The Penguins played another solid road game last night at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
The result? A 4-1 victory over an ultra-gritty Flames squad and a second-straight win to begin this crucial western swing.
How crucial? While Metro rivals like the Islanders and especially the Caps are struggling during similar excursions, the Pens have snagged second place in the division.
Whoda thunk it?
Certainly not I, at least as recently as the Christmas break. But as Al Michaels so famously noted, miracles on ice do occur. So do 10-3-2 runs like the one we’re on.
Spearheading our effort, the Evgeni Malkin–Tommy Novak–Egor Chinakhov line struck for three goals and totaled five points, including two apiece by first- and second-stars Malkin and Novak.
Geno got us off and running at 7:49 of the first period. Moments after absorbing a huge hit along the boards from MacKenzie Weegar, No. 71 made a bee-line for the slot and artfully deflected Ryan Shea’s shot/pass past Flames netminder Dustin Wolf to make it 1-zip, good guys.
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. And you don’t mess around with Geno Machino.
Our second tally at 12:32 of the second period came courtesy of a gorgeous bit of teamwork by the aforementioned trio. Malkin attacked down the left wall and dipped around Weegar before dishing a beauty of a cross-ice feed to Novak at the top of the right circle. Tommy one-timed a short pass to Chinakhov cutting east-west through the slot. In the words of TV color analyst, Phil Bourque, “curl, drag, snap.”
Two-nothing, Pens.
Our lone blemish came with just three seconds left in the period, when ex-Devil Yegor Shranagovich beat Stuart Skinner on a deflection.
However, the Pens struck back just 50 seconds in the final frame to take the wind out of the Flames’ sails. Following a prolonged battle in the corner, Sidney Crosby nudged the puck to Bryan Rust, who darted behind the net and attempted a wraparound.
Bing, bang, bong, the puck deflected in off Flames defender Zach Whitecloud. A greasy goal for our top line.
Perhaps the prettiest goal, at least to my eye, was scored by Novak mid-period. Tommy slipped into the Flames’ zone on a 3-on-1 and put on a dazzling display of puckhandling before beating Wolf with a top-shelf backhander to close out the scoring.
Puckpourri
My goodness, is the Two-Thirds Comrade Line potent (I don’t know what to call them…lol). I continue to marvel at the way Geno is playing and skating. Incredible energy and spirit for a 39-year-old, to say nothing of his 37 points in 34 games. It’s been suggested that the big guy would like to play another season.
Sign him, for goodness sake!
I’ve already verbally drooled over Chinakhov’s shot and release on numerous occasions. Man, can this kid snipe!
Novak deserves a shout-out as well. He’s blended beautifully with the two Russians. The fact that he and Geno can both play wing and center allows them to switch roles and be creative on the go. I’m very impressed with Tommy’s skills, skating and smarts. Smooth as Kentucky sippin’ whiskey.
PP colleague Caleb DiNatale sang the ex-Pred’s praises when nobody else, including me, did. For that matter, Caleb was high on Chinakhov, too.
Dan Muse broke out of his goalie rotation and gave Skinner a second-straight start. Big Stu rewarded our skipper by blunting 18 of 19 shots, good for a snazzy .947 save percentage. Since joining the Pens, he’s posted a .902 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average, and that includes a few rocky outings at the outset.
With Kris Letang a no-go due to an upper-body injury of unknown severity, Jack St. Ivany slotted back in and had himself a game, collecting a pair of assists and earning third-star honors. Hope the Pens don’t give up too quickly on Jack.
The Pens face the Oilers tonight in the second of back-backers. To say Connor McDavid & Co. have had our number these past few seasons is a massive understatement. With nine points (3+6) in 14 games, Pens washout Kasperi Kapanen is off to a nice start while filling a depth role for the Oil.
As previously noted, we’re second in the Metro with a record of 24-14-11. Our 59 points are identical to the Isles and the top Eastern wild-card team, Buffalo.
A final thought. Props to Muse and his staff for riding out that ghastly eight-game losing streak in December and righting the ship.