Well, it wasn’t good. At all.
But Pittsburgh Penguins we still found a way to do it on Thursday.
The Penguins went to overtime for the third straight game again it won for the second time in a rowas they were narrowly defeated the Nashville Predators5-4, on Bryan Rust’s goal just over a minute into the extra frame.
It was Rust’s second goal of the game and 14th of the season.
But, make no mistake: This was no easy feat for the Penguins.
Jonathan Marchessault hit just the second shot of the game for Nashville – an unwelcome theme for the Penguins – and they got just nine shots in the first two periods. They were losing to the Predators even though they tied 3-3 in the last game.
Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Sidney Crosby – who scored his first goal in 11 games – got on the board to tie it up. And goalkeeper Tristan Jarry made 10 saves on the penalty kill to keep them in the game in the second period.
And the third period was just as violent as the first two. Brady Skjei scored a three-on-one for the Predators after scoring an icing 7:44 into the third to put the Preds up, 4-3.
But, shortly after that, there was a scrum involving Blake Lizotte, Erik Karlsson, and a bunch of Predators players. Lizotte tripped Luke Evangelista — who scored the Predators’ second goal — and Mark Jankowski and Jeremy Lauzon pounced on Lizotte after that before Karlsson came in.
Somehow, the Penguins ended up falling short, and Karlsson was furious. He used that frustration to fuel an impressive effort throughout the game, and it paid off when he got past Saros and traffic to tie the game at 4-4 with 8:24 left in regulation.
It was a chippy. It was sloppy. It certainly wasn’t Pittsburgh’s best effort.
But this is the kind of win a team needs to steal sometimes – especially one fighting for a playoff spot.
“I think today was a battle out there,” Karlsson said. “I think they played well, we played well, both teams made mistakes, both teams did good things… to be able to come back twice and do it in extra time, obviously two big points for us.
And they have two big points. The Penguins are now over NHL .500 for the first time since Oct. 16, and now holds the second wild card spot at the moment.
“A month ago, we probably didn’t win a game like that,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I just think they develop a certain toughness and a certain belief that if we stay with it, we can come back with games, and we have to compete. And that’s probably what I’m most proud of. team.”
Here are some thoughts and observations from tonight’s game:
– I feel like a broken record at the moment. But wow, that was an amazing line by Crosby on Thursday.
After 11 games, Crosby finally scored on his ninth power play of the season. This happened one day after he thanked Pittsburgh reporter Dave Molinari for asking him about his goal scoring drought as he said that he often gets out of his lap when reporters start asking about him:
“It feels good,” Crosby said of ending his scoring drought. “I hit the post five seconds before that, and if you see one go in, it’s good. Hopefully, they’re starting to go in in bunches now, but, yeah, it’s definitely comforting to see someone go in. Just a fun way to go in and get some momentum there, I thought we came from that, and it was great to get back into the game .”
And – since we’re talking about his line as a whole – let’s take a look at their list:
– Crosby: One goal, three assists
– Rust: Two goals, two assists
– Rakell: One goal, one assist
Once again, these guys combined for double digit points on the night. Crosby has 14 points in his last 11 games. Rust has nine goals and 17 points in his last 11, while Rakell has eight goals and 14 points in his last 11.
This is, arguably, the best line in hockey right now, and this game was a prime example why the Pens need their stars to rise. The Pens had no life in this game. Sid and his line wanted them back to it.
Pittsburgh can get all the deep points in the world. But they’ll still need their top guys to step up in a big way on a night like this when there’s not much going on.
– Part of the reason why the top line was clicking on all cylinders was because of its matching protection, too.
For the second straight game, the Karlsson-Matt Grzelcyk pairing was actually pretty good for the Penguins. Both were great in this game and helped that line in particular produce a ton of looks. And – as usual – they got on the offense, as Karlsson assisted on Crosby’s goal with a nice slap shot, and Grzelcyk collected the first assist on Karlsson’s goal.
If this pairing can limit mistakes, they will be dangerous offensively. But that’s a big “if” from a long-term perspective. Even if they can’t improve their defensive game, it will be an exciting pairing, and a high event.
– On the other hand, I didn’t think the top pairing of Kris Letang and Owen Pickering delivered their best game on Thursday.
Letang made several ill-advised plays that left Pickering hanging, including that three-on-one that led to Skjei’s goal. Pickering did it a few times too and lost possession in the defense on several occasions.
I’ve liked what I’ve seen of them so far as a pairing, but this wasn’t their best effort. On that note, though, I expect to see growing warts and pains in Pickering’s game as his minutes increase — and that’s fine. It will happen.
He’s a good young defender, and made a few defensive plays in the first half that used his big frame to his advantage. I think this is one of those things that the Penguins just need to let him play with and learn from. I am confident that you will be better for it.
– Cody Glass and Philip Tomasino both faced the Predators for the first time since facing Pittsburgh. And it was a mixed bag for both of them.
Tomasino started the game alongside Evgeni Malkin, but he and Glass switched gears in the second half. Glass had a few opportunities in the offensive zone that he passed through, but the defensive side of his game was good. He made the save with about 15 minutes left in the second half after a hard hit on the Predators halftime that would have made it 4-1. I love his 200 meter game.
You could tell that Tomasino was fired from this game. There are whispers that he didn’t leave Nashville on a high note, you could see the jitters in his game. He had a slow stick and had trouble handling passes and pucks.
Either way, the heart and effort was there for both players.
– Anthony Beauvillier has been a bit quiet, and this coincides directly with the reassignment of Blake Lizotte to the fourth line.
His minutes are down in almost every game, and he played five minutes and 16 seconds against Nashville. He took a foul penalty at the end of the first half that led to Evangelista’s goal, and was benched for most of the second half as a result.
The third line as a whole is almost completely ineffective since Lizotte was removed from it. I think it’s time to put him back up there, because at that time he was at a high level for the Penguins.. And he brought out the best in Beauvillier, too.
I think those two, plus one of Glass or Tomasino, would be a good line for the Penguins. Drew O’Connor, who struggles to score, might be better suited for a fourth-line role right now, though.
And honestly? Beauvillier needs to find the form he had at the beginning of the season, because minutes like this often end up in the press box when a player is not placed on special teams. He’s looked good for most of this season, so hopefully things will start to click for him again.
– Nashville’s execution is excellent. The Penguins needed quick, short, decisive passes to work with their aggressive man-to-man style, and it still wasn’t working all night. They are number 1 in the league for a reason.
And I thought the Penguins penalty kill looked different and out of shape to start the night – especially on that Evangelista goal – but they got better as the game went on, and Jarry was their best killer.
– The Penguins really did win. It is the second game in a row that they have come from behind twice and won in overtime.
However, two things nearly killed them tonight, and they are two bad habits they must address if they are going to be a playoff team this season.
First is discipline. Their deficit almost cost them the hockey game, as Beauvillier took that bad penalty, Lizotte took two bad penalties, and Karlsson took a bad penalty. Rakell also took a penalty, but that was only his second of the season, and it was a bad call to say the least.
The Penguins’ penalty kill has been pretty good for the most part, but they can’t play with fire like that and expect to win a lot of hockey games. They need to play smart and with great consistency.
The second is preparedness. They again – they allowed a goal within the first five minutes of a hockey game. They have done this 18 times in 34 games this season.
That won’t happen. It is amazing and indescribable. They were responding well and winning anyway, but they need to start playing up front in some of these games. I think it goes with both team defense and goaltending.
If the Penguins can fix those two bad habits – even just a little bit – they will be the best team in hockey consistently. Although they are now 8-2-1 in their last 11 games, there is still a lot of room for improvement.
