The Pittsburgh Penguins have scored 13 goals in their first two games of the season to start off 2-0.
If you're someone who likes track meet-style NHL games, this one was certainly for you.
And, if you're a Pittsburgh Penguins' fan, you may have had a few heart palpitations - but the team ultimately earned the fate it probably deserved in the end.
After going up 5-1 in the second period Saturday, the Penguins surrendered four consecutive goals to the Montreal Canadiens to force overtime. However, Pittsburgh overcame the blown lead and won it OT, 6-5, on a Tommy Novak goal, which was his second of the game.
Malkin, Declan Carlile, Sam Girard, and Ben Kindel also registered goals for the Penguins, and goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 20 of 25, including several breakaway attempts.
It wasn't the cleanest win, and it's not exactly a great sign that the Penguins surrendered a four-goal lead, which is something they did with regularity in December last season during a long losing streak. But, given how many new faces they have and the shortened pre-season practice schedule, it's understandable that everyone is still getting up to speed.
"It's early the year," Carlile said. "Obviously, we're going to have some things to clean up, but we'll move on, and we got a big two points."
Montreal had the first laugh in this one, outshooting the Penguins, 8-1, for the first part of the first period and going up 1-0 on a snipe off the rush by Cole Caufield. But, with a little more than six minutes left in the first, Mike Matheson took an interference penalty on Sidney Crosby and sent the Penguins to the power play, when Evgeni Malkin scored a garbage net-front goal to even the score.
From there, the Penguins took over, and they were in control for most of the game.
By the end of the first, shots were tied, 9-9, and their dominance in the last five minutes of the opening frame carried over immediately into the second period. 32 seconds in, defenseman Declan Carlile cut from the right side into the slot, where he unleashed a wrist shot on one foot through a screen to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Then, after a dominant shift by the Penguins' first line of Sidney Crosby, Nick Robertson, and Rickard Rakell around the eight-minute mark, Girard put the exclamation point on it by burying a Crosby backhand pass behind Dobes at the net front to make it 3-1.
Six minutes later, Malkin forced a turnover in the neutral zone and shuffled the puck to Egor Chinakhov, who broke in on a two-on-one with Novak. Selling shot the whole way, Chinakhov snuck a perfect pass across to Novak, who put it home for the three-goal lead.
The onslaught continued just a minute and a half later when - on another power play opportunity - Erik Karlsson placed an elite-level shot-pass right on the blade of Kindel in the slot, who redirected it into the net and made it 5-1 in favor of the home team.
Nick Suzuki scored a late goal in the second to cut the lead back to three, and Caufield registered his second of the game three and a half minutes into the third period to make it 5-3. The Penguins appeared to go ahead by another tally a few minutes later, as Chinakhov got the puck down low on the right side and used his speed to power his way across the net-front, sliding the puck past Dobes.
However, Montreal challenged for offside on Karlsson, and the call on the ice was overturned. That gave Montreal some momentum in the homme stretch of regulation, and they were able to earn consecutive goals by Chris Kreider and Ivan Demidov within the last minute and eight seconds to force overtime.
Montreal had possession for the first minute of the extra frame, but a minute and a half in , Malkin and Novak had a two-on-one . Once again, Novak didn't miss on the perfect feed from his teammate, and the Penguins held on for the victory.
Here are some takeaways from this one:
- After the game, Karlsson was pretty adamant that he wasn't offside, and to be honest, he had a point. He appeared to have possession crossing the blue line despite his feet entering the zone first, and by the book, that means he should not have been called offside.
Karlsson had a rather stern conversation with the official about it, too, recalling the exchange in comedic fashion to us later on.
"I'm in full control," Karlsson said. "I asked them who was in control, and they said, 'no one.' So no one was in control of the puck then? I mean, I made a nasty seam play right after."
It's a good thing that call didn't end up mattering, because I don't think Karlsson would have been in as good of spirits in the aftermath. That non-goal really turned things around in the third period, regardless, and gave the Habs the momentum they needed to make a push.
- This was a really, really weird game for Silovs. On one hand, the Penguins probably never hold a lead in this game, let break from the Canadiens' early control, if not for Silovs answering the call on several different breakaway opportunities and high-danger chances.
On the other hand, though, he didn't look particularly outstanding on some of the goals let in. It appeared he was screened on Caufield's first goal, but a failed poke check on Suzuki led him to deflect the puck into his own net off the shot, he was off-angle on Caufield's second goal, and he was very deep in his net for Kreider's, even if that one was a bit more understandable because he had to hold the right post leading up to it, and Kreider was unimpeded at the net-front.
He saved them in this game, but he simultaneously could have been better in terms of what was actually given up.
I imagine Sergei Murashov gets Monday's game against the Winnipeg Jets, and Silovs gets the Washington Capitals Wednesday.
- Man, is Chinkahov a good hockey player.
He made a heck of a play from his knees at the blue line on Malkin's power play goal to keep the puck in the zone. His assist on Novak's first goal was the work of an elite playmaker, deceptive and flawlessly timed. His play on the non-goal showed off his speed and surprising strength, as it was a Bryan Rust-like power move across the net-front amped up a few notches because of how fast he got from the right wall to the net.
This guy could be a legitimate superstar for the Penguins. His shot is obviously elite, but he always manages to find new ways to surprise me with his multidimensional offensive toolset.
I don't think 40 goals is out of the question, and honestly, point-per-game probably isn't, either. What a talent he is.
- Speaking of talent, Kindel looks like he's on a whole different level this season.
Yes, it's important not to overreact to one game, as he missed the 7-0 rout of the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night. But he is faster, he's stronger on the puck and along the walls, he's a relentless forechecker, and he is such a cerebral player in all three zones.
This roster is very deep at the forward position, and there are all kinds of offensive weapons for Kindel to play alongside. He was with Andrei Kuzmenko and Hendrix Lapierre in this game, and in the pre-season, it was him, Kuzmenko, and Rust.
If he continues to play the way he did Saturday, this is going to be a big year for him. In my opinion, he has superstar potential, and I feel like a lot of folks vastly underestimate what his ceiling is.
If he and Chinakhov can hit their respective ceilings, the future looks pretty bright for this Penguins' team.
- The Penguins have three new defensemen - Carlile, Kaedan Korczak, and Trevor van Riemsdyk - on their blue line this season, and Sam Girard has been in Pittsburgh for only about eight months. Given all the new faces combined with the shortened pre-season, the group hasn't had a ton of time to practice systems and grow used to one another. Sometimes, the feeling-out process takes time.
Of course, there were sloppy moments in this game from everyone, particularly the blue line. Girard had a few moments, and van Riemsdyk left a play in the first period to fetch a new stick from the bench while partner Kris Letang was up in the play, leaving the ice exposed for a breakaway opportunity.
But, all things considered, head coach Dan Muse is impressed with the way all three new guys have looked in these first two games.
"I think they're adjusting well," Muse said. "All six of them, in tonight's game, made some big defensive contributions. With Carlile, you saw it in terms of the goal, jumping up in the play, getting involved that way. van Riemsdyk, I think, both games, you've really seen that veteran game that he plays. The stick detail is outstanding, the positioning's outstanding. And then, Korczak, I thought he had a really good game. I mean, you look at those blocks that he had, and it's like, you have one big block, and sometimes, you'll see that a player might shy away from the net. But he was right back at it. I thought he had a really strong game as well.
"I think that they've all come in here and found a way to have a positive impact in these first couple of games."
- Prior to the game, there were, obviously, the usual rituals for home openers happening. Then, there was a small celebration for the Penguins' 60th anniversary season, which culminated in Mario Lemieux dropping the puck at center ice to kick things off for the season.
But the best thing to come out of the opening was, well, the opening lineup. It was Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Karlsson, and... Kuzmenko, who was playing in his first game with his new team upon returning from Russia after the sudden death of his father, Alexander, on Sept. 24 due to a bear attack.
During the first TV timeout, the Penguins also had a tribute for Lyle Odelein - a former NHL defenseman who spent his last NHL season with the Penguins in 2005-06 - who died Saturday at age 58.
The Penguins always get these things right. What a gesture by the coaching staff it was to put Kuzmenko out with those four to begin the game, and it says a lot about what his teammates think of him in that locker room.
It's good to see him back with the team and wearing his new number, 62, in honor of his father.
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