Coming off a huge, emotionally charged comeback win over the Islanders the night before, one had to wonder how much our Penguins would have left in the tank for last night’s equally crucial tilt with the Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.
Plenty, as it turned out.
With the exception of brief stretch at the start of the second period when the Red Wings effectively clogged the neutral zone, the Pens pretty much dominated from start to finish en route to a thoroughly impressive 5-1 victory.
Playing the fast, connected hockey that’s become our calling card, the Pens got the jump on the visitors from the opening draw.
Rickard Rakell staked us to an early lead on our first shot on goal at 4:10, ripping a high, hard one past Pittsburgh native John Gibson from the slot off a feed from Sidney Crosby. Just over four minutes later, Anthony Mantha scored against his old team following a net-front pileup. Credit Evgeni Malkin for digging with the voracity of Mike Lange’s coal miner to pry the puck loose from Gibson’s pads.
Egor Chinakhov capped off a three-goal first period at 18:02 with a bullet from the high slot that glanced off Moritz Seider’s skate and in.
Wings coach Todd McLellan shelved Gibson in favor of Cam Talbot to begin the second period and adjusted his scheme to slow the Pens through the neutral zone. The Wings responded by carrying the play, culminating in Dylan Larkin’s power-play goal at 3:17.
You know what they say about a 3-1 lead in hockey. Would the Pens run out of steam and allow the boys from the Motor City to make a game of it…or worse?
The answer came at 12:23, when Justin Brazeau deflected Connor Clifton’s drive from center point past Talbot to restore our three-goal edge.
Noel Acciari struck at 12:09 of the third with a typically gritty goal from the net front to apply the finishing stroke to one of our more impressive victories of the season.
Puckpourri
It was a night for round-figure goals. Rakell notched his 20th, Mantha his 30th. Larkin likewise scored his 30th for the Wings in a losing cause.
With Bryan Rust a game-time scratch, Rakell slotted next to Crosby and Chinakhov, who broke a three-game points skein with a goal and a helper. “Chinny” has 18 goals on the campaign, 15 in 37 games since joining the black-and-gold.
Brazeau snapped a lengthy 11-game goal scoring drought. The big guy now has four points (1+3) in his past two games.
Speaking of heaters, Acciari has two goals and three points in his last three games. “Cookie” scores some of the ugliest goals around, but what a warrior he is. Always in the thick of things, always battling. Along with Elmer Söderblom and Connor Dewar, the fourth line continues to make sweet music despite the loss of Blake Lizotte.
Dewar (love his spunk), easily dispatched Wings defender Jacob Bernard-Docker in a first-period fight. Not only is this version of the Pens large and hockey tough, with guys like Dewar, Acciari, Clifton and now Söderblom, we can handle ourselves in a scrap.
In the good great news department, Kris Letang and Samuel Girard seem to be sorting things out. They’ve been better of late. On the flip side, we’ve allowed a power-play goal in six-straight games.
I’ve been critical of our goaltending in recent posts. Actually, more concerned than critical. However, Stuart Skinner turned in a gem of an effort while stopping 22 of 23 shots and earning second-star honors. In particular, his second-period stops on snipers Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat slammed the door on a potential Wings comeback. If these types of performances can become the rule rather than the exception, it only serves us well. Hopefully, Big Stu and Arty (Arturs Šilovs) can deliver.
Is it just me, or have we evolved into an excellent passing team? When firing on all cylinders like we were last night, our transition game and fast, connected style is a sight to behold. Stands in stark contrast to the last few seasons, when Mike Sullivan seemed to favor a choppy, dump-and-chase retrieval game.
Not only did the Pens (38-21-16, 92 points) snag two crucial points, but lady luck at long last smiled on us as the Islanders, CBJ, Senators and Flyers all lost. We now have a six-point bulge with seven games to play over the teams we must outpace in order to snag a playoff berth.
We face a final tough test in Tampa Bay on Thursday night. Then the quality of opposition eases up. Of course, we still need to compete and win those games. But the finish line is at long last in sight.
Go Pens!