So many things happened tonight.
Jaromir Jagr stepped into the building for what might be the final time.
The Penguins celebrated Matt Cullen’s 1-millionth game.
And some guy named Sidney Crosby came back from a concussion.
First Period
This whole penalty trouble thing for the Penguins is essentially what defined the first period. When the game was at even-strength, the Penguins were doing well. Crosby had his usual spark right from the opening faceoff. But then, the march to the box quickly began.
Some of these penalties are occurring in two of the worst kinds of situations. First, you have the “Oh no, I pinched at a bad time and now I’m gonna take a penalty trying to get back into the play” version, and then you have the “This is a set faceoff play and if we lose the draw I’m gonna interfere with this guy” version. Both are bad. Both killed the Penguins momentum in the first period.
The Penguins went to the well one too many times on the penalty side and Reilly Smith banged home a bad rebound by Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
By the way, probably a good time to mention the Panther’s new uniforms. Pretty nice if you ask me.
The Penguins paid tribute to Matt Cullen, who has probably been one of their best players this season, with a video tribute in the first:
19 seasons, 1,301 games and counting. Congratulations Matt Cullen! pic.twitter.com/rtUtJPLAsC
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 25, 2016
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Second Period
The second period was as back and forth as it gets. The Penguins looked good from the jump, but former Buffalo Sabre Mark Pysyk scored to give the Panthers the dreaded 2-0 lead.
Since I mentioned the issue of penalties earlier, it’s probably worth mentioning that the Penguins defense seems to run into these lulls where they allow the worst gap possible in the face of opposing forwards. Too many times early this season, the Penguins are in back the truck up mode. They don’t pressure the puck carriers at all and seem to get mesmerized by watching forwards skate directly towards them. The second goal was a bit symptomatic of that.
Then Sidney Crosby happened.
Don’t mess with Sidney Crosby. pic.twitter.com/aToFvEOYvZ
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 26, 2016
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Crosby scoring in this game is the most Crosby thing to ever happen. The Penguins nab a power-play, Crosby is sitting in the slot uncontested, and it’s game over for the Panthers.
Once the Penguins got on the board, even though they were down one at the end of the period, you had the feeling that they were going to come back in this one.
The Penguins basically dominated the last six or seven minutes of the second period. The turkey was on the table leading up to the third.
Third Period
At this point, it’s worth mentioning that NHL.com is trash. You have to watch 9 commercials to see goal replays during the games. The stats they provide are basically useless. SAP is worse than having a tiny head from Zika Virus.
Anyway, the third period was all Penguins. In a very prophetic fashion, Jay Caulfield alluded to the Penguins “finding their skating legs” in the third, and that’s exactly what happened.
Early in the third, Phil Kessel hit the pipe. Everyone was holding onto their butts when Nick Bonino fought hard for a loose puck in the neutral zone and caught the Panthers out of position. Carl Hagelin got sprung on a 2 on 1 and asked the age old question: Should I Snipe? The answer was yes. And all of a sudden this game was tied at 2.
The Penguins survived a lot of pressing and back and forth hockey by the Panthers before they completely took this game over.
My friend on Twitter @Null_HHockey used to joke that Eric Fehr needed a Sherpa to find the front of the net in the playoffs last year. He didn’t need one tonight. Depth scoring was the name of the game. Penguins take a 3-2 lead.
After that, it was lights out. The Penguins didn’t allow a shot for the final 8 minutes of even-strength hockey. Three points in the bag, see you Thursday.
Post-Mortem
- Sidney Crosby with a goal and 62% possession on his first night back. Look out, NHL.
- Justin Schultz is actually good at hockey and it’s blowing my mind.
- The HBK line continues to get buried at even-strength this year (and didn’t stick together for most of this game. RIP HBK?)
- Probably Olli Maatta’s best game of the year?
- With Murray on the bench, prepare for an onslaught of horrific goaltending takes.
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