Penguins Spoil Guentzel’s Homecoming, Ambush ‘Canes 4-1

During the old Lone Ranger TV series from the 1950s, those who watched the hero save the day before blazing off into the sunset on his trusty steed Silver often asked, “Who was that masked man?”

Borrowing from that time-honored question, I’d like to ask who those guys were wearing the black-and-gold uniforms at PPG Paints Arena last night? The ones who played a surprisingly smart, patient and spirited game en route to a crisp 4-1 victory over the Hurricanes.

Maybe they’ll come back for another visit real soon.

All goofiness aside, I couldn’t be more pleased with how our Penguins played. Even if it was just a blip on the radar screen, it provided a glimmer of hope for better things to come.

I was especially pleased with the play of our kids. Jesse Puljujärvi (yes he still qualifies at age 25) scored for the second-straight game and was a force on the forecheck and in tight quarters. Make that a FORCE. When someone that big plays with that much determination and aggression? There isn’t a whole lot you can do to stop him.

Fellow Finn Jesperi Kotkaniemi and his Hurricanes teammates found out the hard way.

In just his third NHL game, rookie Jack St. Ivany was calm, cool and collected…and arguably our best defenseman. Better still, his presence seemed to have a steadying effect on partner Ryan Graves, the only Pen to register a positive Corsi.

If St. Ivany can help bring out Graves’ best? It’ll be like getting two defensemen for the price of one.

Jonathan Gruden made an arduous 5-hour drive from Wilkes-Barre in the rain to join the team and proceeded to play with a burr in his saddle. The feisty Michigan native dished out a game-high four hits, including a crushing check along the wall on Jack Drury early in the third period, which led to a dust-up with ex-Pen Stefan Noesen.

Drew O’Connor banged in an empty-netter with just under two minutes remaining to provide some much-needed breathing space. Valtteri Puustinen assisted on Puljujärvi’s goal and continued to display a ton of hop. Not too shabby for a seventh-round pick.

I confess I didn’t see as much of Sam Poulin as I would’ve liked. The few times I was able to focus on him he didn’t seem to stand out, perhaps reinforcing the notion that he might have trouble adjusting to the speed of the NHL game.

Then again, it was just one game.

Collectively, the kids brought energy, physicality and vitality to a lineup starving for some.

Know what else I like? Puljujärvi, St. Ivany, O’Connor and Poulin are all large human beings. How does that old saying go? You can’t teach size?

Again, it bodes well for down the road.

The Goals

Following a scoreless and evenly played opening frame, the Pens grabbed the lead at 2:41 of the second period. After Graves knocked down a ‘Cane to initiate the play, Puustinen nudged the puck to Lars Eller before chasing off on a line change. The Great Dane drove down the right side of the Carolina zone before dropping the puck off for Puljujärvi fresh off the bench. Stepping into the puck with a full head of steam, the big Finn blasted the biscuit past Pyotr Kochetkov top shelf.

The visitors knotted the score at 11:17 of the period following a scrambly shift in our zone. Dmitry Orlov fired a shot from the top of the left circle that deflected off Erik Karlsson and past Alex Nedeljkovic.

Our Pens pushed back with a big goal…and the ultimate game winner…with less than two minutes remaining in the period. Sidney Crosby won a draw in the left circle and slipped the puck to Bryan Rust. The Rusty Razor took two strides and let ‘er rip, beating Kochetkov high glove side.

The score remained 2-1 until ‘Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour pulled his goalie for an extra attacker late in the third. O’Connor streaked up the ice and stoved a shot off the post before tucking home the ricochet. Sid split the uprights with a second empty-netter from the neutral zone with 23 seconds to play to close out the scoring.

The Numbers

The ‘Canes dominated statistically, especially during the last two periods. According to Natural Stat Trick, they finished the game with a sizeable edge in shot attempts (87-43), shots on goal (39-22), scoring chances (34-18) and high-danger chances (10-5). However, the only numbers that count are the ones on the scoreboard.

The Pens for the most part played with structure and attention to detail while refusing to get drawn into a track meet. It didn’t hurt that Nedeljkovic was sharp as a tack, turning aside 38 shots against his ex-mates.

It was another multi-point game for our captain, who is snapping out of his post-deadline funk in a big way. Sid has seven points (2+5) in his last two games and a dozen points in his last seven. In the process snuffing out off-target rumblings that he was a Jake Guentzel creation.

Speaking of Jake, the popular forward unleashed six shots on goal and finished a minus-1 in his return to the ‘Burgh. He also received a video tribute and standing ovation from the adoring fans in attendance.

Following the game, he made it clear he wasn’t posturing for a trade. From a distance, it seems Kyle Dubas had fixed in his mind to deal the high-scoring winger from the get-go…with a nudge (intended or otherwise) from Jake’s agent Ben Hankinson.

A pair of former ‘Canes, Nedeljkovic and Puljujärvi, earned the top two game stars. The latter has three goals in his last six games. If he can play anything like he did last night on a reasonably consistent basis?

Found money.

On Deck

The Pens (31-30-10, 72 points) host the CBJ (23-37-12, 58 points) on Thursday night, then travel to Columbus for a return match Saturday night.

Former Pen Alex Nylander has cooled following a blazing start with the Jackets, but still has eight goals in just 15 games with his new team.

As for our playoff chances? Sadly, they’re thin-to-non-existent. We trail the Caps by a whopping nine points in the chase for the second wild-card spot…with only 11 games to play.