Momentum change
Penguins rally to win after key penalty kill in third period
Nearly everyone in the building sensed the enormity of the moment.
Most importantly, the home team actually seemed to be aware of it, too.
The Penguins began Sunday’s game at PPG Paints Arena outside of playoff position. Their two-goal lead had disappeared in less than four minutes. And now the New York Rangers were on the power play for the first 3:47 of the third period.
The penalty kill, reliable for much of the season, has been a problem of late. The Penguins have given up 11 power-play goals in 13 games, including another Sunday. But this time, they allowed just three shots with Sidney Crosby in the box.
When he escaped, the afternoon crowd erupted with a roof-rattling ovation.
“It was awesome,” said Jack Johnson, a regular on the penalty kill who is in his first season in Pittsburgh. “It was the loudest I’ve ever heard the building.”
Killing Crosby’s double minor gave the Penguins a shot of adrenaline. Less than a minute later, Kris Letang scored his second goal of the game to give them the lead back. Then Evgeni Malkin took over the game with two goals in 2:31.
As it turns out, these Penguins would need both of them. But after a pair of late Rangers goals, they held on for a 6-5 win that moved them back into the top eight spots in the East. Well, for now, at least.
Their playoff pursuit may go down to the wire. If so, they say, bring it on.
“Every point matters and that’s going to make us better in the long run. If we keep chipping away and … really bearing down and playing well, it will be beneficial come playoff time,” Brian Dumoulin said. “We’ve just got to embrace the race.”
The Penguins did not pick
up a point Saturday in a 5-4 loss to the Calgary Flames. That night, the surging Carolina Hurricanes won again to overtake them in standings. It was the first time since 2008-09 they were out of playoff position that late in a season, though things worked out OK for those Penguins a decade ago.
One bright spot in Saturday’s setback was Malkin, who returned from his onegame suspension to bury two third-period goals and ignite a near-comeback. He exploded again in the third period Sunday, giving him four goals in two games.
Phil Kessel made a beautiful pass from behind the Rangers net to set up Malkin for his first goal. Malkin did most of the work himself on the second, spinning at the left faceoff dot to blow a backhander past the glove of Alexandar Georgiev.
“That kind of left me speechless,” said Zach Aston-Reese, one of the team’s best talkers. AstonReese assisted on both goals, including the gamewinner.
Added coach Mike Sullivan: “There’s only a handful of players in the league that can score that kind of goal, and he’s one of them. It was spectacular.”
The star center has now put up 21 points in his last 14 games, though on many of those nights there were goals going the other way, too. He has finally looked like the Malkin of old in his three games since returning from an upper-body injury.
“He’s one of those guys who can change the outcome of a game in a few shifts and you could see it in the third period [Sunday],” Sullivan said.
The Penguins continued to get major contributions from their two other franchise cornerstones. Crosby had three more assists Sunday. Letang, with two goals, now has 15 on the season, one shy of his career high with 23 games to go.
Letang’s first Sunday came on a first-period centering attempt that ricocheted off Kevin Shattenkirk’s skate and went in. New York’s first goal was fortunate, too, ramping off the stick of Teddy Blueger and past Casey DeSmith, who started in goal.
In the second period, Marcus Pettersson and Dumoulin scored. It was the first time since 1990 that the Penguins got at least four goals from defensemen.
But the Penguins would not hold that two-goal advantage for long, as the Rangers scored 26 seconds after Dumoulin’s goal and again 190 seconds after that. Then, with the Penguins reeling, Crosby was called for high-sticking late in the period.
The short-handed Penguins put pressure on the Rangers as they tried to break into their zone then prevented dangerous crossice ices passes when the visitors did get things set up. DeSmith made three saves on that critical four-minute kill.
The captain thanked them by patiently pivoting through the Rangers zone until he spotted Letang, who stepped around a defender and beat Georgiev upstairs.
Malkin took it from there, ending up with the game-winning goal after the Rangers scored twice late, including one from Mika Zibanejad with 18 seconds left.
While the Penguins are obviously capable of going on another winning streak to lock up a playoff spot by the end of March, they continue to be an inconsistent, flawed team that can win or lose to anyone depending on their interest level that night.
So, if the home stretch has to be a grind, Sullivan wants them to embrace it.
“We can’t be afraid of it. We’ve got to get excited about it,” Sullivan said. “They have so much experience to draw on as far as playing in a high-stakes environment. We’ve just got to control what we can. We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”