Penguins Rebound, Burn Leafs 5-2

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 11^th 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.