I have a confession to make. Life, in particular, doggy-sitting duties coupled with an unfamiliar TV setup, prevented me from watching last night’s Penguins-Canadiens tilt at PPG Paints Arena.
Instead, I occasionally checked the score on NHL.com. I was pleased to see us carry a 3-2 lead into the third period, then understandably discouraged when the Canadiens knotted the score on a Noah Dobson backhander early in the frame.
Here we go again, I thought. We’re either going to lose in regulation, overtime or the shootout.
Pick your poison.
I was especially aggrieved when the game went to a shootout. After all, Arturs Silovs was in net and had yielded a staggering eight shootout tallies on nine attempts. Talk about a loss waiting to happen!
To say nothing of our top guns, who repeatedly fire blanks in what amounts to a game-ending skills competition.
You can only imagine my surprise and sense of relief when the final result flashed on my phone…4-3 Penguins!
Hallelujah, the losing streak is dead! For this old Pens fan, Christmas came a few days early.
Maybe I should doggy-sit more often.
Puckpourri
Victory aside, the story of the night was Sidney Crosby eclipsing Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for most points (1724). Super Sid tied Super Mario (and the game) with a redirect goal at 7:58 of the first period and surpassed his former landlord minutes later with a second helper on Rickard Rakell’s power-play goal.
An incredible testimony to Sid’s talent, passion, commitment, work ethic and stunning consistency.
As an aside, I feel a little badly for Lemieux. I know records are made to be broken, as I’m sure Le Magnifique would be quick to agree.
However, as someone who was blessed enough to watch Mario during his prime knows, he had no equal. Had severe health issues not derailed his career on two separate occasions, there’s no telling how many points No. 66 would’ve amassed.
Among his achievements, a 46-game points streak when his back was so messed up he couldn’t bend over to tie his skates. Or the 51 points he tallied in 19 games immediately following radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s disease.
Mario was otherworldly. May no one ever forget what he accomplished, not only on the ice but as an owner as well. He absolutely saved the franchise.
Back to the game.
Noel Acciari was the Pens’ other goal-getter. “Cookie” scored off a pretty stretch pass from Kris Letang at 11:51 of the second period to give us a 3-2 lead. Speaking of Tanger, he and new partner Brett Kulak enjoyed a particularly strong game, with glowing metrics across the board. One of coach Dan Muse’s better tweaks.
Jack St. Ivany re-entered the lineup, bumping Connor Clifton to the press box. He and partner Ryan Shea each finished a minus-two. Rakell moved back to the top line, while Tommy Novak centered the second unit.
Kevin Hayes and Rakell scored in the shootout, while Silovs yielded only one marker in three Habs’ attempts. Arturs stopped 22 of 25 shots through 65 minutes to earn his first victory since November 6, a span of eight starts.
Not surprising, the losing streak cost the Pens (15-11-9) considerable ground in the standings. We’re currently in seventh place in the Metro (or next-to-last) with 39 points, the fourth fewest in the Eastern Conference. Remarkably, we’re only two points out of a wild-card spot.
We wrap up the pre-holiday schedule with a visit to Toronto on Tuesday night. The Leafs are last in the Atlantic Division but have given us fits.
It sure would be nice for presumed starter Stuart Skinner to get his first win sporting the black-and-gold and send us into the holidays on a high note.
