Stayin’ Alive: Penguins Clip Wings, 5-1

It was a game our Penguins simply had to win. Lose, and our season was likely over. Along with it, our string of 16-consecutive postseason appearances. Triumph, and we live to fight another day.

And so it was. With their playoff lives on the line, our guys dug deep and turned in a season-saving 5-1 victory over a speedy Detroit team that has given them fits all season long.

On a big stage, you need your stars to shine. And shine they did. Leading the way was captain Sidney Crosby, who netted two huge goals and assisted on another. The other half of the Two-Headed Monster, Evgeni Malkin, scored the put-away goal. Although it was a comparatively low-event game, Tristan Jarry made the big saves when he needed to. Perhaps none larger than his stop on Andrew Copp from the slot when the game was still scoreless.

Oh, and the Pens got help from unexpected sources.

One of those unexpected sources? The third line, Alex Nylander in particular.

The Red Wings had gotten the early jump and were doing a good job of hemming our guys in until midway through the first period. That’s when Jeff Carter swooped down the right side and tested Ville Husso. The Wings’ goalie made the save, but Mikael Granlund scooped up the loose puck and fed Nylander slicing across the slot. Displaying impressive patience and more than a little skill, Nylander coolly outwaited Husso before pulling the trigger and beating him blocker side.

Huge goal to dispel the butterflies.

So was the next one. In the waning seconds of the period, Husso nudged a long black-and-gold clear to Jake Walman. As the Wings’ defender attempted to exit the zone, he was harried into a turnover by Jake Guentzel. Crosby pounced on the loose biscuit and roofed a top-shelf backhander with only three seconds left.

Stunned and suddenly down 2-0, the Red Wings never recovered.

We padded our lead to three goals at 11:16 of the second period. Danton Heinen broke over the Wings’ line and slipped a saucer pass to Crosby on the rush. Sid fired a backhander, then a follow-up shot that bounded off Husso’s stick and into the air. Heinen arrived as Johnny-on-the-spot to swat the fluttering rubber home.

The Wings promptly threw a little scare into our boys 42 seconds later, as Pius Suter finished off a breathtaking four-pass sequence off a turnover by Kris Letang to make it 3-1. But the Pens got it back three minutes into the third period on a wicked power-play snipe by Crosby from the top of the left circle. His 1500^th career point!

Cue Malkin’s moment in the spotlight. The big center stripped the puck from Joe Veleno and fed Jason Zucker, who cut loose a hard shot from the right circle. Geno steamed down the slot like a runaway locomotive to slam dunk the rebound.

To borrow from an old Bee Gees disco classic, we’re “Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive.”

Puckpourri

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Pens held the edge in shot attempts (49-48), shots on goal (28-20), scoring chances (20-14) and high-danger chances (11-3).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Nobody…n-o-b-o-d-y…does backhand like No. 87. Sid earned top-star honors with his three-point effort. He’s now 15^th in all-time points, just behind former Pens Mark Recchi and Paul Coffey.

Although careless with the puck at times (104 giveaways…second to David Pastrnak), Geno’s also seventh in the league in takeaways with 80, one behind Connor McDavid.

Bryan Rust narrowly missed staking us to an early lead, but his shot off a toe-drag was gloved by Husso and he hit the post on another. It’s been that kind of season for Rusty.

On emergency recall for the second time in a handful of days, Nylander replaced Drew O’Connor, who sat out with an upper-body injury. His goal was his first in the NHL since March 11, 2020, a span of over three years!

I’m tellin’ ya’, this kid belongs in the bigs. His goal provided a snapshot who he is…the vision, the skill, the hands, the patience and most of all, the willingness to take the puck to the net. Note to Mike Sullivan…Alex needs to be put in a position where he can thrive (i.e., not buried in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or on the fourth line).

Speaking of Sully, I’m heartened by his decision to play Mark Friedman over Chad Ruhwedel. In addition to adding a little mustard to the lineup, “Frieds” is better on his off side. He and Jan Rutta have made a nice third pairing.

On Tap

Not to repeat myself ad nauseam, but this was a huge (HUGE) win. The Pens (40-30-10, 90 points) have a couple of days off to rest and reset before finishing up against Chicago (Tuesday night) and at Columbus (Thursday night).

Both imminently winnable games.

Unfortunately, the Islanders and Panthers won yesterday, so we remain a point behind in the wild-card chase. The Isles wrap up with the Caps and Canadiens. The Panthers? They have by far the toughest road to hoe with the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes.

Go Leafs! Go ‘Canes!!

Happy Easter, to all our faithful PenguinPoop readers and commenters!