Before the game
The lineup of the Pen team is the same as last time.
The home Lightning will use this lineup tonight, without Andrei Vasilevskiy playing today.
Issue 1
The Chargers got a couple of rushing drives early and Tristan Jarry was there. Boko Imama and 6-foot-9 Curtis Douglas engaged in an old-school battle at center ice. Imam knocked off Douglas’ helmet and then knocked him out.
Pittsburgh struck first and then they scored the first goal of the game. Continuing the trend from the first, this was Ville Koivunen’s first NHL goal. He had time to choose the corner and did so, with Anthony Mantha providing a nice flying screen at the last second. 1-0 pen.
Tampa had a few power plays of its own, with Jarry shining. Sidney Crosby was getting so angry at the end of the quarter when he was being cross-checked that he broke his stick on the guy to show him what cross-checking looked like. The referee always only sees the second one.
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The number of shots was 15-8 TB, and Nikita Kucherov completed four of them alone. Jarry rose to the challenge and Koivunen’s breakthrough gave the Pens the lead after 20 points.
Second issue
Vintage Geno Malkin swiped a pass on second down and took off to chase it the other way. The finish was a nice shoulder shake and a slide of the puck into the five-hole. 2-0.
Pittsburgh gets its second power play and second power play goal. Ben Kindel deflects Erik Karlsson’s point shot. 3-0.
The Chargers were able to get on the board before the end of the quarter. Darren Raddysh made a great pass and beat Kucherov in the backdoor. 3-1 match.
Pittsburgh outscored Tampa 11-9 in the second period and took a 2-1 lead at midfield to take a two-goal lead heading into the third period.
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The third issue
Kris Letang took a penalty kick early against the fall-prone Jake Guentzel, and the Chargers made it count. Brandon Hagel fired a shot from distance and Jarry had to keep an eye on the backdoor because TB was running the ball all night. But this shot was short. With 18 minutes and 43 seconds left in the game, the score was 3-2.
Malkin entered the penalty area after tripping his opponent. There were some tense moments, but the pen smoothed it out.
But the good times didn’t last long, and things got busy in Tampa. They’ve had a lot of them already, so they’re definitely going to get a good bounce, and they’ll do that when the puck comes off Nick Paul’s skate toward Hagel. He scored his second goal of the game in free agency, tying the score at 3-3.
Malkin broke and knocked down a falling puck, then got into position and waited for a pass from Tommy Novak to put it in. The Pens lead 4-3 with 2:43 left in the game.
Tampa pulled the goalie and Kucherov responded to his compatriot. With 55 seconds left, a huge shot, again very high and short sided.
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But wait, Toronto’s situation room suddenly called to stop the play to see if there was a hand pass before the game started. Erik Karlsson was clearing the puck and Hagel raised his arms to cover his body and it looked like the puck hit it. The puck then went directly to Guentzel, which was not a good move. That’s a tough question considering the goal happened 12 seconds before it was scored, but hey. Big Brother is watching that one, which is good for PEN. No goal was scored and the score returned to 4-3.
Jarry threw a rock at Kucherov with about seven seconds left, and the Pens survived to win.
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Tampa’s speed gave the Penguins real problems early. Several strange people charged and some broke through. Not pretty, luckily Jarry was very sharp from the start.
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This game has its advantages. At times, it almost seems like Crosby is being inherited right now by players who aren’t really going to relentlessly hunt him down and strip him after the snap, especially against non-opposing teams. There was a clear show of respect from the opponents. Tampa didn’t follow that playbook and they played Crosby pretty hard all night. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the level of their hatred stands out.
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Let’s say it again: power play and goaltending. When the Penguins are at their best this season, that’s been their mantra. Perfect display tonight; Jarry was a monster from the start, not allowing a goal until his 24th shot in the 39th minute, after having already hit twice on the power play. Yes, he threw 3, but Tampa threw 40 times and put a ton of pressure on him.
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How about that goal from Koivunen? He’s preparing for 24 games, and hey, sometimes you just need one game to get a good result.
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Playing @Tampa brings out the best in Malkin. Maybe it’s the Florida sunshine. Whatever it is, it’s always an inspired endeavor. A big night with two goals and his time of balancing games for his team looked like a thing of the past.
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Avoiding another crash is a big goal. You never want to add to a three-goal lead that has been evaporated this season. Tampa is great, you’re on the road, but when you’re up 3-0, that should be a win. Luckily it’s tonight.
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That last call was correct, and it’s kind of crazy that Toronto was so engrossed in the details of every game that they noticed something like this 12 seconds before the goal, when the referee on the field missed the goal.
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Look at that Kucherov, 10 shots on goal, 18 shots on goal. That doesn’t include those taken away due to technical issues. Special player and great performance.
A win is a win and the Pens got enough help from Malkin, their power play and goaltending to get in and out of Tampa to take two points from a team that had won 7/8 games. The road trip has one more stop in Dallas.
