The Penguins put together their first clunker of the season and wasted Evgeni Malkin’s two goals and Casey DeSmith’s 36 save .923 effort. They wasted their 2-0 lead and allowed Montreal to tie the game with a shade over two minutes left in the third period. Things weren’t going to come as easy as they did in the first two games all year long. Even so, dropping a game like this to the Canadiens is probably not going to sit well with many in the room.
I think playing in Montreal might have gotten into the players heads. There are a number of Penguins players who probably put this road trip on a pedestal even more so than the average player. Players like Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Pierre-Olivier Joseph and former Habs Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling. I don’t think anybody from this group had a particularly good game.
Kris Letang had been leading the NHL in xGF%. Not anymore. It was his first clunker of the year. He does so much so when he is far from his best it creates an uphill battle. He finished with a 24.62 xGF% last night. In 2021-22 he only had five games at that mark or lower. It is a rare thing. On the Canadiens first goal he chased Suzuki behind the net non-aggressively and Suzuki popped out the other side to pot the rebound. Letang is famously a workhorse so when you see plays like that it stands out. I’m guessing he put too much pressure on himself to perform in front of family and friends. Something he could have done nightly, but decided to stay in Pittsburgh on a discount. In a lot of ways I bet he puts more pressure on the Montreal games than your regular run of the mill playoff game.
I think there was a questionable decision on the Canadiens tying goal. Jeff Carter is a decent faceoff guy. He was on his forehand side. Sidney Crosby was on the ice. It was his backhand side. Don’t over think things. Sid is one of the absolute best when you need one. It was on his strong side. Let him take the draw. I haven’t heard anything about any injuries so I’m not sure what the hesitation is. There have been other situations where he hasn’t been taking the draws as well in offensive situations.
Jake Guentzel is a terrific player. He lost Cole Caufield on the game tying goal.
The fourth line had been blending in and doing fine in both home games this year. The first road game didn’t go so well. Perhaps not being able to match lines was the culprit or perhaps it was just a bad night. Brock McGinn and Josh Archibald went CF 3 CA 11 on the night. Ryan Poehling’s return to Montreal probably didn’t have the Canadiens missing him. He was CF 5 CA 9. Things will certainly get better with Teddy Blueger’s return which should be around the corner.
The NHL’s first star of the week had a CF 12 CA 19 well below his standard of play not only to start the season, but the 17 years prior. I definitely don’t have any worries, just a bad game.
The Penguins were outplayed so there wasn’t a ton of good. It was still nice to see that Malkin one-timer kiss the post and go in
GENO MACHINO! pic.twitter.com/XeAmS9UQap
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 18, 2022
Bryan Rust had two assists last night. He has a boat load of points the last few years. Replacing him wasn’t going to happen and thankfully the team didn’t have to.
Bryan Rust has produced 161 points in his last 174 games. What a player he has become.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) October 18, 2022
The Penguins return to Pittsburgh on Thursday to face the Los Angeles Kings. After that they will hit the road for five consecutive games.
Thanks for reading!