It had been two weeks since the Pens last played a hockey game. The break came at an inopportune time, as the team was in the midst of a seven game winning streak, though they were showing some flaws in the few games before the pause.
The team came out of the break very strong, with Evan Rodrigues getting the opening tally just 1:03 into the first period. Jake Guentzel returned from an upper body injury, and immediately grabbed a tally at 3:12. Less than a minute later, Rodrigues notched his second goal of the game. Bryan Rust, also returning from the injured reserve, scored his third goal of the season at 6:09. The Pens finally ceded a goal, when Alexander Barabanov scored at 15:33 to cut the lead to 4-1. Rookie Kasper Bjorkqvist scored a gritty goal in his NHL debut, making it 5-1 with more than three minutes remaining in the first. Rust got his second of the game with :28 remaining, and the Pens finished the first period with a 6-1 lead.
The Pens played rather passive through the second period, but a late hooking call to Dominic Simon led to a Brent Burns power play goal. The second period ended with the Pens leading 6-2.
I don’t need to remind you this teams history of having large leads. Just a few seasons ago, the Pens had a 5-0 lead that turned into a 7-6 win over the Devils. And this game did not change that history much. Early in the third, Matt Nieto pinballed a puck off the backboards, then off Casey Desmith’s back to cut the lead to 6-3. Jacob Middleton and Logan Couture scored 1:08 apart to make it a 6-5 game. These goals bookended a Penguins timeout. The Pens seemed to awaken following the Couture goal and carried play the rest of the game. A late power play sealed the deal, as Rodrigues finished off his first career hat trick. Rust completed his own hat trick with the empty netter, and the Pens survived with an 8-5 victory.
The win was the Penguins 8th consecutive win. Sidney Crosby, Danton Heinen, Marcus Pettersson, and Kris Letang all had two assist efforts. In total, the Penguins had seven players with multiple points.
Miner’s Musings
DeSmith is not the long term solution behind Tristan Jarry. He made 22 saves on just 27 shots, and had very little rebound control through much of the game. I suspect Hextall and Co. may be in the market for a veteran backup, as the deadline approaches.
Crosby keeps getting better. He still seems a bit snake bitten in the goal scoring department, but when Sid is the ice, he is the most noticeable player out there. He was consistently drawing two or three defenders and opening up space for Guentzel and Rust to operate.
Sullivan continues to outcoach the rest of the league. I have beaten this drum quite loudly for some time now, but Sullivan is among the best in the business. Consider that Evgeni Malkin, Jeff Carter, Teddy Blueger, and Brian Boyle were all missing today. That’s four NHL Centers. Add Kasperi Kapanen, Jason Zucker and Jarry to that list, and you could forgive Sully for losing this game, but that loss didn’t happen. Instead Rodrigues filled in at 2C, while Sam Lafferty and Drew O’Connor centered the bottom six, and you couldn’t tell that the team was missing so much talent.
Team getting healthier. The bullet above looks quite daunting, but the sun is on the horizon. Guentzel and Rust both joined the team after lengthy absences. Malkin is a few days away from playing. Kappy, Carter, Blueger, and Jarry should all clear protocol before Wednesday’s game against St. Louis. Boyle missed today’s game, as his wife had just given birth. The only lingering injury right now is Zucker, who is out week to week with a lower body injury.