In their first game back following the All-Star break, our Penguins gave a pretty fair account of themselves en route to a crisp 3-0 victory over visiting Winnipeg. In the process providing a blueprint for the way we need to play heading into the homestretch.
We started strong. No crawling out of the starting blocks. We were emotionally engaged. No passengers on the SS Penguins on this night. We paid attention to details. We backchecked with authority. And..drum roll please…we scored on the power play…not once but twice.
The Pens took the lead at 7:16 of the opening period on an absolute gem of a goal by Kris Letang. Following a dump-in along the right wall by newcomer Jesse Puljujärvi, Lars Eller pressured the Jets’ defense into a turnover. A Josh Morrissey outlet pass glanced off Adam Lowry’s blade and onto the waiting stick of Letang, who promptly swung around the Jets’ captain with a beautiful move to the backhand before slicing down the slot. Tanger stayed on the backhand and beat Connor Hellebuyck high blocker side.
One-zip Pens.
Tristan Jarry made the lead stand up, stopping the dangerous Nikolaj Ehlers on a wrister from the left circle with just under nine minutes remaining in the period.
The Jets pushed back to begin the second period, bottling up Evgeni Malkin’s line while applying sustained pressure. Then the tenor of the game shifted…dramatically and violently…just past the four-minute mark.
Noel Acciari gathered in a loose puck along the left wall in the neutral zone and turned the jets (no pun intended). Brenden Dillon lined him up just as the Pens’ forward was gathering speed and absolutely crushed him with a shoulder to the jaw, sending Acciari reeling to the ice and his helmet flying.
Following a quick video review, the refs issued a five-minute match penalty and banished Dillon from the game.
The Pens’ reconfigured power play swung into action. Initially, it resembled our bad old power play. During one particularly onerous sequence, a lone Jets penalty killer kept Malkin, Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell hemmed into the right corner of our zone for a confused moment or two. The camera panned to Mike Sullivan on the bench. There was no disguising the look of utter disgust on his face. Bitter beer face plus.
Once more, it felt like the complexion of a game might swing in a foes favor due to a failed power play.
…and then we scored…7:33 into the period to be exact.
After playing pitch and catch with Rakell, Karlsson ripped off a shot from center point. As if it had eyes, the puck glanced off a pair of Jets and Eller in the slot before settling at the feet of Jeff Carter. Positioned on the edge of the crease, big Jeff turned and swept the puck past Hellebuyck glove side.
Equal parts inspired and relieved, we cashed in on the power play again 90 seconds later. Sidney Crosby uncharacteristically toed a one-timer, but the net effect was a shot/pass to Jake Guentzel sneaking in the back door to the left of the cage. Jake slipped the puck behind Hellebuyck through the crease to Bryan Rust at the far side of the net. The Rusty Razor slammed it home.
That was pretty much all she wrote. Although the Jets predictably pushed back, we maintained our focus and intensity. Playing at the top of his crease, Jarry turned aside 23 shots for his league-best sixth shutout of the season. Not to mention a perfect start to our stretch run.
Puckpourri
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Jets had the edge in shot attempts (60-53) and scoring chances (30-27). The Pens prevailed in shots on goal (27-23) and high-danger chances (15-13) and, most importantly, on the scoreboard.
Dillon’s demo job on Acciari was eerily reminiscent of Tom Wilson’s freight-train reefing of Zach Aston-Reese during the 2018 playoffs. A seismic hit that left ZAR with a broken jaw and arguably served as the turning point of the series. No surprise that Dillon and Wilson were Capitals teammates for a couple of seasons.
In his black-and-gold debut, Puljujärvi registered a plus-1 with two shots on goal while playing 9:41, third lowest among our forwards. While generous in his post-game assessment, Sullivan suggested Jesse might have had some difficulty adjusting to the speed of the NHL game.
Guentzel played in his 500th career NHL game and notched his 50th point of the campaign with an assist on Rust’s goal.
While Acciari struggled to regain his senses, Jansen Harkins immediately went after former teammate Dillon. Fortunately he wasn’t penalized.
I do love Jansen’s speed and scrappiness. Just wish he’d score now and then.
What a difference a power-play goal (or two) makes, eh? Makes you wonder where we’d be positioned in the standings if we’d scored even a handful more.
Oh…the Oilers fell one victory short in their quest to tie our record 17-game winning streak, set back in ’92-93. They lost to Vegas, 3-1, in come-from-in-front fashion.
The Oil is dead. Long live the Penguin.
On Deck
Next up, the Pens (23-17-7, 53 points) travel to Minnesota to take on the Wild (21-23-5, 47 points) on Friday night, followed by a return match with the Jets (30-13-5, 65 points) in the ‘Peg on Saturday night.
Despite the victory, we remain five points behind the third-place Flyers, who snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Panthers. We have four games in hand on Philly.
We’re five points out of the second wild-card spot as well.
