The Penguins wrapped up a successful California trip with a 3-0 victory over the Sharks last night, as Tristan Jarry outdueled old friend Alex Nedeljkovic to earn the ‘w.’
Our guys jumped out to a fast start against the Sharks, who’d played in Utah the night before, outshooting our hosts, 18-11, during a scoreless first period. All the while piling up an impressive edge in scoring chances (14-9) and especially high-danger chances (a whopping 10-1).
Then San Jose found their legs and the script flipped over the final 40 minutes as the Sharks controlled the territorial play.
While Jarry held the fort, the Pens put on an effective display of counterpunching. Sidney Crosby landed the first blow, a magic-hands-tip-in of a Kris Letang riser from the top of the right circle at 7:35 of the second period to make it 1-0, good guys.
We doubled our lead at nearly the same juncture of the third period, thanks to a snazzy play by “The Mutant Line.” After making a play along the wall to help exit our zone, Evgeni Malkin entered the Sharks’ end with the puck.
Making like Country legend Johnny Cash, Geno walked the line before feeding Justin Brazeau near the left wall. Brazeau bulled past Macklin Celebrini with a classic power move and drove to the net before dishing a pretty cross-slot backhand pass to Anthony Mantha. Unfettered, the veteran winger went top shelf on poor Ned for his second goal of the road trip.
Malkin (aka Mutant No. 1) closed out the scoring with an empty-netter from the right point with 22 seconds remaining. In the process, sealing the victory and closing out what has to be termed a successful 2-1 Cali swing.
Puckpourri
The Sharks outshot the Pens, 31-27, and won 55 percent of the draws. Out-hit us, too, by a 25-11 margin. Speaking of, the black-and-gold are tied with, of all teams, the Flyers with the third-fewest hits in the league at 99 apiece, according to NHL.com.
Jarry was letter perfect against a Sharks team that had some open looks, especially in the early going. Thanks in no small part to the goose egg, he’s posted a .922 save percentage (SV%) and 2.33 goals against average (GAA) through three starts.
For the record, Arturs Silovs has registered a .908 SV% and 2.67 GAA during his three starts. Both have 2-1 records, each has posted a shutout. Kind of remarkable given the extreme patchwork nature of our defense.
While I’m spouting stats, Geno (a goal and an assist last night) leads the club with nine points (2 goals + 7 assists). He’s tied for sixth in the NHL in scoring heading into Sunday’s action.
Sid (also with a goal and a helper against the Sharks) has seven points (3 + 4). Brazeau (4 + 1) and Rickard Rakell (2 + 3) have five points apiece.
My goodness, is Brazeau looking like a find. He skates really well for a big huge guy and has soft mitts, to boot. Kind of what “Big Z,” Radim Zohorna, was supposed to be but wasn’t, and with more of a power element to his game.
Kyle Dubas doesn’t always strike pay dirt with his stretch signings (see Johnsson, Andreas), but he appears to have unearthed a hidden gem in “Bambi” (an old nickname).
Speaking of nicknames, Tyler Kennedy came up with the moniker for Geno and his linemates. I prefer “Monster Mash.”
Although quiet on the score sheet, rookie Ben Kindel tied Mantha for the team lead with five shots on goal. Flanked by Tommy Novak and Filip Hållander, he and his mates easily had the best metrics of any of our lines, including Corsi (61.90), shots on goal (8) and shots for percentage (61.54), expected goals for percentage (68.28), high-danger chances (5) and high-danger chances percentage (71.43).
The Pens (4-2) are currently tied for second in the Metro with the Capitals and Devils with eight points apiece, one point ahead of Mike Sullivan’s Rangers.
Next up, Jimmy Rutherford’s Canucks visit the ‘Burgh on Tuesday night.
He’s Baaaack
It may be hard to believe (then again, maybe not). At the ripe old age of 53, Jaromír Jágr is back at it for his astounding 38th season of professional hockey (he started when he was 16). Last night he skated 10+ minutes for his hometown Kladno Knights of the Czech league while seeing duty on the fourth line and power play.
Like old man river, Jags just keeps rollin’ along…
