Heart ‘n’ Soul Rule as Penguins Clip Canucks in OT

After watching the NHL-leading Canucks skate circles around us during the first period last night at Rogers Arena while grabbing a 2-0 lead, I wouldn’t have given a plugged nickel for our chances of earning a point, let alone two. To my eye, the Canucks were simply deeper, better and hoppier, especially with our top wingers Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust parked on the shelf.

No way we were mounting a comeback.

Then we did the unthinkable. We mounted a comeback.

To digress for a moment, we have our share of flaws. But a lack of character and fight most definitely aren’t among them. I’ve noted this before but it bears repeating. More than any black-and-gold squad in recent memory, this one possesses tensile strength. We don’t fold when the goin’ gets tough, as things did last night.

I’d like to think we follow our captain’s lead.

Trailing by two, we began hoeing the long road back early in the second period…with a little help from some old friends. Confronted along the wall by a pinching Marcus Pettersson, Sam Lafferty reversed the puck to Teddy Blueger, who promptly chipped a backhand pass to…uh…Sidney Crosby in the slot.

Sid wasted no time in dishing to Rickard Rakell, who momentarily misplaced the puck in Tyler Myers’ sizeable skates before reclaiming the rubber and beating Thatcher Demko from the doorstep. In the process cutting the Canucks’ lead to 2-1.

Six minutes later Vancouver’s twin defensive towers, Nikita Zadorov and Myers, took penalties three seconds apart to hand us a 5-on-3 power play for nearly two full minutes. Following a dump-in by Erik Karlsson and retrieval by Crosby, Evgeni Malkin lugged the puck unfettered from the left wall into the high slot.

Normally, Geno would blast away from that spot. However, No. 71 wisely dished to Crosby in the right circle instead. Sid immediately fed a slashing, cross-crease pass to Rakell, who drilled it home at the back door to knot the score at 2-all.

If only the power play had ended there. On the ensuing sequence, Elias Pettersson nudged the puck up the gut to J.T. Miller exiting the zone with speed. Playing the role of interceptor, Kris Letang stepped in to cut Miller off. But the Pittsburgh-area native chipped the puck over Tanger’s stick, flew in on a breakaway and beat Tristan Jarry stick side.

Talk about a tough pill to swallow.

Yet to their everlasting credit, our Pens kept sluggin’.

Our grit and diligence was rewarded midway through the third period. After hammering a shot off the post to Demko’s left, Letang retrieved the puck and banked it up the wall to Valtteri Puustinen. Puusty sidestepped a defender and alertly slipped a backhand pass to open space, just as Lars Eller came flying off the bench. Eller streaked down the slot and beat Demko against the grain to even the score at 3-3!

The best was yet to come.

Following an unconscious save by Jarry on Canucks sniper Brock Boeser a minute into overtime, the Pens turned the tables. Eller once again blew down Main Street but had his shot blocked. Reilly Smith chased down the loose rubber and fed Karlsson high in the attacking zone.

Flashing his Norris Trophy mojo, Karlsson mesmerized Miller and Conor Garland with some now-you-see-the-puck, now-you-don’t sleight of hand before slipping a return pass to Smith. Reilly barged toward the net, then fed a sharp diagonal pass to Eller in the right circle. Lars pulled the trigger but Demko made a huge stop, only to have the rebound pop directly to Karlsson in the slot. EK65 promptly slammed home the game winner to touch off an emotional victory celebration.

What an incredibly gritty, gutsy performance by our Pens. I don’t know if we’re going to make the playoffs…my logical mind tells me we’ve fallen too far behind. But you’ve gotta love this group’s heart and soul.

As the old saying goes, where there’s a will there’s a way. Last night the will was certainly there.

Puckpourri

Although the game was a see-saw affair with the Canucks dominating early and the Pens charging late, the stat-line was virtually even according to Natural Stat Trick. Our hosts held a slight edge in shot attempts (66-62) and high-danger chances (15-14). We had more shots on goal (40-35). Scoring chances were even at 34-apiece.

Boeser and Nils Hoglander scored the first two Canucks goals.

Following one of his shakiest outings of the season, Jarry bounced back with a Grade-A effort. He made a number of huge saves, including a crucial one on Boeser a tick before the first-period horn. If that goes in, we likely lose.

Could Karlsson have picked a better time to snap his 16-game scoring drought? I think not. Almost quietly, he’s rung up points in 19 of his past 23 games (2+19) while scoring at practically a point-per-game clip.

Puustinen fired off four shots on goal, including a breakaway try shortly after Miller’s tally, and tallied an assist while logging a season-high 17:23 of ice time. He’s a really smart, crafty player and he sees the ice and distributes the puck really well. We’re 15-6-5 with him in the lineup and 11-2-3 when he plays over 10 minutes.

Just sayin’.

Fellow Finn Jesse Puljujärvi returned to the lineup after sitting out the last three as a healthy scratch. He slotted in next to Eller and newcomer Emil Bemström on the third line. The hulking winger was assessed a phantom penalty late in the first period. His sin? “Being big” as color analyst Mike Rupp put it.

How the game has changed (and not necessarily for the better) in the decade since “Rupper” last played.

Drew O’Connor exited the game after absorbing a hit from Filip Hronek late in the third period. Pray the big guy’s okay.

Pierre-Olivier Joseph appears to be emerging from a season in the shadows. While it’s a stretch to say he’s shining, he isn’t hurting the team, either. He’s done a passable job skating next to Letang.

Among Kyle Dubas’ offseason additions, I was probably least enthused about Eller. I’m happy to say he’s proving me wrong. I get the sense the Pens owe a lot of their never-say-die moxie to the Great Dane and fellow free-agent pickup Noel Acciari, who always sticks his nose in and makes the hard play.

Malkin has assists in four straight games to go with a plus-four. Huge. We can’t make the playoffs without a productive Geno.

On Deck

It’s on to Seattle to face the Kraken (25-22-11, 61 points)…or Pittsburgh West II…on Thursday night. (The Canucks are Pittsburgh West I…or vice versa.)

While it was beyond great to get the win last night, the Pens (27-21-8, 62 points) remain seven points out of both the second-wild card slot and third place in the Metro. Underscoring how difficult it is to play catch-up.

A king’s ransom for some of those early-season points we left on the table.