GAME RECAP: Special Teams Powers Penguins In 4-2 Win Over Coyotes
The Pittsburgh Penguins cashed in on the power play for the first time in over a month.
Special teams played a pivotal role in Tuesday night's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Arizona Coyotes. The two teams combined for ten penalties, with seven coming in the first period.
Both teams cashed in twice on the man advantage, but that may have meant a little more to the Penguins, who entered the matchup having gone 13 straight games without scoring on the power play. Jake Guentzel's opening tally ended their 0 for 37 drought, and Jeff Carter's deflection goal was the difference maker in the third period.
Goal Recap
(PIT 1-0) Jake Guentzel (11): Sidney Crosby (13) & Valtteri Puustinen (2) *PP
(TIE 1-1) Lawson Crouse (13): Jason Zucker (5) & Juuso Valimaki (6) *PP
(ARI 2-1) Matias Maccelli (5): Lawson Crouse (6) & Nick Bjugstad (12) *PP
(TIE 2-2) Jeff Carter (2): Drew O'Connor (5) *SHG
(PIT 3-2) Jeff Carter (3): Kris Letang (12) & Reilly Smith (8) *PP
(PIT 4-2) Jake Guentzel (12): Evgeni Malkin (13) & Marcus Pettersson (6) *EN
Three Stars
3. P.O. Joseph
This game was Joseph's first back from injury. The 24-year-old defenseman has been out of action since November 4th with an undisclosed "nagging" injury. Joseph logged 13:16 of ice time and finished with 58.8% of the shot attempts and 63.13% of the expected goals against the team that drafted him.
2. Jake Guentzel
Guentzel opened and closed the scoring for the Penguins, with the first goal meaning a little more to this team. As mentioned, Guentzel's power play tally ended the long drought for the Penguins, but it was also his first goal on the man advantage this season.
The Penguins first line winger is tied for first in the NHL in even-strength points (27) but has struggled to convert that success to the power play. If Guentzel can get on a roll with the man advantage, the Penguins may be looking at a drastic jump in the standings.
1. Jeff Carter
It's hard to find something Jeff Carter hasn't done throughout his 19-year NHL career, but we saw just that last night. For the first time in his career, Carter scored a shorthanded and a power play goal in the same game.
Both goals loomed large over the result of this game as Carter picked up his second game-winning goal of the season.
Final Thoughts
The Penguins had a noticeable jump in this game despite the stop-and-go nature of the first period. Specifically, the third line had a noticeably impressive performance and nearly struck on a few grade-A opportunities against Connor Ingram.
Pittsburgh will look to build off this performance in the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Montreal Canadiens.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZUhJmYfnj0[/embed]
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