Penguins Zip Past Blues, 6-3

The Penguins sprang to a jack-rabbit start last night against the Blues, allowed the tortoise visitors to catch up, then outraced them to the finish line for a snappy 6-3 victory.

Talk about getting the jump on an opponent! The Pens grabbed a two-goal lead on tallies by Bryan Rust and Anthony Mantha before the game was a minute old. However, the pesky Blues countered with goals by ex-Pen Nick Bjugstad and speedy Jordan Kyrou to knot the score at 2-all. Both goals were generated off the rush. Both resulted from turnovers at the far blue line.

I’m not privy to what Dan Muse and his staff said between periods. But we tightened up our puck management in the second period and it paid dividends.

With a delayed penalty about to be assessed to the Blues near the seven-minute mark and an extra attacker in tow, Sidney Crosby slipped a cross-slot pass to Parker Wotherspoon unattended at the left dot. Making like his partner, Erik Karlsson, the stay-at-home defender wired the puck top shelf over Joel Hofer’s glove to reclaim the lead for the black and gold.

Rust re-staked us to a two-goal lead just 42 seconds into the final frame, with Crosby getting the second helper. It was Sid’s 1700^th career point.

The Blues refused to go quietly, as Mathieu Joseph sprinted up ice on a 2-on-1 and snapped the puck past Tristan Jarry at 4:35 to make it 4-3. The game was still up for grabs entering the latter stages until Sir Sidney struck on a breakaway with 3:21 remaining. Twenty seconds later, Evgeni Malkin added a slam-dunk empty-netter to make the final count 6-3.

Puckpourri

Whew! To quote the old hockey-based, tear-jerker, Love Story, where do I begin? So many storylines.

I’ll start with Sid. He collected a goal and two helpers to run his career total to 1701 points. Just twenty-two behind franchise leader Mario Lemieux. I’ve long ago run out of superlatives to describe him.

In the same breath, my goodness is Geno off to a start. The big guy is positively rampaging, to the tune of a league-best 13 assists and 16 points (tied with Jack Eichel for the top spot). I don’t think he’s looked this dominant since his stunning MVP season in 2011-12, well over a decade ago.

Speaking of big-and-tall, Geno’s linemates, Mantha (a goal) and Justin Brazeau (two assists) continue to astound. I especially loved Mantha’s goal. Just before receiving a gorgeous feed from Geno, he shouldered poor Jimmy Snuggerud out of his way in true Mike Lange, “Get that dog off my lawn,” fashion.

Amazing what size blended with skill can do.

Karlsson collected a three-assist hatty. Following a sluggish start, output-wise, he has six apples in his past three games and nine altogether.

Filip Hållander slotted in on Sid’s line in place of injured countryman, Rickard Rakell, and assisted on the opening goal. This “kid” (he’s 25) has really grown on me. Just smart, responsible and ultra-solid. He always seems to make the right play. Hope he gets rewarded with some production.

Jarry wasn’t great, but workmanlike, making the saves he needed to while turning aside 26 of 29 shots.

To provide some balance, it isn’t all funnel cake and cotton candy. Those off-the-rush goals allowed, for starters.

Too, the third line of Ben Kindel centering for fellow rookie Ville Koivunen and Tommy Novak fizzled, big time. On the heels of his dazzling cameo last spring, Koivunen, red-hot in Wilkes, has been any but in three games with the big boys thus far.

It should be noted he replaced the aforementioned Hållander.

The third defensive pair of Matt Dumba and Harrison Brunicke had a rough night as well, especially the latter. His blunders led directly to a pair of goals against. The youngster appears to be trying to do too much on his own, instead of making the smart play.

Growing pains.

As Other Rick noted, Kyle Dubas is rumored to be in the hunt for a portside defenseman in the wake of Caleb Jones’s injury. Veteran Erik Gustafsson, currently skating for Detroit’s top farm club, is rumored to be on his radar.

At the present, the Pens (7-2-1) occupy second place in the Metro with 15 points, one point behind the scorching-hot Devils. Bringing up the rear? Mike Sullivan’s 3-5-2 Rangers.

We have a busy week. Tonight we visit the Flyers to kick off a four-game road trip. Then the Wild Thursday night, the Jets for a Saturday matinee clash, before wrapping up in Toronto next Monday.

On a more somber and serious note, our heartfelt prayers go out to the fan who fell from the upper bowl during the first period.