GAME RECAP: Penguins Hold Off Blues 4-2
The Pittsburgh Penguins held on late to defeat the St. Louis Blues.
The Pittsburgh Penguins opened up their holiday weekend back-to-back with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday evening. Both teams entered last night's matchup winning five of their previous seven games.
Early on, the Penguins looked to be the fresher team, coming off two days without a game. However, following a Ryan Graves tripping penalty midway through the first period, the Blues took control of the game and continued to control play throughout the lion-share of the game.
The Penguins relied on stout in-zone defense and a steady performance from Tristan Jarry, not to mention two shots off the post late, to put away the visiting Blues.
Goal Recap
(PIT 1-0) Drew O'Connor (4): Evgeni Malkin (17) & Reilly Smith (12)
(TIE 1-1) Robert Thomas (15): Jordan Kyrou (17) & Torey Krug (16) *PP
(PIT 2-1) Evgeni Malkin (14): Jake Guentzel (23) & Rickard Rakell (7) *PP
(PIT 3-1) Jeff Carter (4): Jansen Harkins (1)
(PIT 3-2) Kasperi Kapanen (4): Scott Perunovich (6)
(PIT 4-2) Sidney Crosby (20): Jake Guentzel (24) & Erik Karlsson (17)
Three Stars
3. Rickard Rakell
Rickard Rakell saw his return from injury as a fresh start. His season up until said injury was less than impressive to say the least (0 goals in 17 games). Since his return, and subsequent placement on Sidney Crosby's wing, Rakell has looked more comfortable on the ice, and the points have followed.
Rakell's secondary assist on Malkin's goal extended his season-long point streak to four games and he has five points (2G-3A) in five games since returning from injury.
2. Evgeni Malkin
Malkin seemed to have a little extra jump in this game. Perhaps it has something to with his passing of Sergei Fedorov for second all-time in goals among Russian-born players earlier in the week.
Whatever it was, Malkin made an immediate impact on the game when he set up Drew O'Connor on a beautiful 2-on-1 to open the scoring. He followed that up with a pivotal power play goal to put the Penguins back in front midway through the second period.
The veteran center has turned the corner in recent weeks following a tap-in goal against the Minnesota Wild that seemingly lifted the weight of the world off Malkin's shoulders. Since then, Malkin has scored seven points (4G-3A) in five games.
1. Tristan Jarry
Tristan Jarry continues to add to his quietly impressive resume during the 2023-24 season. Outside of a few shifts, the Penguins were severely outplayed in the final period of the game by the Blues.
The Penguins netminder was able to shut down the advancing Blues, limiting second chance opportunities and sealing the victory for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh finished the calendar year of 2023 with a matchup against the New York Islanders at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
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