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A loss from the jaws of victory

March 15, 2018, 1:43 PM ET [201 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Not a good loss for the flightless birds. They had a 2-0 lead and wound up losing 4-3 in overtime to a non-Henrik Lundqvist led Rangers team. A win would have vaulted the Penguins in to first place. Instead they sit in second tied with Washington with 85 points. Washington has two games in hand. Yeah, the loss wasn’t a good one, but the process wasn’t awful. In fact the Brassard line was showing signs of life with their new left winger




Here’s a look at that early chemistry between Brassard and Rust which led to goal number one for the Penguins




Another benefit of Bryan Rust coming back and fitting in on the third line is that you can move Riley Sheahan into his appropriate fourth line center spot which is an automatic update for the fourth line, regardless of who is playing on it. They generated a goal last night with Sheahan providing a net front presence.





Carl Hagelin scored what would normally be a game winning goal late in the third period, but Mika Zibanejad had other ideas. Chris Kreider turned on the after burners and led an impressive rush for the tying goal.



That duo wasn’t done. They teamed up in overtime and issued the Penguins a loss. The Rangers did well in the Zibanejad trade. It appears the only team who didn’t do well in Derick Brassard trades were the Senators.

Evgeni Malkin went pointless in this contest which is certainly excusable given the production he’s been putting up this year. Selfishly, I need him to point every game because I think injuries have robbed him from previous personal accolades like the Art Ross Trophy. Sure, he’s won nearly every award that there is to win, but Geno deserves even more. He’s awesome.

Sidney Crosby (19) isn’t in the running for any scoring titles this year. In fact, Tom Wilson (20) has more primary even-strength points than him this year for a reference. Tonight the Penguins pay a visit to the Bell Centre in Montreal and that’s a great way to get the best out of Sidney Crosby who is always motivated to play in that city.

Pittsburgh will have nothing to save their energy for. They don’t play again until Tuesday after tonight’s game.

Thanks for reading!
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