Predators Pick-off Penguins, 3-2, in OT

Back in the early 1980s, then-Penguins coach Eddie Johnston borrowed the basketball pick play from good friend and Boston Celtics coach Tommy Heinsohn and incorporated it into his power play.

The result?

With Rick Kehoe and Paul Gardner serving as triggermen, an ordinary Pens squad tallied a league-best 191 power-play goals over a two-season span.

Last night you might say Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly redressed the balance. On the opening shift of overtime the crafty Preds center, intentionally or otherwise, picked off Sidney Crosby at our blue line, in the process providing Filip Forsberg clear sailing to our net on the game-winning goal. Putting a decided damper on an otherwise fine night of hockey for the black and gold.

The game didn’t start especially well for our boys. Midway through the opening frame Michael McCarron scored on a deflection from the high slot to put the homies up 1-0. The hulking Preds forward struck again at 18:38, this time from close range while working on a delayed penalty to stake his team to a two-goal lead.

More on McCarron in a bit.

Although the Pens held sway in shot attempts and shots on goal, I thought they looked a touch flat and business-like. However, the tenor of the game shifted early in the second period when Pens defenseman John Ludvig whispered sweet nothings in Forsberg’s ear during a stop in play, drawing an immediate verbal response from the Preds’ bench.

Coincidence or not, the Pens struck a short time later, at 5:49 to be exact. Better still, the goal came from our long-dormant second line. Reilly Smith chased down a loose puck along the left wall and veered toward the slot before setting the table with a no-look backhand pass. Flying in from the bench, Evgeni Malkin scooped up the biscuit in full stride and beat Juuse Saros with a blistering drive from the left faceoff dot.

The temperature ramped up moments later when McCarron challenged Ludvig to a fight at center ice and the rookie accepted. In a true David vs. Goliath tilt (McCarron stands 6’6”), Ludvig fired several stiff lefts and a couple of under-and-over rights before being taken to the ice.

Suitably inspired, the Pens skated with a palpable intensity for the remainder of the period and on into the third. Culminating in the game-tying goal at 2:26 by Bryan Rust from the top of the right circle, courtesy of a feed from Ludvig and net-front traffic from Crosby.

When the Preds’ Cole Smith was whistled for hooking at 5:28, the Pens were presented with a golden opportunity to snatch the lead. Alas, our feckless power play managed to squeeze off a lone shot on goal and once more failed to convert.

Granted a reprieve, the Preds piled up a 13-8 edge in shots on goal during the period, including three shots in the final 62 seconds. However, Tristan Jarry came up huge, stopping Colton Sissons with 18 seconds to play and Philip Tomasino with four ticks left in regulation to send the game to OT.

So when does a loss not feel like a loss? When you battle hard and give it everything you’ve got, like our guys did last night.

If they keep playing this way?

The wins will come.

Puckpourri

The shot stats generally favored our Pens. According to Natural Stat Trick, we held the edge in shots on goal (31-26), scoring chances (30-27) and especially high-danger chances (16-10). Shot attempts were dead-even at 56-apiece.

Who says fights don’t impact a game or inspire a team? Our intensity and compete level ratcheted up a few notches following the Ludvig-McCarron battle. The young defenseman showed a ton of guts in tangling with a much larger foe. Acquitted himself very well, too. It appears he’s done some boxing…he actually fights like a boxer, throwing honest-to-goodness left jabs instead of jersey jabs and protecting his noggin with his left.

Anyway, it was great to see.

Also great to see, Geno scoring a goal and displaying a bit of fire and Rusty returning to the lineup and cashing in.

Personally, I would’ve left Drew O’Connor with Sid and Jake Guentzel, where he was very effective, and placed Rust on Malkin’s line. But DOC gradually seemed to acclimate to his new linemates.

In the not-so-great department? The power play continues to be a momentum-sucking wasteland. I wrote this before but I’ll suggest it again for those with poor eyesight. TRY NOEL ACCIARI AS A NET-FRONT PRESENCE!

Depth scoring and, along those lines, finishing, remain an issue. Not to pick at him, but it’s been ages since Radim Zohorna has tickled the twine.

We’re in desperate need of a forward (or two) who know where the net is…and have an idea of what to do with the puck once they get there.

Some have suggested signing Phil Kessel. I wouldn’t have considered it before. But now? Maybe The Thrill’s worth a look on the cheap. Might be a way to kill two birds (depth scoring and power play) with one lucky stone.

Jansen Harkins dressed in place of Alex Nylander. I’m not sure how I feel about him. On one hand, Harkins is really fast. Nor is he shy about using the body (a team-high three hits). But I’m not sold on his playmaking, hockey sense and hands, very good in the AHL, at this level.

Is it just me, or does this group remind anyone else of the one Mike Sullivan inherited from Mike Johnston back in ’15? We’re generally playing well, far better than last season’s bunch, but we’re just not getting the results. Like we’re missing a piece or two (see above reference to Kessel, Phil).

On Deck

The Pens (10-10-1) finish their two-game road swing against Tampa Bay (10-8-5) on Thursday night.

We’re currently four points out of a wild-card spot.