I’m not gonna’ lie.
When Brayden Schenn scored off the rush at 9:17 of the second period last night to make it, 3-1, Islanders, I began preparing the Penguins’ obituary in my head.
Not only were we on the short end of the score, following a solid first period to boot, but the game had all the makings of the latest in a long (long) line of crushing failures against the Isles, right down to the power-play goal scored by long-time nemesis Anders Lee.
No way we win this one. Especially with Vezina candidate Ilya Sorokin guarding the Isles’ net.
Then we came back from the dead.
With Noel Acciari serving a tripping minor, Rickard Rakell worked a give-and-go with Bryan Rust to perfection, culminating in a shorty at 11:01. In the process, lighting the fuse on a black-and-gold powder keg.
At 13:29, Ryan Shea walked into a perfect feed from Anthony Mantha at the top of the left circle and drilled one in off the iron.
Three-three!
Then it was Mantha’s turn on center stage. Big Moe beat Sorokin twice within a span of three minutes with a pair of silky forehand-to-backhand moves, sprung both times by fellow denizen of the big-and-tall-shoppe, Justin Brazeau.
At the far end of the ice Arturs Šilovs, shaky early in the period, robbed Casey Cizikas with a huge glove save three seconds before the horn to reserve our 5-3 lead.
If that one had gone in, who knows? Instead, we were treated to more Pens pyrotechnics in the final period.
Avery Hayes scored from the lip of the crease at 6:06, thanks to a hustling play by Ben Kindel. Rakell struck again at 7:54 on a feed from Brazeau, chasing Sorokin in the process. Rust snapped a wrister past replacement David Rittich at 16:16 for the grand finale.
All of which left me smilin’ like Mike Lange’s butcher’s dog.
Puckpourri
In one magnificent explosion, the Pens went a long way toward exorcising the ghosts of Islanders calamities past.
Fifteen Pens notched at least one point. Top star Mantha paced the attack with two goals and an assist. Number two star Brazeau registered three helpers. Third star Rakell potted two goals.
Almost lost in the din of our offensive eruption, Sidney Crosby’s return and two-assist night.
While I’m noting exceptional performance, Kris Letang (two assists, plus-3) played his finest game in goodness-knows-when.
Remarkably, Erik Karlsson and Egor Chinakhov were among the locals who didn’t register a point. Connor Clifton was the other.
An enormous amount of credit goes to Dan Muse. Following our dinky 12-shot effort against the Stars on Saturday, coach Dan juggled his lines and hit on four winners. Kindel centered for Hayes and Tommy Novak. Chinakhov joined Crosby and Rust, while Rakell centered for Mantha and Brazeau. The twin towers once again displayed great chemistry while helping to revive Brazeau’s dormant offensive game.
Speaking of large, Elmer Söderblom was a force to be reckoned with on the fourth line. The hulking Swede primed the offensive pump with our first goal at 6:41 of the second period and was a physical force all night. In addition to delivering three hits, Elmer scored a unanimous decision and takedown on Isles defenseman Scott Mayfield, no shrinking violet.
Yet another uncanny find by Kyle Dubas and his staff.
The only truly worrisome thread in my eyes? Goaltending. While Šilovs turned aside 20 of 23 shots in a workmanlike effort and made the momentum-saving stop on Cizikas, I’m beginning to share my colleague Other Rick’s concerns. Neither of our goalies seems capable of stealing a game. You need that at least once in a while, not only during the caldron of a heated playoff chase but come the postseason as well.
By the Numbers
In our 18 games since the Olympic break, Karlsson has nine goals and 25 points! Only slightly off his torrid pace, Rust with eight goals and 21 points. Rakell has nine goals and 17 points, Mantha nine goals and 15 points. Last but certainly not least, Chinakhov with six goals and 14 points.
Talk about stepping up at crunch time!
Where We’re At (Purposeful Pittsburgh-ese)
With the victory, the Pens (37-21-16, 90 points) vault past the Islanders and back into second place in the Metro, a point up on the Isles and CBJ, who currently occupy the second wild card.
We’re four points up on the teams we need to stay ahead of, including the Sens, the surging Flyers and tonight’s foe, the Red Wings.
Don’t need to be Cap’n Obvious and state just how important tonight’s game is. Beat the Red Wings and we pretty much punch our ticket for the postseason.
Go Pens!