Thriller Night: Penguins Conquer Avalanche in OT

I have a confession to make. For the better part of the Penguins’ thrilling 2-1 overtime conquest of the Avalanche last night I was preparing to write their obituary.

As our friend, Jim, has noted on numerous occasions, we’re too old and slow to keep up with the cream of the NHL crop. Teams like the Avalanche have passed us by. And, in all likelihood, last night was the final time we’d occupy a playoff spot.

With the exception of my final observation, that may all be true. But for one glorious game, or at least 23 minutes and change, our guys dug deep and rediscovered the passion and fire that not only made them back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, but an uber-entertaining team to watch. In the process, washing away the stench of the ghastly pre-break loss to the Sharks.

Or as color announcer Bob Errey so aptly noted, “The Penguins refused to quit.”

Coming off a lengthy nine-day break, the locals appeared to sleep walk through the opening stages of the contest. Indeed, we didn’t put a shot on Avs goalie Pavel Francouz until Jason Zucker’s long-range snapper at 11:16 of the first period.

Meanwhile, the visitors peppered Casey DeSmith, once again standing in for Tristan Jarry. Fortunately Casey, erratic of late, was in top form, aggressively moving to the top of his crease to cut down shooting angles and challenge the Avs shooters.

Plain and simple, our plucky backup kept us in the game.

Despite Casey’s best efforts, Sidney Crosby’s pal and fellow Horton’s trainee, Nathan MacKinnon, broke the scoreless tie midway through the second period with a dazzling individual effort 4-on-4. Taking a pass from Bowen Byram along the right wall, MacKinnon blew past Marcus Pettersson with a lightning burst of speed and swung behind the net before arcing out to the slot. Having turned our defenders into four pillars of salt, he drilled the puck past DeSmith glove side.

The Avs had a golden opportunity to pad their lead minutes later when Sid went off for tripping, but DeSmith and the Pens’ penalty killers rose to the occasion. Their inspired effort at long last ignited our competitive fires and we began to push back.

The third period belonged to the black and gold. While the defending Cup champs could do little but circle the wagons, we piled up a staggering 36-16 edge in shot attempts, including an equally lopsided 18-10 advantage in shots on goal.

DeSmith made a pair of huge saves early on Matthew Nieto and J.T. Compher to keep us within striking distance. Again coming up large, the shorthanded crew killed off a hooking penalty to Bryan Rust mid period.

Then the Malkin line took over. Applying tremendous pressure, the trio nearly struck on a goal-mouth kerfuffle with six minutes remaining in regulation. But Francouz, doing a pretty fair imitation of Georges Vezina, said no.

Geno and his mates would not be denied. With time ticking down, they once again swarmed like bees around a honeycomb. Oozing his trademark hustle, Zucker made an electric play to scoop up a loose puck and rip through the slot, in the process drawing Francouz out of his net. “Zucks” sharp-angle shot sailed just past the far post, but Malkin…stationed to the side of net…quickly corralled the wayward biscuit and flicked it back into the crease. As if it had eyes, the puck struck Rust’s skate, then deflected off a backpedaling Francouz and in. Knotting the score with just 3:38 left in regulation.

Rarely have I been so happy to secure a point. Could we make it two?

It seemed that way when Kris Letang appeared to beat Francouz on a 2-on-1 just 25 seconds into overtime. But replays revealed that the Avs’ backup prevented the puck from crossing the line at the last millisecond.

Then our fortunes turned for the worse, as Geno took a tripping penalty at 1:21. Again DeSmith and our pk came through with flying colors.

So did Letang. Following up a furious, jail-break rush, Tanger buried a wrister from the left dot, courtesy of a pristine setup from Crosby. Touching off a riotous victory celebration.

I don’t know if our Pens are going to make the playoffs. But, man, if they can bottle what they brought to the table last night, at least over the closing minutes? There may be a chance for us yet.

Puckpourri

The game was fairly even from a stats standpoint. Thanks to their huge late push, the Pens held the high ground in shot attempts (79-71) and scoring chances (42-40), the Avs in shots on goal (42-38) and high-danger chances (19-13).

We don’t win this game without DeSmith’s gallant 41-save effort between the pipes. Casey earned No. 2 star honors behind Letang. Simply put, Tanger was superb. In addition to scoring the OT winner, he delivered seven hits, unleashed five shots on goal and registered two takeaways in 27:21 of ice time.

With a Corsi of 73.33, the Malkin line was dominant. IMHO, coach Mike Sullivan needs to keep Rust on Geno’s line. He and Zucker make a matching pair of forechecking furies, and they inspire No. 71 to play his north-south best. Speaking of, Geno was a force, assisting on both Pens goals and finishing a plus-two. If he could only eliminate those OT brain cramps…

Jake Guentzel had 10 shots on goal.

An assist to play-by-play announcer Steve Mears, who duly noted Francouz had a shutout going seconds before our game-tying goal.

Josh Archibald and Kasperi Kapanen returned to the lineup. Drew O’Connor and Danton Heinen were healthy scratches, along with Mark Friedman on ‘d’. Just my preference, but I think “Frieds” should be playing over Chad Ruhwedel.

The game seemed to turn when Jeff Carter’s shoulder collided with Cale Makar’s jaw, sending the all-world d-man to the dressing room for a time. Speaking of Carter, I think it’s time to sit the big guy in favor of fresh legs (O’Connor). Sad as it is to say, faceoff prowess aside he simply doesn’t have it anymore.

On Tap

The Pens (25-16-9, 59 points) travel to the left coast to take on the Ducks (Friday), Kings (Saturday) and Sharks (Tuesday). Thanks to our stirring victory, we remain tied with the Islanders for the second Eastern Conference wild-card slot with four games in hand. Speaking of, we square off against the Isles next Friday on Long Island in a matchup that will be brimming with playoff implications.