Schultz scores in OT for 4-3 win
inch-perfect feed to Schultz, who had a wide-open net at which to shoot.
“Just don’t mess up,” Schultz said with a laugh. “I had the whole net. It would be pretty embarrassing if I miss that.”
Creating chances such as that is why the Penguins have been so good in overtime this season. Schultz said they don’t practice 3-on-3 scenarios often, but the pure offensive skill on the roster — tough to match throughout the league — is amplified whenthere’s more open ice.
The Penguins will have one of Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang on the ice at all times, andusually together. Against Calgary, it was Malkin and Kessel that helped set up Schultzfor the winner.
“They have so much speed and they like to go,” Schultz said. “When you see that, you just try to get open and find some space. They create so much room, get so much attention from other players that as long as you find some space, they’re going to find you.”
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan admitted the offensive nature of 3-on-3 overtime sometimes can cause heartburn for his coaching staff — “There’s not a whole lot of structure that you can offer when there’s only three guys on the ice,” he said — but it’s tough to argue with his team’s results.
“We’ve talked about certain strategies that we think can help us be effective 3-on-3, but for the most part, it’s really just about great players making great plays,” Sullivan said. “When our guys have the puck, I think they’re dynamic.
“I think with the skill level that we have, we should have the ability to win more than welose.”
While the Penguins might not prefer to take things past 60 minutes if they can avoid it, it has become an undeniable competitive advantage for them. They are 9-2 in games decided in 3-on-3, and 2-2 in shootouts.
That’s an extra four or five points they’ve gained in the standings above a team that’s simply average in those situations. It might not sound like a lot, but that’s the difference between being comfortably in the playoff picture and fighting to hold onto a wild-card spot.
“Weenjoy it,” Schultz said. “We don’t like to go to it that much, but it’s nice to know wecan get wins in it.”
In games such as Monday, it also can help make up for a so-so performance over the first 60 minutes.
The Penguins weren’t exactly sharp defensively for most of the night, allowing the Flames 38 shots on goal. They let a 2-0 first-period lead and a 3-2 second-period advantage slip away before each respective period was completed.
“I don’t think it was our best game,” Sullivan said. “I think we found a way to win, but I’m not going to sit here and say we played a real good game. I think there were areas where I know we can be a lot better.”
Another big game from Evgeni Malkin helped keep things afloat, too. Malkin scored the Penguins’ second goal in the first period, and earned two assists — on Kris Letang’s go-ahead goal and on Schultz’s overtime winner. With 82 points, he’s just three back of Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for the NHL lead.
But even with that big performance from Malkin, the Penguins still had to hold on in the third period to get to overtime. Tristan Jarry made 12 saves in the third and two in overtime to keep the Flames from pulling ahead and give the Penguins a chance to finally get the winner.
“Yeah, credit to him,” Bryan Rust said. “We didn’t have our best period. We were kind of bending a little bit there. But he bailed us out a few times. We tried to just collapse to the net and kind of stopthe bleeding.”