The Penguins played one of their best games of the young season against the Devils yesterday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark.
We pretty much dominated our Metro rivals in almost every conceivable statistic, including shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring opportunities, high danger chances, you name it. Everywhere except on the scoreboard, where we came out on the short end with a 2-1 decision.
Limited to a single power play, our bread and butter of late, by perhaps our least favorite referee, Garrett Rankthe Pens could only steal the Devils netminder Jake Allen for one goal despite 34 shots on net.
That happened at 12:33 of the second period after a long-range blast from the stick Ryan Graven that struck Ondrej Palat and dived into the crossbar and far post. Allen blunted everything else we threw at him.
As for the Devils’ only regulation mark? That came 48 seconds before the first break, thanks to some unconscionable brain fog on the part of Kris Letang. We skate back to our end to grab a loose puck with Devils rookie Arseny Grichuk in pursuit, No. 58 attempted to force a no-look, Harlem Globetrotter-esque, behind-the-back pass to Joona Koppanen well behind the game. Gritsyuk plucked out the ill-fated feed as if he were the intended recipient and was easily defeated Arthur Silovwho had no chance.
Terrible decision and play from Tangier, simply terrible. (FYI, he’s had a few lately.)
Silovs more than made up for his side’s shortcomings in the final minute of the second period with a stunning ten-bell glove on Jack Hughes from a blank range. A series that is set in motion when Danton Heinen overskated the puck into the slot, causing Luke Hughes to quickly move it to its older sibling.
That’s all she wrote about tickling until the shooting, when the all-too-predictable happened. Ergo, black-and-gold shooters Bryan Rust And Sidney Crosby were denied by Allen, while Paul Cotter And Jesper Bratt defeat Silovs to take the extra point (and sole possession of the Metro lead) for Jersey.
Puckpourri
Overall, Silovs played a great match, good enough to earn a second star. But my oh my, are shootouts an Achilles heel. The Pens have come out on the short end of three of them, each time with Silovs between the pipes. He has stopped just one of the eight shootout attempts he has faced thus far for a more than atrocious save percentage of .125.
Speaking of unholy numbers, Koppanen registered an expected goals percentage of 14.26. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lower xGA%. For a reason that escapes me, Kyle Dubas seems to have an affinity with the colossal Finn. However, the second coming of Justin Brazeau he isn’t.
If you want to use Koppanen to close a gap in the fourth line for a game or two, fine. But in the longer term? Call Sam Poulinfor God’s sake.
On the other hand, Graves has played quite well in two games since being recalled. As an aside, as I understand it, Mike Sullivan used an unusual zone defense as part of its philosophy. Could that have contributed to Ryan’s problems in recent seasons?
When literal penguin killer Brenden Dillon crushed Tommy Novak with a huge blow on open ice halfway through the first period, Anthony Mantha immediately intervened to challenge him. Good for you, Anthony, for standing up for a teammate.
Production-wise, it was a quiet day for our major players. Crosby and Rust collected assists on Graves’ goal. Evgeni Malkin was kept off the scoresheet for only the third time this season. Geno is still tied for the league lead in assists (17). Connor McDavid.
After our 8-2-2 start, we are 1-2-1 in our last four games. We remain in second place in the Metro with 21 points and are third in the league. Our regulation points percentage (.656) is second best, behind only Colorado.
The Pens return home to host the Kings this afternoon. Valued newcomer Sergei Murashov He is expected to get his first big league start in goal.
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