The Penguins did a lot of good things during last night’s 3-0 Game 2 loss to the Flyers. Although we managed just two shots during the opening 20 minutes that actually reached the net, I thought we had a much better start, as our 19 first-period shot attempts will attest.
We were much more connected and seemed to navigate the neutral zone with more of our customary speed and ease, while committing fewer turnovers. Dare I say, we even dominated the action for a good portion of the second and third periods.
Unfortunately, like movie extras in a Wild West gunfight, we kept firing blanks.
In one of my pre-series articles, I opined that our fourth-line could be a difference maker. While Noel Acciari, Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte indeed played extremely well (Corsi 90.91, xGF% 91.89), it was Philly’s fourth liners who actually did the damage last night, scoring twice and authoring the shift that was the turning point of the game.
As previously noted, our Pens were gathering steam until roughly the 13-minute mark of the second period. That’s when Sean Couturier, Luke Glendening and Garnet Hathaway took the ice and proceeded to pin us down with a determined forecheck.
With our third defense pairing of Ryan Shea and Connor Clifton unable to exit, the next Philly wave hopped over the boards and made a bee-line for our zone. Clifton lost a puck battle along the wall to Porter Martone, who nudged the puck to Christian Dvorak. The Flyers’ center skated behind the cage and fed Travis Konecny for a quick shot from the right circle. Stuart Skinner made a pad save, but the rebound popped to the stick of Martone approaching from the left. The big rookie calmly slipped a backhander past Stu for his second goal in two games.
The real crusher occurred four minutes later with the Pens on a power play. With Owen Tippett approaching following a Flyers clear, Skinner backhanded the puck up the right side boards in the direction of Tommy Novak. However, the speedy Tippett got to the puck first, eluded Novak, then completely undressed Kris Letang, who wound up taking down his teammate. Tippett then drove to the net unmolested before dishing a short pass to the equally unfettered Hathaway for an easy-peasy put away.
Skinner had no chance.
Sensing his team was in desperate need of a spark, Pens skipper Dan Muse shuffled his top lines in the third period, rejoining Rickard Rakell with Sidney Crosby and Egor Chinakhov with Evgeni Malkin. The moves paid immediate dividends. However, try as they might, the Pens couldn’t solve Philly netminder Dan Vladar.
The low-scoring Glendening potted an empty-netter at 17:55 to clinch the win for the Flyers.
Puckpourri
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Pens had the edge in virtually every shot-based stat, including shot attempts (75-38), shots on goal (27-23), scoring chances (32-19) and high-danger chances (11-6).
Despite our impressive numbers, give Philly a ton of credit. They clogged the shooting lanes to the tune of a whopping 23 blocked shots while forcing us to alter our approach. For the most part, they denied us precious second-chance opportunities as well.
On the flip side, we seem to be gripping our sticks too tight. Case in point, Ben Kindel sailed a golden third-period opportunity from the slot high and wide.
Hathaway earned third-star honors and finished the game with two points (1+1). He had three points in 66 regular-season games.
With the outcome decided, our considerable frustrations boiled over, resulting in two separate dust-ups near the end of the game. Letang and Anthony Mantha received 10-minute misconducts and dibs on the early hot water at 18:13. Acciari and Parker Wotherspoon followed suit at 19:41.
In addition to yielding the short-handed goal, our power play (0-for-5) sputtered big time. We’re now 0-for-7 in the series. We’ve managed just three shots on goal during those seven opportunities (and yielded four).
Speaking of the shorty, neither Novak or Letang bathed himself in glory on the play. Tanger, in particular, resembled The Mummy as he gingerly approached Tippett. I’m talking the 1932, Boris Karloff version. However, take nothing away from the Philly forward. He outworked, outhustled and outsmarted us and made a fabulous play.
Skinner did his absolute utmost to keep us in the game. He stopped Glendening cold on a 2-on-none (shorthanded no less) following a terrible giveaway by Erik Karlsson near the seven-minute mark of the third period and thwarted a penalty shot by Tippett three minutes later, again at Karlsson’s expense.
Needless to say, EK65 isn’t having a series to remember. Neither, for that matter, are a host of his teammates.
Most folks, including yours truly, felt last night’s game was a must-win for the Pens. However, if we can take Game 3, we’re right back in it.
Unfortunately, by the looks of things that’s a big IF.
Kappy Nets Two
While the Pens struggle to solve Vladar and the Flyers, guess who netted two goals in the Oilers’ Game 1 victory over the Ducks last night, including the game winner?
Yep, former Pen Kasperi Kapanen. Reborn in Edmonton, Kappy’s skating on a dynamic line with scoring ace Leon Draisaitl and Vasili Podkolzin.
In case you’re wondering, Tristan Jarry was not in goal for the Oil.