The Penguins entered Saturday’s nationally televised matinee matchup with the Capitals sans a burgeoning list of regulars. Much to ABC’s chagrin, Sidney Crosby, Connor Dewar, Erik Karlsson and Bryan Rust sat out due to lower-body ailments, while Ben Kindel, Kris Letang, Blake Lizotte and Parker Wotherspoon skipped the festivities with lower-body maladies.
Remarkably, the team’s fighting spirit remained intact.
Indeed, the patchwork Pens gave their archrivals a run for their money before bowing, 6-3.
After dominating a scoreless first period to the tune of a 10-1 edge in shots on goal, the Caps grabbed the lead at 1:39 of the second on a wrister by giant Aliaksei Protas.
In a stirring display of the trademark resilience and spunk that’s become our calling card, Anthony Mantha knotted the score against his ex-mates just 26 seconds later on a wrister from the top of the left circle. Credit Ryan Shea with a sweet setup and Justin Brazeau with a flash screen on goalie Logan Thompson.
Alas, the Caps soon forged a 3-1, as Ryan Leonard (6:02) and Tom Wilson (8:08) solved Pens goalie Arturs Šilovs.
The Pens shoved back. Sam Girard sliced through the attacking zone following a faceoff win and fed Elmer Söderblom, who deflected the puck on net. Thompson failed to control the rebound and Noel Acciari arrived in typical bulldozer fashion to drive it home at 11:47.
The Caps returned the favor just 11 seconds later, with Leonard notching his second of the afternoon and 20th of the season.
Again, our guys responded. Seconds after Šilovs made a big save on Alex Ovechkin, Trevor van Riemsdyk inadvertently sent a perfect lead pass off the side boards to Kevin Hayes exiting the sin bin. With a surprising burst, the veteran forward swung around Dylan Strome and beat Thomspon with a sizzler from the left dot at 16:50.
Four-three, Caps, after two periods, and we’re very much in the fight.
Then Brazeau took an unfortunate hooking penalty behind the play and the Caps…uh…capitalized, with hulking rookie Ilya Protas potting his first NHL goal off a pizza served hot ‘n’ bubbly fresh from Šilovs’ oven.
In what may be his final game at PPG Paints Arena, Ovi chipped in an empty-netter at 16:22 for, incredibly, his 32nd of the season. A fitting send-off for the Great Eight.
Puckpourri
The undermanned Pens managed just a dozen shots on goal, one more than the franchise-record for fewest shots in a game.
Neither Šilovs (.833 save percentage) or Thompson (.750) put on a clinic that would do Georges Vezina proud. While Arturs’ certainly wasn’t solely responsible for the five pucks that eluded him, rebound control continues to be an issue.
With so many regulars out, the Pens recalled kid forwards Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty along with Joona Koppanen. In a worrisome recurring theme, Ville and Rutger, point-per-game guys in Wilkes, combined for no shots on goal and no points.
Ryan Graves and Ilya Solovyov formed a new and somewhat shaky third defensive pair. Each finished a minus-2. Jack St. Ivany (also minus-2) was paired with Girard, who dazzled on the play that led to Acciari’s goal.
Remarkably, Ryan Shea (two assists) finished a plus-3. He leads the club with a plus-30 and has emerged as one of the more attractive UFAs-to-be on defense.
It was literally land of the giants out there, especially for the Pens who dressed Brazeau (6’6”232), Graves (6’5” 225), Kevin Hayes (6’3” 217), Koppanen (6’5” 216), Mantha (6’5” 240) and Söderblom (6’8” 252). A far (far) cry from the smurfish teams we used to ice under Mike Sullivan.
The Caps weren’t exactly beef deficient with the likes of the Protas brothers, Ovechkin, van Riemsdyk and Wilson.
With his second-straight 30-goal season, the latter has come a long (long) way from when he first entered the league as a heavyweight. Although Wilson’s mellowed some, don’t let him catch you with your head down.
Nice to see Kevin Hayes get that goal. By all accounts, a super good guy on a team filled with ‘em.
Bad news on the doorstep, Dewar is listed as week-to-week.
The Pens (41-23-16, 98 points) travel to DC for the back-end of a home-and-home this afternoon, then visit the Blues to wrap up on Tuesday.
The Sens and Bruins have secured the Eastern Conference wild-card berths, with the Red Wings missing out. The only open spot is third place in Metro, currently held by Philly (94 points). The CBJ (92 points), Caps and Isles (91 points apiece) are still marginally in the hunt. All teams have two games left to play.
The Pens have signed collegiate defenseman Jake Livanavage out of the University of North Dakota. At first blush, the 5’10” 185-pounder appears to be a Girard-type with good wheels and puck skills.