Sheary’s goal lifts Sabres to win
Former Penguin scores in overtime
BUFFALO, N.Y. — For the second time in less than a week, the Penguins blew a late lead and lost a game they should have won, on a goal that … let’s put it this way, won’t exactly make the career highlight reel of the man who scored it.
With 18 games to go, the Penguins are also again out of the playoff picture, a precarious perch they can’t seem to vacate.
But after the latest setback, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres Friday at KeyBank Center, the Penguins’ de facto spokesman, Evgeni Malkin, preached patience more than anything.
“We need to keep our heads up and look forward,” Malkin said. “We have a great team. If we play the right way, we’ll get our points.”
Only time will tell whether Malkin proves prophetic, but the Penguins had plenty to like in this game. Their power play snapped to life in the second period, they controlled play for long stretches, and they looked to be golden when they got a huge penalty kill in the third period.
But problems arose at 17:28 of the third period, when Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour threw a wrister at the net from just inside the blue line, and it appeared to hit something on the way in. Tie game.
At 4:11 of overtime, former Penguins forward Conor Sheary grabbed a sloppy outlet pass from defenseman Marcus Pettersson, cut into the slot and beat Matt Murray for his second goal of the game.
It was eerily similar to what happened Saturday against the Flyers in Philadelphia, when Jakub Voracek threw an innocent shot on goal from outside the circle. That squeaked in, and Claude Giroux scored a goal similar to Sheary’s to win it.
“We’re frustrated we didn’t come out of here with two points,” Jack Johnson said. “Points are precious this time of year. One point is better than none, but we definitely feel like we should have had two.”
With 75 points, the Penguins are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture via tiebreaker.
Perhaps more concerning is how they’ve played. They delivered a terrific effort Tuesday in Columbus and were pretty much in control of this one the whole way … until the final 10 minutes of the third period.
Malkin is right that the Penguins have a good team and should pick up their points, but they haven’t done much to erase questions regarding their consistency.
They also seem destined to lose when a game advances to overtime, as they’ve lost nine of 14 this season when that happens.
There were, however, plenty of reasons to look back at this game and feel good if you’re a Penguins fan.
In the second period, when former Penguin Scott Wilson was handed a double minor for high-sticking, Pittsburgh’s power play made the Sabres pay.
First, Patric Hornqvist tipped a Justin Schultz point shot for his first goal in 18 games. Then, Sidney Crosby finished a cross-slot feed from Malkin to make it 3-2 Penguins.
Much like their team game, the Penguins power play has been all over the map. They need to iron out the wrinkles, and they need to get Hornqvist going. This should help. The penalty kill also has been an issue for the club, and it gave up a power-play goal early, to Sheary. But with Hornqvist off for high-sticking at 11:47 of the third, the Penguins got a gigantic kill. Pettersson prevented a goal with a terrific play in the crease.
“We’re confident going over the boards every time to kill penalties,” Johnson said.
“You’d rather err on the side of aggression than sitting back and letting them shoot and allowing them to score. With the new guys we have, I think things are going pretty well.”
There was also plenty to get frustrated over.
As good as Pettersson was in denying a goal, he had a couple goofs, too. On Buffalo’s first score, Pettersson was stuck out there for a 95-second shift, and his giveaway resulted in Jack Eichel’s goal. It was Pettersson who carelessly threw the puck up the boards in overtime, too.
“I have to be a lot better,” Pettersson said. “Some of the plays are on me. “
Detractors also will criticize Murray, although that’s a crazy-tough save to make if the puck redirects off someone’s ankle that close to the goal.
The Penguins also should have been able to build on their lead based on the amount of chances they had and didn’t.