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When you think of Pittsburgh Penguins tradition, you think showtime offense. Mario Lemieux. Jaromir Jagr. Ron Francis. Paul Coffey. Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins have a history of magical scorers.
But the tradition that no one discusses, but everyone in the organization understands, is that the Penguins have historically found ways to overcome injuries. It’s been part of the Penguins’ culture for almost 30 years, dating to the days when Lemieux was in and out of the lineup with a variety of medical issues.
That tradition of resiliency helped the Penguins win a Stanley Cup last June and was on display again Wednesday when they overcame the absence of injured captain Crosby to down the Washington Capitals 3-2 and move within one win of reaching the Eastern Conference Final.
“These guys are willing to block shots, defend hard, get into people’s bodies,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s what jumps out to me with our group right now – their willingness and commitment just to compete, defend, and do what takes.”
When Crosby was ruled out of Game 4 because of a concussion suffered in Game 3, the presumption was Pittsburgh star Evgeni Malkin would carry Crosby’s load.
But Malkin wasn’t the story in this game. The story was Marc-Andre Fleury making 36 saves and the Penguins blocking 24 shots. Fourteen different Penguins blocked a shot on a night when the Pittsburgh team could only muster 18 shots on Washington’s net.
The Penguins are now playing without the world’s best player in Crosby, top defenseman Kris Letang, No. 1 goalie Matt Murray and 23-goal scorer Conor Sheary.
“It was a gutsy, gritty, scrappy game for our group,” Sullivan said.
Despite having limited offensive zone time, the Penguins scored on a breakaway by Patric Hornqvist and an ugly goal credited to Jake Guentzel, whose centering feed was deflected into the net by Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov. The game-winner came on a blistering shot by Pittsburgh defenseman Justin Schultz on the power play.
The Penguins were the highest-scoring NHL team in the regular season, but that’s not how they found success in Game 4
Washington captain Alex Ovechkin said he didn’t like the way he played.
“Our top guys weren’t as good as they needed to be,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. “I didn’t think they stepped up.”
Trotz said what his team now needs is to enter Saturday’s Game 5 in Washington with some desperation. They need to match the resiliency the Penguins showed in Game 4.
“If we don’t have the urgency we need in that game, then we don’t earn the right to keep playing, plain and simple,” Trotz said.
But the Penguins believe they can play better – much better – than they did in Game 4.
“We have another level to get to as a team,” Cole said. “They still had a lot of shots and chances. We can get that down.”
But Cole said the Penguins’ level of desperation “is through the roof.” It’s winning strategy, particularly when it’s unknown when Crosby or Sheary might return to their lineup.
“What the coaching staff admires about our team is its ability to find ways of winning different ways,” Sullivan said. “I think it says something about the character of our group and the leadership in our dressing room
Ducks 4, Oilers 3 (OT)
Ryan Getzlaf had two goals and two assists, including a helper on Jakob Silfverberg’s goal at 45 seconds of overtime, as Anaheim rallied from two goals down to defeat Edmonton and even up their best-of-seven series at 2-2.
Getzlaf stole the puck in the Oilers’ zone and made a cross-ice pass that Silfverberg ripped into the net past goaltender Cam Talbot. The road team has won all four games in the western Conference semifinal series.
“If he keeps doing this, we’re going to have fun time here,” Silfverberg said.
“He’s one of the best players in the league and when he plays like he did tonight with that aggressiveness and physicality, he kind of pushes the whole team with him.”
With his second goal of the contest – Getzlaf’s 36th career playoff marker – he surpassed Teemu Selanne as the Ducks’ all-time leading post-season goal scorer.
Drake Caggiula, Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic scored for Edmonton, and Cam Talbot had 35 stops.
“It’s a 2-2 series now,” Caggiula said. “We have to make sure we play a full 60 minutes. We were in this situation last series too, and it worked out just fine.”