WEEKEND SPORTS
Contributes with a goal, assist in victory vs. N.J.
NEWARK, N.J. — It took two months and several key injuries for Jared McCann to earn a spot on the Penguins top power play. But as well as the club has played with the man-advantage, it’s fair to wonder what it might take for him to get bumped off.
Is it possible the replacement has become the catalyst?
In a 6-4 victory Friday night at Prudential Center, the Penguins scored twice with the man-advantage. McCann netted one goal himself and was credited with the primary assist on Bryan Rust’s power-play goal.
That production — coupled with some depth scoring, a three-point night from Sidney Crosby and a performance from Casey DeSmith that looked a whole lot better than the stats would suggest — helped lift the Penguins past the Devils.
The Penguins (26-13-2, 54 points) now have won back-to-back games in their fourgame road trip to keep pace in a competitive East Division. They salvaged this win, even on a night they looked like a team playing its third game in four days.
“I don’t think we were at our best tonight,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I give our guys credit. I think they had opportunities to score and we finished. Our power play was really good. We found a way to win.”
Early on, some of the defensive miscues that led to the Penguins’ recent two-game losing streak reared their ugly head, as the net-front defense was exposed. Miles Wood got position on Kris Letang near the blue paint. He muscled his way to a loose puck and shoveled it in to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
Then, the power play began to become a difference-maker exactly halfway through the first period. Crosby rifled a shot from the point. McCann found the rebound on the doorstep and buried it.
Over the past eight games, the power play has scored 10 goals in 26 opportunities (38.5%). McCann has netted five of those goals.
His big, deceptive shot is a weapon on its own. The threat of it, especially coming off the left flank, stresses different angles of the penalty kill and forces opponents to
respect the shot at all times. He’s also more mobile and active than some of the other options, frequently retrieving rebounds to keep zone time alive.
“I think he does a really good job of working hard and kind of just making plays that are there, whether it’s making a pass or just trying to get the puck to the net,” Rust said. “I think that we all kind of have that mindset.”
At the end of the first, the Penguins took their first lead of the night, 2-1, when Brian Dumoulin’s shot took a lucky bounce on the way to the net.
But almost from the first minute of the second period, DeSmith was tested.
The Penguins backup netminder mostly returned to form on Friday night, stopping 26 of the 30 shots he faced. The final two goals he allowed were own-goals that Penguins defensemen Letang and Dumoulin put in the back of their own net.
One of the few exceptions was in the second period, when a couple of juicy rebounds allowed three consecutive scoring chances for the Devils. Jack Hughes, the 2019 first overall draft pick, converted on the third opportunity to tie the score at 2-2.
But soon after that goal, DeSmith made arguably the Penguins’ highlight-reel save of the season. The Devils raced ahead in transition on an odd-man rush. Rust blocked the initial attempt, but it deflected directly to Jesper Boqvist in the right circle. Down and out, DeSmith somehow recovered and leapt to punch the puck out of the air, like a soccer goalie breaking up a corner kick.
Though they didn’t have their game in the second, the Penguins reclaimed the lead, 3-2. Letang’s initial shot was denied by Blackwood. As the puck floated, Colton Sceviour batted it out of the air, over Blackwood and into the net.
Then, in the third period, the power play was back on the ice and again a factor. Rust lined up a slap shot from the top of the right circle that rang off the crossbar and into the net. The goal represented Rust’s 200th point of his career.
The Penguins got a little breathing room thanks to their captain. From below the goal line, Jake Guentzel set up Crosby beautifully, as the Penguins took a 5-2 lead.
Then, just when it appeared the game was over, things got weird.
A bad bounce off of Letang’s skate momentarily gave the Devils hope. Then, with the Devils net empty, Dumoulin attempted to clear the puck and instead put one off DeSmith’s back and into the Penguins net again to make it a one-goal game, 5-4.
But with the Devils pressing for the game-tying goal, Rust cliched the game with an empty-netter, his second goal of the game.