by Well, it wasn’t pretty. At all.
But the Pittsburgh Penguins still found a way to get it done on Thursday.
The Penguins went to overtime for the third straight game and won their second straight game, narrowly defeating the Nashville Predators 5-4, on a goal from Bryan Rust just over a minute into overtime.
It was Rust’s second goal of the game and 14th of the season.
But make no mistake: This wasn’t an easy win for the Penguins.
Jonathan Marchessault scored for Nashville on just his second shot of the game – an unwelcome issue for the Penguins – and they only had nine shots in the first two periods. Despite the 3-3 tie in the final frame, they were outplayed by the Predators.
Rust, Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby – who scored his first goal in 11 games – got on the board to make it happen. And goalkeeper Tristan Jarry made several saves from the penalty to keep the team in the game in the second period.
And the third period was just as wild as the first two. Brady Skjei scored for the Predators on a huge three-on-one after a thwarted icing 7:44 into the third period to give the Preds a 4-3 lead.
But shortly thereafter, a scrum broke out involving Blake Lizotte, Erik Karlsson and a group of Predators players. Lizotte tripped Luke Evangelista – who scored the Predators’ second goal – and Mark Jankowski and Jeremy Lauzon then teamed up on Lizotte before Karlsson stepped in.
Somehow the Penguins were outnumbered and Karlsson was furious. He used that anger to put in an outstanding performance for the rest of the game and it paid off as he outpaced Saros and some traffic and tied the game 4-4 with 8:24 left in regulation time led.
It was crumbly. It was sloppy. It certainly wasn’t Pittsburgh’s best performance.
But that’s the kind of win a team sometimes needs to steal — especially when it’s fighting for a playoff spot.
“I think today was a tough battle from the puck drop on,” Karlsson said. “I think they played well, we played well, both teams made some mistakes, both teams did some good things… but overall I think both teams fought really hard. We were in the hunt for most of the game and it was nice. “Being able to come back twice and then make it in overtime are obviously two big points for us.
And those were two big points. The Penguins are now above NHL.500 for the first time since October 16th and are now alone in the second wild card spot.
“We probably wouldn’t win a game like this a month ago,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I just think they are developing a certain resilience and a certain belief that if we stick with it we can come back in games and we just have to compete. And that’s probably what I’m most proud of about the group.”
Here are some thoughts and observations about today’s game:
– I feel like a broken record at this point. But wow, was Crosby’s line on Thursday phenomenal.
After eleven games, Crosby finally managed to put the ball in the net in the second half in his ninth game of the season. This came a day after he thanked Pittsburgh-based reporter Dave Molinari for asking him about his scoring slumps, as he said he usually snaps out of slumps when reporters start asking about them:
“It feels good,” Crosby said of overcoming his goal drought. “I hit the post five seconds earlier and when you see one go in, it’s nice. Hopefully they’ll start going in in groups now, but yeah, it’s definitely a relief to see one go in. Just a fun way.” I thought we got some momentum there and it was important to get back into the game.
And since we’re talking about his entire line, let’s take a look at the summary:
– Crosby: One goal, three assists
– Rust: Two goals, two assists
– Rakell: One goal, one assist
Once again, these guys combined to score in double figures on the night. Crosby has 14 points in his last 11 games. Rust has nine goals and 17 points in his last 11 games, and Rakell has eight goals and 14 points in his last 11 games.
That’s arguably the best line in hockey right now, and this game was a perfect example of why the Pens need their stars to improve. The Pens had no life in this game. Sid and his line forced them back in.
Pittsburgh has the most depth ratings in the world. But they’ll still be relying on their best guys to make a big breakthrough on those nights when there’s not much going on.
-One reason the top line was clicking at full speed was that so was the corresponding defensive pairing.
For the second game in a row, the Karlsson-Matt Grzelcyk pairing was actually a very good one for the Penguins. They were both great in this game and helped this line in particular get a lot of traction. And as usual, they also took the offense into account, as Karlsson set up Crosby’s goal with a great slap pass and Grzelcyk picked up the first assist on Karlsson’s goal.
If this pairing can limit mistakes, they will be dangerous offensively. But that’s a big “if” in a long-term perspective. Even if they can’t keep up their defensive game, it will be a fun and eventful pairing.
– On the other hand, I don’t think top pair Kris Letang and Owen Pickering played their best game on Thursday.
Letang made a few rash passes that left Pickering hanging, including on the three-on-one that led to Skjei’s goal. Pickering also did this a few times and in some cases also lost coverage in the defensive zone.
I liked what I’ve seen from them so far as a pairing, but this wasn’t their best performance. With that in mind, however, I expect that Pickering will see some weaknesses and growing pains in his game as his playing time increases – and that’s okay. It will happen.
He’s a good young defender and made some good defensive plays in the first half, using his big frame to his advantage. I think this is one of those things that the Penguins just have to play through and learn. I am confident he will get better.
– Cody Glass and Philip Tomasino both faced the Predators for the first time since being assigned to Pittsburgh. And it was a bit of a mixed bag for both of them.
Tomasino started this game alongside Evgeni Malkin, but he and Glass actually faltered in the second period. Glass had a few chances in the offensive zone that he passed on, but the defensive side of his game was good. About 15 minutes before the end of the second period, he saved a goal with a hard backcheck on an odd-man break for the Predators that would have made it 4-1. I like his 200-foot game.
You could really see that Tomasino was excited for this game. There are rumors that he didn’t leave Nashville in the best condition, and you could see that the nerves were starting to factor into his game a little bit. His grip on the stick was a bit tight and he had difficulty handling passes and holding on to pucks.
In any case, both players were there with passion and commitment.
-Anthony Beauvillier has gone a little too quiet, and that directly coincides with Blake Lizotte’s reassignment to the fourth line.
His minutes decrease in almost every game, and against Nashville he only played five minutes and 16 seconds. He took a bad penalty at the end of the first period that led to Evangelista’s goal and was therefore benched for much of the second period.
The third line in general has been almost completely ineffective since Lizotte was removed from it. I think it’s time to move him back up because he was at his best for the Penguins back then. And he also got the best out of Beauvillier.
I think this duo, plus one of Glass or Tomasino, could be a good fit for the Penguins. Drew O’Connor, who has struggled to score, might be best suited to a fourth-line role at the moment anyway.
And honestly? Beauvillier needs to find the form he had at the start of the season because minutes like these often lead to the press box when a player isn’t used on special teams. He’s looked good for most of this season, so I hope things work out for him again.
– Nashville’s penalty kill is very good. The Penguins needed faster, shorter and more decisive passes to enforce their aggressive man-to-man style, and that still didn’t work for most of the evening. They are number 1 in the league for a reason.
And I thought the Penguins’ penalty kill looked a little disjointed and unstructured to start the night – especially with Evangelista’s goal – but as the game went on they got better and Jarry was their best penalty taker.
– The Penguins really achieved a courageous victory. It’s the second game in a row in which they twice came from behind to win in overtime.
However, two things nearly killed them tonight, and they are two bad habits they need to break if they want to make the playoffs this season.
The first is discipline. Their absence almost cost them this hockey game as Beauvillier took that bad penalty, Lizotte took two bad penalties and Karlsson took one bad penalty. Rakell also took a penalty, but it was only his second of the season and it was a questionable decision 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 too many hockey games. You have to play smarter and more consistently.
The second is readiness. They allowed – once again – a goal within the first five minutes of a hockey game. They’ve done that 18 times in 34 games this season.
That simply can’t happen. It’s somehow remarkable and inexplicable. They responded well and still won, but in some of these games they need to start getting ahead. I think it affects both the team defense and the goalkeeper.
If the Penguins can correct these two bad habits – even just a little – they will be a much better hockey team in the long run. Even though they are now 8-2-1 in their last 11 games, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
