The Pittsburgh Penguins escaped Vancouver with a 5-4 victory in the shootout. It was a roller coaster ride for the Penguins who started strong, faded, and then found lightning in a bottle scoring twice in 16 seconds with the goalie pulled.
Congratulations are in order for Head Coach Dan Bylsma. With the win over Vancouver Bylsma becomes the all time leader in victories for the Penguins. The win was Bylsma’s 233rd and moves him past Eddie Johnston.
Here is the possession chart:
Here are the game highlights:
Sidney Crosby made a grand return to the scene of his Golden Goal. Crosby had not played a game in Vancouver since helping Canada win Gold during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Even after a 4 year layoff, Vancouver is still his kind of town.
Crosby won a faceoff cleanly with the goaltender pulled and the direct result was a Kris Letang slap shot off the post. Sixteen seconds later it was Crosby brilliantly using his skate to stop the puck on the back door and depositing the game tying goal into the back of the net. Familiar heroics in a familiar corner of the ice.
Crosby wasn’t done as he netted the game winner in the shootout as well.
Prior to his late game heroics I would argue that this game was one of Crosby’s poorest outings of the year. Crosby was hit very early on in the foot by a Malkin shot on the power play. After being hit by the puck it looked like Crosby was not himself for a good stretch of time . Crosby was guilty of a blind backhand pass that missed Brian Gibbons in his own zone. This ill advised pass ended up in the back of the net behind Fleury as the result of a stellar wrist shot by Jason Garrison.
But that is why Sid is Sid, subpar game, until it isn’t.
Crosby admitted to thinking about the golden goal when he scored to tie it. Same net. Celebration in the same corner.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) January 8, 2014Kris Letang played his best game of the season. Letang was noticeable in a positive way for the majority of the night. Letang had many prime chances early on in the game to get on the scoresheet but just barely missed out on his chances (including a crossbar).
This is the kind of game you expect to get with a player that will be earning 7.25M per season. Letang was dynamic and consistently created opportunities on offense. Outside of a bad pinch that led to a Vancouver 2 on 1 his risk reward choices made sense and helped the Penguins.
I can’t say with certainty that Letang has been pressing all year long trying to impress the Canadian brass, but the timing of this stellar game is probably more than a coincidence. Letang needs to build off of this game and make this the norm, not the exception. This could be step one for Letang regaining his top form. The Penguins would benefit greatly if this is the case.
On the other side of the spectrum I thought the Orpik-Despres pairing had a rough go of things. Despres had his worst outing of the year and Orpik had another poor showing.
Since the Olympics announcement Orpik has not looked very good.
It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff handles this situation. History will show that Despres should be expecting a visit to the press box next game. With the Penguins on a 3 game road trip, which includes a back to back in Alberta coming up, I have little doubt that Robert Bortuzzo will make his way into one of those games.
Deryk Engelland should remain in the lineup, but as a forward. Taylor Pyatt is the latest retread to take his turn at absolutely dragging down Brandon Sutter. Pyatt has been a 43% possession player with the Penguins at even strength and has not had any positive impact plays. His most noticeable play so far was the bad interference penalty he took in the offensive zone against the Canucks.
Penguins would be better off trying their luck with a Glass-Sutter-Vitale third line with Zach Sill coming back into the lineup for Pyatt.
The Penguins bottom 6 has not been close to good enough but the Penguins are riding the hot hands of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, and Chris Kunitz. This isn’t a model for success in the playoffs but it is fine for now until Bennett and Megna are healthy again.
It may be a gimmick but it is a gimmick that counts in the standings and the Penguins are really good at it.
Fleury has stopped all 11 shootout shots he's faced this season, and 16 straight going back to last season. Machine.
— Pens Radio Network (@PensRadioNet) January 8, 2014Crosby's shootout goal was the 25th of his career, helping Penguins to their 58th all-time shootout win, most in NHL history.
— Pens Radio Network (@PensRadioNet) January 8, 2014Penguins don’t play again until Friday when they take on the Edmonton Oilers
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