Penguins Spoil Jake Guentzel's Return to Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Penguins got the upper-hand in Jake Guentzel's first game back since being traded.
PITTSBURGH – After an awful road trip, the Pittsburgh Penguins finally returned to PPG Paints Arena looking for some good home-ice advantage. The Penguins may have been home but weren’t getting an easier test.
The Penguins hosted Jake Guentzel and the Carolina Hurricanes, who entered on a 6-1-1 run in their last eight games. Guentzel knew his return to Pittsburgh would be emotional, and the Penguins were ready for a spirited battle against one of the league’s top teams.
The Hurricanes also entered with a chance to clinch a spot in the postseason. They needed at least a point against the Penguins and a few other factors, but a win would go the furthest for them.
First Period
There wasn’t much action to speak of throughout the first period. The Guentzel tribute video was arguably the most entertaining part.
The Penguins let a pair of power play chances slip away and the Hurricanes missed a man advantage chance of their own. After 20 minutes, the Hurricanes led in shots on goal 9-8.
Second Period
After a sluggish first period, the Penguins jumped off to a better start in the second. Nothing too extravagant overall, but Jesse Puljujarvi recorded the Penguins’ first shot of the period and labeled it perfectly to score his second goal in as many games.
The returning Ryan Graves provided a great screen that a fresh from the bench Puljujarvi managed to fire through for his third of the season.
Penguins’ defenseman Marcus Pettersson took an unfortunate collision with a Hurricanes forward and was down in serious pain. The Hurricanes took advantage of the Penguins being down a man and found the equalizing goal.
The Penguins have been frustrating all season but somehow find ways to pick up their game against the NHL’s top teams. This was one full display as Bryan Rust sniped a Sidney Crosby face-off win to take a 2-1 lead.
The Penguins were heavily outplayed in the second period, only recording five shots on goal, but carried a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Third Period
Once again, the Penguins had the slower start of the period, but managed to keep the puck out of their own net. Evgeni Malkin was called for a questionable tripping call nearing the midpoint of the frame and the Penguins killed it off to retain their lead.
As time slowly bled off the clock, the Penguins were holding tightly to their slim lead. The Hurricanes continued their attack, but Alex Nedeljkovic and the Penguins were standing tall.
The Hurricanes pulled their netminder for the extra attacker with a little over two minutes remaining. Drew O'Connor pounced on a loose puck and made good of the empty cage.
O'Connor's 11th goal of the season was good to put the Penguins ahead by two with not much time left to play. Crosby followed that up with a second empty netter to secure the three-goal lead.
The Penguins locked things down and finally broke out of their three-game losing streak. Not only did the Penguins work their way back into the win column, but they made sure Guentzel was blanked from the scoresheet in his return to Pittsburgh.
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