PENS COME UP SHORT AGAINST DEVILS, 3-2
Two quick second-period goals by the Devils put Malkin-less Penguins away
NEWARK, N.J. — With a fire alarm blaring in the background, Evgeni Malkin sat in this very same Prudential Center dressing room 16 months ago when the Penguins found themselves in a similar circumstance to the one they’re in now.
It was that day in mid-November 2019 that the Penguins learned they would be without captain
Sidney Crosby for the foreseeable future. With the alarm providing the inspiration, the affable Russian proclaimed in what’s now become a famous quote, that it was time for him to “be fire.”
And he was. Somehow, the Penguins posted the NHL’s best record while the league’s best player was absent.
While Malkin was the most-no -ticeable and quotable voice in that surge, the recipe was a bit more complex. The top line as a whole, featuring Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust on the wings, carried a top-heavy lineup with absolutely dominant play. Goaltender Tristan Jarry stole game after game to earn an All-Star Game
nod. And, deeper down the lineup, the role players rose to the occasion not necessarily on the stat sheet, but by playing a more-simple brand of defensive hockey.
OK.
Yes, that’s a long preamble for someone who came here to hear why the Penguins somehow lost, 3-2, on Thursday night to the perennial cellar-dwelling Devils.
But here’s the point: The Penguins were once again back in the Prudential Center. Same place. Similar circumstances. But this time, it’s Malkin who is missing with an injury that even has the Penguins saying they don’t have a specific return date. To make matters worse, third-line center Teddy Blueger is also out longer-term, providing a significant test of the Penguins’ depth up the middle.
The fire alarm isn’t yet blaring. But it might soon be.
“We like the guys we have in the locker room,” Guentzel said. “We know we have capable guys if that was the case. But we’ve just got to have everyone step up here. We’ve got to do it by committee. We can’t take any nights off.”
If Malkin is out any stretch of time — which is still yet to be determined — the Penguins can use last year’s story as the script, just recast the characters.
Three keys: Elite play from the top line. Excellent goaltending. Simple, smart play from the rest of the lines.
In Thursday’s loss, there simply wasn’t enough of it — any of it — as they trailed, 3-0, in the closing seconds of the second period.
Even though the Penguins recorded a season-high 42 shots, they were blanked at 5on-5 play. One goal was scored off Guentzel’s stick on the power play. The other was a garbage-time 6-on-5 goal from Rust. Nothing from the top line.
The fact that the rest of the roster failed to score isn’t all that surprising. The part that was costly was that the thin forward corps repeatedly mismanaged the puck, leading to grade-A chance after grade- A chance for the Devils in the first period.
Finally, in terms of goaltending, Jarry has been much more than solid lately. He was less-than-average on at least one or two of the goals he allowed.
“We’re looking for a collective effort,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to be hard to play against. We’ve got to rely on our team structure. We’ve got to do our jobs and trust that our teammates are going to do theirs. When we do that and manage the game the right way, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win most nights.”
The Devils entered the game as the NHL’s sixth lowest-scoring team, relying on goaltending more than anything to keep pace. But Jarry was tested early and often in the first period and repeatedly bailed out the skaters.
Jack Hughes, the 2019 first-overall pick, eventually cracked through. He won a puck battle along the wall against Evan Rodrigues. The 19-year-old forward danced around defenseman John Marino, who was playing in his first game since March 9, and sniped the puck into a narrow opening in the top shelf.
After that lopsided first 20, the Penguins began to shift the momentum in the second period. One of the Penguins’ best chances came about eight minutes into the frame. The Rodrigues line started a rugby scrum in the crease. Somehow, Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood, kept the puck out of his net.
Moments later, any momentum the Penguins had built was snuffed out. The Devils made quick work of Pittsburgh penalty kill. Defenseman P.K. Subban’s shot from the center point whistled past Jarry.
As the public address announcer at the Prudential Center was calling out the Subban goal, the Devils made it 3-0. Jarry couldn’t track the puck through traffic. Travis Zajac, who was parked in front of the net, eventually got credit for the goal.
The two goals were separated by just 96 seconds. They also proved to be the difference.
“We had a lot of good things going in the second,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “We were able to get to the net a little bit more and create some second opportunities.
Timely goals for them. We can do a better job in front, allowing our goalie to see the puck.”
Guentzel’s goal in the closing seconds of the second period and Rust’s tally at the end were too little, too late.
If there’s any silver lining for the suddenly injury-ravaged Penguins, it’s that the schedule is softer the next couple weeks. They play the Devils again Saturday at Prudential Center and Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.
But as the Penguins found out on Thursday, that doesn’t guarantee much.
“We need to be better, obviously,” Sullivan said. “We didn’t get the result that we wanted, so it’s not good enough. We need to be better as a group. We’ll take a look at our team and see what adjustments we make from here.”