The Arizona Coyotes were foiled at every turn. It was a laughable mess from top to bottom and solidified the perception of being the worst team in hockey. The Penguins throttled Arizona for seven goals and did not allow a single one. So far in the month of December Pittsburgh is 6-0-0 and has scored 37 in those games.
Let's sift through the damage
It started with a Scott Wilson goal assisted by Matt Cullen
It was another goal from the fourth line after Mike Sullivan elected to make Eric Fehr a healthy scratch. At the time of the goal this was tweeted out
Pens have scored 10 goals since taking Fehr out and throwing 23-7-34 out as a fourth line. They've responded by scoring four of those 10.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) December 13, 2016
There is no denying that the production and ability to create has improved since the lineup change. Here is Mike Sullivan's incredibly diplomatic way of saying that Fehr has been passed by.
FYI, here’s Mike Sullivan’s full quote on Eric Fehr being a healthy scratch for now three games running: pic.twitter.com/PxsFk8dLBh
— Sam Werner (@SWernerPG) December 12, 2016
The second goal of the game was scored by Nick Bonino on a gift from Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
The Coyotes defender literally gave the puck to Bonino on a beautiful feed from behind his own goal cage. The pass was nowhere near his intended target
Trevor Daley scored the third goal of the game for the Penguins
The puck squirted out into the mid slot and Trevor Daley let a bomb go over the glove side of Mike Smith. It isn't often you get to see a defenseman in live game action tee it up as though he was in the slap shot competition during the All Star break.
Bryan Rust scored goal number four
It was another self-inflicted wound for the Coyotes. Mike Smith attempted to glove the puck down but it went off his own players elbow and into the net. Fortunately for Mike Smith that was it for him on the night. He was mercy pulled.
Earlier in the game Martin Hanzal high sticked Sidney Crosby in his head which saw Crosby leave the game. After going through proper medical procedure Sid returned to game action. Hanzal was poking at the wrong player
When Sidney Crosby returned he scored another amazing goal in which he batted the puck out of the air.
This is the embodiment of #SidDownLow Not only did Sidney Crosby bat the puck into the net at the end of the sequence, but he actually tipped the Malkin one-timer into the post to create that bounce. I feel like I have died and gone to heaven with a Malkin one-timer on the power play that results in a goal for Sidney Crosby at the goal line.
Goal six was scored by Phil Kessel on a slap shot. On a slap shot? On a slap shot!
Kessel winding up and scoring on a slap shot was a surprise to everybody in the hockey world myself included. He's known for his awesome wrist shot, but the slap shot part of his game is like an endangered species. Yeah it exists, but you never can find it in the wild. Carl Hagelin made a great play in the neutral zone to get the puck to Malkin and allowed Geno to do his zone entry thing. The result was a puck laying there for Phil to step into.
The final goal of the night belonged to Justin Schultz
Just when the Coyotes thought it was over there was more pain to inflict. Justin Schultz made a great shot through traffic on the power play to score his fourth goal of the year. He has ten points in his last ten games and those four goals have all come within that sample.
Even when score-effects finally took over for the Coyotes none of their 32 shots found their way through goaltender Matt Murray.
Murray earned the shutout with those 32 saves. Murray now has a .949 even-strength save percentage on the year which sixth best in the NHL. His .864 high danger save percentage at even-strength is fifth best in the league.
Last night's game was really fun and entertaining unless of course you were a Coyote.
Thanks for reading!