Sceviour has 2 quick goals after waivers
Role players add spice to win to end road trip
NEWARK, N.J. — A stint on waivers might sound like an uncertain — and maybe even anxious — 24 hours. Evidently, not for Penguins forward Colton Sceviour.
“Not a lot of guys have been picked up,” Sceviour said. “Teams don’t have a lot of cap space. Once I went on, I was pretty sure I was going to clear. I was just focused on getting ready for today’s game.”
The approach worked. Just seven hours after clearing waivers, he scored twice in the first period to spark the Penguins to a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
The Penguins (27-13-2, 56 points) rode that early cushion through a sluggish second period. Tristan Jarry stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced. And the suddenly en fuego power play did it again, this time with Jake Guentzel lighting the lamp with a hat trick.
But it all began, as it has often lately, with some bottom-six production from a team whose depth has been tested repeatedly.
While center Teddy Blueger returned to the lineup Sunday for the first time since mid-March, the Penguins were still without Evgeni Malkin, Kasperi Kapanen and Brandon Tanev — three of their top seven forwards. They might soon also be without newly anointed third-line center Frederick Gaudreau, who missed the third period with a lowerbody injury.
Yet, seemingly on a nightly basis, role players are finding themselves playing the leading role. Radim Zohorna was the first star at Madison Square Garden earlier this trip.
Sceviour himself now has scored three goals in the past two games.
“The one thing the injuries have done is it’s made us feel more comfortable with the depth that we have,” new general manager Ron Hextall said earlier this week, while specifically mentioning Sceviour by name.
He might feel even better about it now. And so does coach Mike Sullivan.
“Sid’s line has been consistently dangerous,” Sullivan said. “But to get the supporting cast to contribute offensively, be sound defensively and to do some of the other jobs, whether it be killing penalties or taking defensive zone starts, things of that nature. All of those little things add up to winning games.”
Sceviour’s big night began about two-and-a-half minutes into the game. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson denied the Devils’ zone entry. He onetouched the loose puck to the head man on the play to spring the Penguins on a 3-on1, odd-man rush.
Blueger’s initial attempt was blocked. But Sceviour grabbed the loose puck and wrapped it around the net to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Sceviour was on the scoreboard again. Off of Blueger’s faceoff win, defenseman Mike Matheson uncorked a slap shot from the center point. Sceviour provided the traffic and the redirection, immediately raising his stick to celebrate the goal.
“He’s just a guy that comes to the rink every day with a smile and works hard,” Guentzel said. “It’s always nice to see a guy like that get rewarded.”
But the ice would begin to tilt the Devils’ direction at the end of the first period, when Miles Wood drove to the front of the net to redirect a shot.
That momentum carried into the second period in a big way. In the middle frame, New Jersey tallied nine highdanger chances in 5-on-5 play, while the Penguins had zero, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Penguins would have been lucky just to get out of that period with the lead intact. Turns out, they should play the New Jersey Lottery on the way out of town.
Sidney Crosby made a cheeky move to shove Devils defenseman Ty Smith into goalie Mackenzie Blackwood just as Bryan Rust unleashed a shot from the top of the right circle. The puck zipped through traffic and Guentzel redirected it to make it 3-1.
Blackwood pleaded his case. And the Devils challenged the play for goaltender interference.But the referees didn’t see enough to change the call on the ice.
Then in the third period, the Penguins power play continued its torrid stretch. They entered the night with a power play that had clicked at a 38.5% clip with 10 power-play goals since March 25. That’s the best mark in the league. Their perfect 1-for-1 night on Sunday should only help those numbers.
“A lot of it starts with shooting the puck and trying to break down coverage that way,” Guentzel said before the game. “Whether it’s rebounds or recoveries, we’re just trying tokeep it simple that way.”
That quote was almost prophetic, as the Penguins used that exact formula. Kris Letang ripped a shot-pass to Jared McCann on the left side of the net for Chance 1. Crosby was denied on Chance 2. But with the Devils penalty-killers scrambling and their formation out of sorts, Guentzel was left alone on the doorstop. He’s nota good guy to lose track of.
The Devils closed the gap to 4-2, when P.K. Subban plowed into Jarry off the rush. Initially it was ruled no-goal, then the referees changed their minds. Sullivan chose not to challenge. He has never been a fan of the rule that was implemented at the beginning of last year,which puts a player in the box for a failed challenge.
“We have a two-goal lead with 10 minutes to go in the hockey game,” Sullivan said. “If I challenge it and I’m wrong, now we’re on a penalty kill scenario after they score. It could potentially be a two-goal swing.”
But that’s as close as the Devils would get. Guentzel tacked on the empty net goal. Only hours later, when the NHL made a scoring change on the first goal, was it clear that Guentzel actually had a hat trick on the night.