Once again, life conspires to take away time and space, so I don’t get a chance to do my standard game recap. Instead, I’ll throw out some scattered impressions from our scintillating 4-3 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
- First, my word: what an entertaining game! Packed with end-to-end action and riveting intensity, just like a Game 7 of a playoff series.
- Tristan Jarry (37 saves) had a GAME. He was simply gorgeous. Honestly, Tampa Bay could have scored at least seven or eight goals with all the glorious chances they had.
- In that sense, the Lightning are incredibly impressive. Ultra-fast in transition, they went through our watery team defense like a knife through hot butter. And they did it without several frontline players, including Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Ryan McDonagh And Erik Cernak.
- Nikita Kucherov doesn’t get the ink that some other high-profile megastars receive, but my goodness, what power. It is not without reason that he is a three-time winner of the Art Ross Trophy.
- The Penguins were feisty and energetic, but oh so sloppy. Undisciplined, too, handing the Bolts six power plays. None of the punishments are more egregious than that of Kris Letang And Evgeni Malkin in the third period.
- Geno more than made up for it by scoring the final two black-and-gold goals, including the game-winner with 2:43 left in the third period. Tangier? Not so much, although he did set it up Ville Koivunen’s first NHL goal.
- Our best power play in the league scored twice in four tries, with Koivunen and fellow rookie Ben Kindel do the honors. By embracing a bend-but-don’t-break approach, our fourth-place PK produced just one result. Blake Lizotte was once again great in a short-handed role.
- Tommy Novak recorded two assists. He has five points (1+4) in his past four games.
- Anthony Mantha picked up an assist in his second straight game.
- Kindel’s “Kid Line” centers for Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty combined for eight shots on target, five by Ben.
- Sidney Crosby had a quiet night, at least as far as the score sheet is concerned (no points). However, he played with a chip on his shoulder, especially after getting mixed up with it JJ Moser.
- Brandon Hagel scored two goals for the Bolts. Jake Guentzel grabbed an assist against his ex-mates and was also surprisingly spirited.
- Boko Imam dropped the gloves on Tampa Bay’s towering rookie Curtis Douglas at 2:36 of the first period and scored a unanimous decision against his much larger foe, dislodging the rookie’s helmet with a stiff right swipe before hammering him into the ice.
In the immortal words of Porky Pig, “Thh-at’s all, folks!”
#Penguins #zap #lightning