I confess, I didn’t watch or listen to yesterday afternoon’s matinee matchup with the Panthers at PPG Paints Arena due to the Easter holiday. So my recap will be of the Dragnet, “Just the facts ma’am” variety.
However, I’m more than happy to report that our Pens took care of business to the tune of a 5-2 victory over the defending Cup champs. One that pretty much punched our ticket to the postseason dance.
The boys in black-and-gold accomplished that feat through a combination of timely scoring and…dare I say…a strong performance in goal by recently much-maligned Arturs Šilovs.
The Pens grabbed the lead at the 11-minute mark of the opening frame on a steal ‘n’ score by our newest offensive sensation, Elmer Söderblom. More on the big huge guy in a bit.
Cole Schwindt knotted things up for the Panthers at 16:15, beating Šilovs with a wrister from the slot. It should be noted the visitors held a sizeable edge in shot attempts (16-11) over the opening 20 minutes and would continue to dominate the shot-based metrics for the remainder of the contest.
At our opportunistic and explosive best, the locals struck back with a pair of late-period tallies to forge a 3-1 lead. Egor Chinakhov sprung Sidney Crosby down the left side with a masterful pass and Sid applied the finish, snapping the puck past Daniil Tarasov at 16:50. Sir Sidney proceeded to set up Rickard Rakell for a little power-play magic at 19:12.
RikRak struck again from the slot at 18:08 of the second period to extend our lead to 4-1. Bryan Rust popped his 28th of the season past Tarasov on a rebound from the door step at 3:48 of the final period. The Pens then went about the business of blunting a final push by the Panthers, which yielded a late goal by Carter Verhaeghe.
Puckpourri
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Panthers held an edge in shot attempts (71-44), shots on goal (31-23), scoring chances (38-27) and high-danger chances (13-11).
Our big guns went big-game hunting against the Cats. Sid garnered second-star honors with a goal and two helpers, snapping an eight-game goalless drought in the process. Our captain cinched his 21st consecutive season of point-per-game production, a record that’s likely never to be broken.
In a groove like I’ve rarely if ever seen since the days of Mario Lemieux, top-star Rakell has goals in five-straight games and 11 in his past 10 games. Remarkable!
Speaking of streaking Swedes, Söderblom has three goals and six points in his past six games. Maybe we should start calling him “RikRak Junior.”
Chinakhov logged two assists, including the dazzler on Sid’s goal. Evgeni Malkin registered two assists as well. Geno’s tied with Sid for the club lead in points per game (1.09).
With a goal and a helper, Rust cracked the 500-career points plateau. Almost quietly, Tommy Novak reached the 40-point mark (15+25). Although he’s had his share of ups and downs of late, I’ll gladly take that kind of production from Tommy.
For the second game in a row, a Pens defenseman was involved in a scrap. Parker Wotherspoon answered the bell against Panthers pot-stirrer Matthew Tkachuk, who leveled Connor Dewar with a first-period cross-check from behind.
Looks good on ya’, ‘Spoon.
With presumed starter Stuart Skinner unable to go due to an upper-body injury, Šilovs stepped between the pipes for a second-straight day and authored his best effort since shutting out Vegas on March 1. The rangy Latvian turned aside 29 of 31 shots for a sparking .935 save percentage.
Taylor Gauthier was summoned from Wheeling on an emergency basis to serve as backup. Late arrival Sergei Murashov watched the game from the press box.
I don’t recall the exact numbers. But since the Olympic break, Skinner has outperformed his expected save percentage (.878), while Šilovs has way underperformed his (.896 prior to yesterday’s game).
Needless to say, his performance has to be a confidence-booster for everyone concerned.
Thanks to our weekend sweep, the second-in-the-Metro Pens (40-22-16, 96 points) are pretty much a lock for a playoff berth. We hold a six-point lead over the third-place Flyers, who have a game in hand. Among the teams on the outside looking in, we have a seven-point bulge over the Islanders (who replaced Patrick Roy with Peter DeBoer) and an eight-point cushion over the Red Wings and CBJ.
In an odd but welcome twist in the schedule, the Pens are off till Thursday, when we face the Devils in Newark. Then we wrap up with a home-and-home against the Caps over the weekend before our season finale in St. Louis on Tuesday night.
A final thought. The Pens’ crushing loss to the lowly Blackhawks in the penultimate game of the ’22-23 season opened the door for the Panthers to begin their incredible run to three-straight Finals. This weekend the Pens officially closed the door on the Panthers’ remarkable string of Cups.
Funny how things work sometimes.