Penguins Rally, Bag Predators in OT, 3-2

The Penguins overcame a stingy performance in net by Juuse Saros to capture a richly deserved and hard-earned 3-2 overtime victory over the Predators last night at PPG Paints Arena.

Yes, you read that right.

Richly deserved.

Sans top guns Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov, not to mention Bryan Rust and Ben Kindel, the Pens employed a wolf pack mentality to take down their prey. Indeed, they pretty much dominated the Preds from start to finish.

I usually save the fancy stats (courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) for my Puckpourri section. However, they so completely tell the story I’m going to lead off with them.

We attempted 73 shots to 45 for the visitors. Outshot them, 37-26. Scoring chances were heavily in our favor (37-19), as were high-danger chances (14-8).

Led by the second and fourth lines, the Pens got on their forechecking pony and refused to let up. Eventually Saros, who made 34 saves in a potentially game-stealing effort that earned him a third star, wilted under the pressure.

Despite a strong start by the locals that featured a Rickard Rakell breakaway, the Preds grabbed the early lead at 9:24 of the first period on a net-front tally by Steven Stamkos.

The Pens knotted the score on the opening shift of the second period. Using his surprising straight-line speed and Pteranodon wingspan to full advantage, Elmer Soderblom swooped in to intercept a behind-the-net outlet attempt by Adam Wilsby. The big guy shoveled the puck in the general direction of Connor Dewar, who corralled it, then sniped it home for his second goal of the campaign.

The Preds retook the lead at 6:40 when ex-Hab Jayden Struble found a soft spot in our d-zone coverage and rifled the biscuit past Arturs Silovs from the right circle.

The score remained 2-1 until, fittingly, 66 seconds remained in regulation. That’s when Sidney Crosby found Rakell with one of his patented, diagonal passes through traffic we’ve become so accustomed to. RikRak let ‘er rip from below the left circle. The rubber hit Saros up high and glanced in to force overtime.

It was all Pens in the extra stanza. At 3:44, Ville Koivunen took a pass from Hendrix Lapierre, circled through the high slot to get a better look, then beat Saros clean with a glove-side sizzler for the OT winner.

PUCKPOURRI

For the second game in a row the Pens were surprisingly fast, connected and blunder-free in front of Silovs, who made 24 saves.

Avery Hayes made his season debut, slotting in on the second line with Lapierre and Koivunen. As advertised, he was a demon on the forecheck while unleashing five shots on goal and delivering three hits. Both team highs.

Kudos to coach Dan Muse for leaving his lines intact, with Hayes subbing for Malkin.

The Lapierre line was terrific 5v5, piling up considerable edges in shot attempts (17-4) and shots on goal (10-4). With two goals and six points in eight games, Lapierre is proving his worth as a center. Definitely his best position.

As good as his line was, the Dewar-Soderblom-Nick Robertson unit was arguably even better. The trio enjoyed a whopping 10-2 edge in 5v5 shots on goal and registered a sterling 98.08 expected goals for percentage!

The only line that was underwater? Yep, Sid’s line. I’ll give them a pass due to scoring the game-tying goal. But our captain’s line has been consistently outperformed since Robertson got the boot.

On the plus side, Rakell seems to be finding his game. In addition to his goal (his second in three games) he had two breakaway chances.

Our new defensive tandems are working out nicely. What to do when Sam Girard and Trevor van Riemsdyk return?

The same goes for our forwards. I’d really hate to see the kids get squeezed out. Their speed, spunk and energy is infectious and really makes a difference.

Somehow, some way, Dubas needs to make room.

UP NEXT

The Pens (5-6-1) are off till Thursday, when they host the Mammoth (8-4) in a rematch. Let’s hope for a better outcome this time around.