The score was closer than the Penguins would have liked, but everything they had to do they did. It was an impressive victory in Game 2 for the Penguins including Game 1 goat, Tristan Jarry. The Penguins starting goalie had a dud of a game on Sunday, but roared back in Game 2 stopping 37 out of 38 shots to pave the way to victory.
The thing I found most impressive about the victory was the fact the Penguins did not go into a shell and try to protect their lead in the third period. They kept the gas pedal down. The only thing keeping the Islanders in the game was Semyon Varlamov’s 43 saves on 45 shot performance. Yes, Varlamov let in one of the weakest goals anybody has ever seen, but hard to argue with the rest of the sample. The Penguins should have scored more than two goals even if you took the faux pas from Varlamov away.
GOOD VIBES ONLY IN GAME 2! pic.twitter.com/MhaemZBAF8
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 18, 2021
In the third period the Penguins dominated shot attempts 27-15. This is not the norm for teams up one goal late in a playoff game. This was a concerted effort to go out and get a third goal to try and win the game instead of not trying to lose it. I really like seeing this. What I like even more it was backed up by the xGF% of 60.81. These weren’t just shot attempts for the sake of shot attempts. There was a danger to them when compared to what the Islanders were doing. For comparison sake the first period saw the Penguins out attempt the Islanders 28-15, but the xGF% was only 45.54. The Islanders won the overall high-danger attempt battle 14-8 for the game. They were only able to generate two high-danger attempts in the third period which speaks to how good the Penguins were in the third. The Islanders hero from Game 1 (Kyle Palmieri) didn’t register a shot on goal in the game.
The one thing that made the game spicy in the third was Bryan Rust’s bad Darius Kasparaitis impression. Unlike Kasparaitis, Rust was caught throwing the puck and given a penalty late in the third period.
😬 Bryan Rust 😬#ItsOn pic.twitter.com/l7wkwvdKSw
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 19, 2021
Jarry and the Penguins were able to avoid disaster and hold on.
Jeff Carter continues to be an integral part to this Penguins team. Evgeni Malkin was unable to go and Carter continues to fill the 2C void left behind. Ron Hextall’s acquisition to acquire Carter was a game changer and has led to many positive tangible results. This includes the game winning goal last night.
That's 40 career playoff goals for @JeffCarter_77!
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 19, 2021
Spoiler: this one is definitely our favorite... pic.twitter.com/yD2Qedidu6
Don’t sleep on the Kapanen forecheck or that McCann pass. Great sequence all around.
Mike Sullivan is getting the ZAR-Blueger-Tanev line out against the Barzal line. This is a good idea in theory and it has been a good idea in practice. Barzal is the Islanders most dynamic player. Shut him down before he can get going with a strong forecheck, the skating of Tanev/Blueger, and the defensive acumen of Aston-Reese. This frees up the other lines to focus on attacking more than defending the opposition’s most dangerous threat. You can see here the ZAR-Blueger-Tanev line is on the good side of the red line while keeping Komarov-Barzal-Eberle from being very effective. In the lower right the Penguins top line is able to run free a little bit playing a more high event brand of hockey. I like that tradeoff.
Hopefully, the Penguins can slide Jeff Carter to the third line center spot for Game 3. Evgeni Malkin has been putting in a lot of time on the ice lately. He has been staying on for extra practice. I don’t think he’s far off. I also never expected him to miss playoff action when the injury initially happened.
Through two games the Penguins are doing what they need to do to reach the second round. The overall quality of play should be good enough if the goaltending holds up. Here is a snapshot of the series to this point
The Islander won’t be going away. Semyon Varlamov and Barry Trotz is a stingy combo. The Penguins home/away splits are vastly different, especially for Jarry. We’ll see what happens on the Malkin front for Game 3.
Thanks for reading!