry's is .916, Matt Murray's is .914 and Marc-Andre Fleury's is .913.
Still, I just don't like the way he's looked of late. Just very shaky and unsure of himself.
Rick
Hey Other Rick,
Re: the Ekblad goal, I'm sure from a pure X's and O's standpoint you're right. But there's also an imminent danger factor involved. Petry was shading toward the puck carrier Reinhart and Geno was actually the closest man to the Panthers' defenseman. That is, till Ekblad blew past him.
None of the three guys back exactly bathed themselves in glory. Neither, for that matter, did DeSmith. Dear Lord, did he look shaky last night. Gretz over on Pensburgh said he resembled a minor-leaguer at times, and I wholeheartedly agree. He's really fallen off lately.
Rick