The Penguins capped off a successful trip to California last night with a 3-0 victory over the Sharks Tristan Jarry old friend surpassed Alex Nedeljkovic around the ‘w.’ to earn
Our boys got off to a fast start against the Sharks, who had played Utah the night before and defeated our hosts 18-11 in a scoreless first period. Meanwhile, he piled up an impressive advantage on scoring chances (14-9) and especially on high-risk chances (as much as 10-1).
Then San Jose found their legs and the script flipped for the final 40 minutes as the Sharks controlled the territorial game.
With Jarry holding down the fort, the Pens put on an effective display of counterpunching. Sidney Crosby got the first blow, a magical hands-tip-in from a Kris Letang riser from the top of the right circle at 7:35 of the second period to make it 1-0, guys.
We doubled our lead at almost the same moment in the third period, thanks to a snazzy play of ‘The Mutant Line’. After playing along the wall to help leave our zone, Evgeni Malkin came into the Sharks end with the puck.
Making it like a country legend Johnny CashGeno walked down the line before eating Justin Brazeau near the left wall. Brazeau stormed past Macklin Celebrini with a classic power move and drove to the net before delivering a beautiful cross-slot backhand pass Anthony Mantha. Unfettered, the veteran top-tier winger passed on poor Ned for his second goal of the road trip.
Malkin (aka Mutant No. 1) capped the scoring with an empty-netter from the right point with 22 seconds left. In the process, the victory is sealed, capping off a successful 2-1 Cali swing.
Puckpourri
The Sharks defeated the Pens 31-27, winning 55 percent of the draws. Also out-hit us by a 25-11 margin. Speaking of which, the Black and Gold are tied with, of all teams, the Flyers with the third-fewest hits in the league, with 99 apiece, according to NHL.com.
Jarry was letter perfect against a Sharks team that looked a bit open, especially early on. Thanks in no small part to the goose egg, he has posted a .922 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.33 goals against average (GAA) in three starts.
To be clear: Arthur Silov has recorded a .908 SV% and 2.67 GAA through his three starts. Both have 2-1 records and each recorded a shutout. Quite remarkable considering the extreme patchwork of our defense.
While I’m spouting stats, Geno (a goal and an assist last night) leads the club with nine points (2 goals + 7 assists). He is tied for sixth in the NHL in scoring heading into Sunday’s action.
Sid (also with a goal and a helper against the Sharks) has seven points (3+4). Brazeau (4+1) and Rickard Rakell (2 + 3) have five points each.
My goodness, Brazeau looks like a find. He skates really well for one big big guy and also has soft mittens. A kind of ‘Big Z’, I recommend Zohornshould have been, but wasn’t, and with more power in his game.
Kyle Dubas does not always go far with his long signing sessions (see Johnson, Andrew), but he seems to have unearthed a hidden gem in “Bambi” (an old nickname).
Speaking of nicknames, Tyler Kennedy coined the nickname for Geno and his linemates. I prefer ‘Monster Mash’.
Although quiet on the scoresheet, rookie Ben Kindel tied Mantha for the team lead with five shots on goal. Flanked by Tommy Novak And Philip Hallanderhe and his mates easily had the best stats of all our lines, including Corsi (61.90), shots on target (8) and shots for percentage (61.54), expected goals for percentage (68.28), high risk chances (5) and high danger chances percentage (71.43).
The Pens (4-2) are currently in second place in the Metro with the Capitals and Devils with eight points each, one point ahead of Mike Sullivan’s Rangers.
Next, Jimmy Rutherfords Canucks visit the ‘Burgh’ on Tuesday evening.
He’s Baaaack
It may be hard to believe (but maybe not). At the ripe old age of 53, Jaromir Jagr is at it again because of his amazing 38e season of professional hockey (he started when he was 16). Last night he skated more than 10 minutes for his hometown Kladno Knights of the Czech league, seeing duty on the fourth line and power play.
Like the old man’s river, Jags just keeps rolling along…
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