This is going to seem like an odd time for a negative post. After all, the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets, 3-2, at PPG Paints Arena last night to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive.
While it would require a miracle roughly akin to Lazarus being raised from the dead, if the Pens continue to stack wins and the competition collapses, there’s still a microscopic chance we might slip into the playoffs. Likely to then be served up as fodder for one of the Eastern Conference powers.
Looking at our situation realistically, that isn’t going to happen. We have too much ground to make up, seven points to be exact with only 10 games to play, not to mention four teams to leapfrog. Not mathematically impossible but highly implausible.
So why this discordant discourse?
In my worst nightmare, I see us missing the playoffs but picking up enough wins to move us out of the bottom 10 teams, points-wise. Which means we surrender our first-round pick in the upcoming draft to the Sharks. Which means we miss out on the draft lottery and an opportunity to select a player who could really help us, such as Macklin Celebrini, Cole Eiserman or Tij Iginla, Jarome’s kid.
Due to our modest points streak, we’re now 11th worst.
You don’t get rewarded for being mediocre on either end of the spectrum. Unfortunately, that’s where we’re headed. Which will only serve to extend our misery in the long run.
Such is the way of things in this most star-crossed of black-and-gold seasons.
The Game
Following a scoreless first period, the Pens fell behind at 5:20 of the second on a disputed goal by Blue Jackets slugger Mathieu Olivier, who appeared to tomahawk the puck in with a high stick. Then Evgeni Malkin got our motor goin.’ With parents Natalia and Vladimir cheering him on, Geno blasted a slap shot past CBJ netminder Daniil Tarasov from the top of the right circle at 9:50 for a game-tying, power-play goal.
The Jackets regained the lead just over three minutes later on a jail-break 3-on-1 rush, which turned into a 3-on-oh (no) when rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany sprawled to the ice. Working a give-and-go to perfection with Alexandre Texier, Cole Sillinger beat Alex Nedeljkovic glove side. Poor Ned didn’t stand a chance.
Again Malkin brought us back into the fray, again on the power play. After exchanging incredibly crisp cross-crease passes with Two-Headed Monster-mate Sidney Crosby, Geno toyed with a couple of CBJ defenders in the left circle before wristing the puck through Tarasov’s wickets.
We proceeded to grab the lead 35 seconds into the final period. Crosby and Drew O’Connor bolted up the ice and worked a give-and-go to perfection. DOC lasered Sid’s return pass top shelf over Tarasov’s glove from the left circle. As pretty a play as you’ll see and worthy of a game-winner.
Puckpourri
The Pens held sway according to Natural Stat Trick, prevailing over the visitors in shot attempts (65-55), shots on goal (36-19), scoring chances (32-29) and high-danger chances (20-9).
Making his third start in a row, Nedeljkovic was tough when he had to be, stoning Texier on a short-handed breakaway with the game on the line. Ned improved his record to 12-6-5. Makes you wonder what might have been had Mike Sullivan opted for a rotation system in goal, but that’s water well under the bridge at this stage.
Along those lines, Gretz posted a revealing article on Pensburgh about Tristan Jarry. Echoing tendencies in the enigmatic goalie’s play that our Other Rick detailed several months back.
For the record, my esteemed colleague was right about the Erik Karlsson trade as well.
How great was it to see Geno score those two goals, and with his parents in attendance! Couldn’t have scripted it any better. The big guy cracked the 20-goal mark for the 15th time in his fabulous career. Not too shabby for a 37-year-old.
Sid collected a pair of assists to run his point total to 78. During one remarkable sequence in the closing moments, the Pens’ captain single-handedly outworked three Blue Jackets to keep the puck pinned to the end boards.
We played most of the game without Ryan Graves, who departed early in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Kris Letang (an assist and a plus-1) logged a Herculean 31:15 of ice time in his absence.
Jeff Carter returned to the lineup, bumping Jonathan Gruden to the press box. More on that in a separate article.
Really (really) like what I’ve seen of St. Ivany this far. He’s big and mobile, uses his considerable reach to his advantage to control gaps, and he’ll put the body on people (five hits last night).
The kid looks like a great under-the-radar signing by former GM Ron Hextall.
On Deck
The Pens (32-30-10, 74 points) visit Columbus for a rematch with the Blue Jackets (23-38-12, 58 points) on Saturday night.
Hey Rick,
Thanks for the shout out.
At this point, agreed, the best thing this team can do is try to set the table for next season and beyond. Anything else is just “Foolin’ Yourself” (Thanks Tommy Shaw and Styx)
This has indeed been a season of frustration. How many times did Sully sit Ned in favor of Jarry when it should have been a competitive tandem? And it’s great to see kids finally getting a shot. But also, tank the season for God’s sake! What good comes off 11th place or worse yet, a first round exit? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the boys can still win a game, but it’s that what’s best at this point?
Hey Nick,
It’s in my head that the Pens did go with a rotation system of sorts during their most successful stretch of the season, so I went back and checked.
Sure enough, during an 8-2-3 stretch from December 18 through January 15, Nedeljkovic started 7 games and Jarry 6. Ned was 5-1-1, Jars 3-1-2.
For whatever reasons, Jarry began getting the majority of starts after that.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Rick