The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to halt their losing streak and come away with a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Pittsburgh started off slow, but their star players eventually found their groove.
When the Pittsburgh Penguins play the Tampa Bay Lightning that means only one thing. Evgeni Malkin is going to do what he wants. In three games against the Lightning this year he has four goals and five points. When Malkin and Kessel were together on the ice they made the most of it. Phil gave Geno two great assists on his goals. The first one was on the power play
Our boy is Malkin' things happen on the power play. pic.twitter.com/vCfpVi3lnm
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2017
Previously Malkin had gone 12 games without a power play goal.
The second one was a carbon copy of a scoring chance Malkin had in the first period except this one found its way through. Malkin was in all the right places
Malkin’s last 15 games against the Lightning produced 17 goals and 15 assists... Yeah, NBD. pic.twitter.com/6ZlES8WTX9
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2017
It was Evgeni Malkin's 700th career game last night. It was also Jonathan Toews 700th game last night. One has 610 points in their career and the other one has 825 with a Hart, Art Ross, and Ted Lindsay Trophy.
Malkin on his 700 games: “I’m a lucky guy to come to the NHL & sign a long contract with the Penguins. It’s an unbelievable organization.… pic.twitter.com/djfafSLoer
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2017
There was one shift where the Penguins had Tampa Bay hemmed in their own end for about a minute straight. Malkin was doing the heavy lifting swooping and soaring with the puck. The two defensemen on the ice? Mark Streit and Ron Hainsey. They must have been so happy to be on the right side of that for a change. They weren't spectators either. Each provided outlets for Geno when he got in trouble and kept the zone time alive.
Mark Streit had a terrific debut. He was so good that both teams paid him to play last night. He wasted no time getting acclimated to the style of play Pittsburgh uses. He slipped into a passing lane on the back side of the offensive zone and ended up scoring the game winning goal.
There's nothing quite like scoring your first Penguins goal (especially when it comes from Crosby and Malkin). pic.twitter.com/2wYBp4g7Xh
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2017
Nothing will make you feel more welcome to a new team than getting a goal assisted by both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
It wasn't just the goal that made the debut successful it was an all around good effort
Mark Streit's opening night stat line:
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) March 4, 2017
62% puck-possession. 75% scoring chances for. Top competition: Kucherov, Johnson, Drouin.
He and Ron Hainsey did a nice job working together on short notice.
Here's how both teams looked
Again, Geno had an incredible game.
Scott Wilson almost scored another goal like the one he had last game, but was denied. However, that isn't why I am bringing him up. There was a sequence very early in the game where the Penguins spent a majority of the shift in their own end. They finally got the puck out and everybody went to make a line change. Scott Wilson stayed out and did a great job with his neutral zone forecheck. He shut off the D to D pass and it didn't allow Tampa to counter attack. Instead the Tampa defenseman had to re-evaluate the situation and Tampa's transition stalled. Because the transition took a few seconds longer the Penguins were able to get set and deny entry. It's a little thing, but when you can get your whole team to do things like that it makes it very difficult to play against.
Sidney Crosby posted two assists and now trails Connor McDavid (72) by three points. Sid hasn't been on the scoresheet as often lately and that usually doesn't last. Tomorrow's game is against Buffalo and historically speaking Crosby feasts on them.
Conor Sheary made his return to the lineup and you could say that he was rusty. There were multiple examples in the game where his timing just wasn't there. That is OK because the more reps he gets the quicker everything will return. It's great to see him back and what his speed can create for his line.
Pittsburgh boasts three of the top five producers of offense at 5v5 in the entire league. Conor Sheary leads the NHL with a points per 60 of 3.01, Evgeni Malkin is third at 2.82, and Sidney Crosby is fifth at 2.71. With Sid and Geno doing their thing it allows Mike Sullivan to try and balance the lines by putting Guentzel with Kessel. The HBK line has been a letdown this year and if the team is going to repeat as champions they will need to figure out how to get their "third" line scoring again. The way the Penguins are constructed they need legitimate production from their bottom six. They aren't a good defending team this year and even if they were it is a tall task to expect a team to shut Washington down.
Justin Schultz scored last night which gives him ten goals on the year. He also added an assist to give him 41 points. The ten goals are one shy of a career high. The 41 points are already a career high. He had previously gone six games without a point. I liked that Mike Sullivan took him away from Ian Cole and gave him a bigger role last night. If the Penguins are going to commit money to Justin Schultz in the offseason they need to keep giving him more responsibility to see how he handles it. You can't throw big money at players who need to be sheltered, or at least you shouldn't.
Buffalo tomorrow night.
Thanks for reading!