Following the old saying of saving their best for last, the Penguins skated circles around the blood-rival Capitals last night en route to an impressive 5-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena. In the process, putting the wraps on a heretofore disappointing season in style.
In stark contrast to our flat-line loss to the Bruins on Sunday, our guys overwhelmed the Metro champs, piling up a whopping 74-44 edge in shot attempts and an equally lopsided 38-20 advantage in shots on goal.
To be fair, the Caps sat several key regulars and went with only five defensemen, including Dylan McIlrath, known for his heavy fists and even heavier feet. They also started 26-year-old rookie Clay Stevenson between the pipes, roughly the equivalent of the Baby Pens’ Filip Larsson in terms of pedigree. However, the Pens were dealing with a virtual hospital ward of injuries of their own.
The game started fast and furious, with the Caps getting the early jump four minutes in. Ryan Graves got trapped way (and I mean way) up ice on a failed pinch, exposing youthful partner Vladislav Kolyachonok and netminder Alex Nedeljkovic on a 2-on-1. Ned made the initial stop on Tom Wilson, but his pad save thudded straight to Connor McMichael for the finish.
The visitors held serve for all of 54 seconds. Bryan Rust notched his 30th goal of the season on a rebound follow-up, with helpers going to Ville Koivunen and Matt Grzelcyk.
Trusty Rusty then staked us to a lead at 7:19 of the second frame with a power-play goal, thanks to an absolutely filthy feed from Sidney Crosby. After receiving a crisp, no-look pass from Koivunen down low, Sid spun and sent an improbable (impossible?) backhand pass through the crease to Rust for a short-side tally.
You just run out of superlatives after a while.
The Pens padded their lead near the 12-minute mark, with Sid doing the honors. After scooping up a short retrieve from Connor Dewar, Philip Tomasino bolted through the left circle before threading the biscuit around and through Jakob Chychrun to Crosby in open space. Sid ripped a one-timer past Stevenson to make it 3-1, good guys.
At this stage, it was pretty much the Sidney Crosby Show. But the spotlight shone on the other legend shorty after Sid was whistled for hooking near the 16-minute mark. Dylan Strome slipped a cross-ice feed into Alex Ovechkin’s wheelhouse and…well…you get the picture. The Great Eight blistered a one-timer from his office at the top of the left circle past Ned to cut our lead to 3-2.
Again, you run out of adjectives to describe what Ovi’s doing at age 39.
Still, perhaps the prettiest goal of ‘em all came not from a legend, but Pens lunch-pailer Danton Heinen. While killing a penalty early in the third period, Heinen blocked a pass from Ovechkin near our blue line and set sail on a solo rush. Putting on more moves than Mae West, to borrow from the late, great Mike Lange, Heinen scorched Stevenson with a stick-side wrister to make it 4-2.
Fifteen seconds later, Tomasino capped the scoring…and the Caps…with a nifty center-drive goal off a toe drag. Sending the 18,348 patrons in attendance home with a smile.
Puckpourri
Again, so many storylines.
Sid tallied a goal and an assist to reach 91 points (33+58). Tying the franchise mark for most points by a 37-year-old established back in 2002-03 by some guy named Mario.
Rust set new career bests in goals (31) and points (65). Rickard Rakell tied his career high in assists (35) while amassing a new high-water mark in points (70).
With his 38th and 39th assists, Grzelcyk reached the 40-point plateau for the first time in his career.
Koivunen and Tomasino stood out, the former with his pinpoint passing and playmaking and the latter with his speed and elusiveness. The puck seems to follow both…and vice versa.
An RFA-to-be, Tomasino’s come under fire in certain circles for his streakiness and lack of detail, but he provides a ton of skill and energy and produced at close to a 20-goal, 40-point clip following his arrival from Nashville. I say re-sign him if the price tag isn’t too steep.
As for Koivunen? With seven assists during his eight-game cameo, the kid was a rousing success.
Speaking of youth, I really liked the energy and feel of our kid-laden lineup. Hopefully a harbinger of good things to come.
The Pens finished in seventh place in the Metro with a record of 34-36-12 and 80 points. Overall, we finished 24th…or ninth from the bottom for those already looking ahead to the draft.
We closed with a 10-5-2 finishing kick following the trade deadline.
Is it silly of me to suggest that we just might have a really nice blend of experience and youth next season?
