Now that’s more like it!
A night after serving up a languid, Camp Bow-Wow effort against the Rangers, our Penguins regrouped and ground out a victory against a very good Maple Leafs squad with a determined, inspired and—dare I say—physical effort. In the process snapping our nascent losing streak at one and regaining some of the luster that had been so hard-earned over the past couple of weeks.
Unlike the Rangers debacle when there were far too many mushers and too few dogs pulling the sled, just about everyone wearing a Pens jersey chipped in. Tristan Jarry continued his Phoenix-like rise from the ashes of a horrendous start to the campaign with a solid 25-save performance, including several of the high-danger variety.
Upset with the team’s shabby showing against the Rangers, Kris Letang led the way with seven shots on goal, including an empty-net tally, and finished a plus-three on the night. At his feisty, combative best, Tanger engaged Leafs forward Max Pacioretty in a private war throughout the contest.
Michael Bunting earned top-star honors by potting the eventual game-winner on the power play at 5:34 of the final period. He proceeded to draw the ire of his ex-mates by chirping the Leafs’ bench following the goal.
Gotta love ‘im.
Other black-and-gold goal scorers included Rickard Rakell (his team-leading 11th at 4:39 of the opening period) and Bryan Rust (his ninth at 14:15 of the same frame).
Saving the best for last, Blake Lizotte wrenched the puck away from John Tavares along the wall in the final minute of play with our Pens skating 4-on-6 and gunned the puck 125 feet into an empty net. Padding our lead to 4-2 and for all intents and purposes dousing a bucket of ice water on the Leafs’ flickering comeback hopes.
“How about the effort!” gushed TV color analyst Phil Bourque. “That’s who he is. That’s who Blake Lizotte is in a nutshell.”
Indeed. At the end of my previous game recap, I commented that I’d like to have about 10 more of the peppery forward. A colleague offered some pushback, but I think he missed the point I was trying to make.
I was referring to Lizotte’s heart, drive and spirit, which are unmatched in my book. A nod to PP colleague Caleb DiNatale, who told a (skeptical) me last summer Lizotte was a great, under-the-radar signing and that I was going to love him.
Caleb was also very high on Philip Tomasino at the time we acquired him, before he notched those three goals in five games for us.
Speaking of shout-outs, credit Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff for breaking up our moribund first power-play unit and coming up with two fresh units. The Sidney Crosby group included Rakell, Letang, Matt Grzelcyk and Kevin Hayes. Evgeni Malkin was joined by Bunting, Rust, Cody Glass and Erik Karlsson.
Each unit scored a goal.
It’s not easy to make those kinds of adjustments, especially when it directly affects the team’s superstar core. Kudos to Sullivan for having the gumption…and good sense…to make the necessary changes.
Puckpourri
Unthinkable as it seems, the Pens are tied points-wise for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with Tampa Bay and Philly. There’s some smoke and mirrors involved…the Lightning have a whopping five games in hand and the Flyers a pair.
But still.
Tomasino sat out with an upper-body injury, courtesy of a questionable hit delivered by the Rangers’ Sam Carrick just as the youngster scored his goal. Jesse Puljujärvi, a healthy scratch the past five games, dressed in his place and delivered two hits in 11:15 of ice time.
Ryan Graves dressed for the first time since the ugly loss to Utah on November 23 and registered a blocked shot in 14:01 of ice time. Ryan Shea (minus-3 against the Rags) sat out.
A Sully Guy?
I was scanning the Team USA roster for the upcoming 4-Nations Faceoff and must say I’m duly impressed. In particular, we boast an impressive array of power forwards, including the Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, J.T. Miller, Brock Nelson and Chris Kreider.
I confess, I also had a somewhat humorous and admittedly wicked thought. We all know Sullivan, who’ll be coaching the team, isn’t especially fond of overly aggressive players (or big ones). Wouldn’t it be funny if he consigned those guys to fourth-line duty…or press-box nachos?
I’m being facetious of course. Sully will do whatever it takes to win. And perhaps through this experience, he’ll gain a new-found appreciation for sizeable guys who play with an edge.
We can only hope.
Hey all,
A follow-up thought. Part of what goes into being a successful team (and coach) is to figure out how to use players in a way that maximizes what they have to offer.
Kevin Hayes isn’t fast and he’s never been a great play driver or possession player, so he probably won’t be of much use on the forecheck. However, he’s quite skilled with the puck in terms of passing and shooting and he’s a big body. Ideal for the power play, and I’m not talking 25 seconds of mop-up duty.
Same with Michael Bunting. His greasy, net-front game screams for him to be used on the power play.
It’s not surprising that both contributed last night, Bunting with a goal and Hayes an assist.
Here’s hoping Sully sticks to the two equal units approach, as opposed to stacking all his eggs in one all-star basket, which most emphatically didn’t work.
Rick
Rick
I think we both know that Sully’s ego won’t allow him to take a different stance on more physical
Power Forwards with size and toughness.
On another note: i’m starting to worry about both Glass and Tomasino’s physical makeup? Is
there a trend here, and could this be the reason Nashville was looking to move them? They
list Glass at 6’3 & 206 lbs and Tomasino at 6’0 179 lbs, but to the naked eye both players appear
to be on the frail side. Tomasino is out with an upper body injury and I believe Glass missed 12
or 13 games with a concussion – and last night after getting taken out in front of the Maple Leafs
net he struggled to get to the bench. I like both players, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that
this is not a sign of things to come. Lizotte has also missed 16 games with two concussions but
getting hit in the head twice with the puck seems to be more of a fluke.
Hey Mike,
Your concerns about Glass may be well-founded. Since December 2019, he’s been on IR or missed time due to illness on seven occasions, including his recent concussion issues. If I recall correctly, Lars Eller pretty much blasted him helmet-to-helmet in an accidental collision, which may account for the severity of the concussion.
He was on IR twice last season, which pretty much derailed his early progress in Nashville.
Although slight of frame, Tomasino’s only been out due to injury/illness on three occasions, including this one and once for COVID. Just an observation, but he seems pretty slippery and elusive, like he might be hard to hit square. Back in the day Michel Briere was said to be like that, too.
Carrick just happened to catch him in an extremely vulnerable position just after he released his shot.
Hope you are well!
Rick