Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Isle raise you a third period collapse

November 20, 2019, 8:23 AM ET [154 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Islanders were a minute away from their point streak being broken. It is now up to 15 games and they stole the other point away from the Penguins during the 3v3 overtime session. This wasn’t one of those games where the Penguins had their way driving play. It was a middling effort with some bursts mixed in. They got a result that was earned. They gave up three goals in the last seven minutes of game action.

It should have been a game where the Penguins were able to leave with regulation, but a Bryan Rust trip opened the door for the Islanders to score at the tail end of the power play to give them life late in the third. The Islanders third goal was not a great sequence for the Penguins defenders. Everybody packs it in and just allowed the Islanders to take up prime real estate in front. The last chance the Penguins had on the play was for Sam Lafferty to mark a player and not an area, but he got sucked in puck watching and left a lot of prime area behind him to be had.




The main problem was Justin Schultz following up with the puck carrier on entry when he should have released to challenge Eberle on his strong side. This created the vacuum that sucked all the Penguins in. Zach Aston-Reese looks like he gets beat bad, but he forced his guy to his backhand and there was a player missing from where they should have been. Justin Schultz remains a sketchy defender who’s strength is moving the puck and helping transition. It is not defending and never will be. We got another look at his defense ability in the overtime.

Rust may have taken the penalty in the third, but he also scored earlier in the game on the power play no less. He’s up to seven goals in ten games which is way ahead of his pace last year. When is the cold streak coming and can it be minimized? I don’t think we’ll see him go through the extended and never ending drought he did last year. That was rough.

Brandon Tanev had not only one goal, but two. They were scored in exactly the kind of way you think he will score goals. Down low by the net doing whatever he can to get the puck to the goal mouth. He scored on a tip and a wraparound. Tanev is a good defensive player with minimal offensive upside so you’ll take the goals when they come. Unfortunately, somehow the Penguins managed to waste two from him on this night.

You know who else had two goals? The power play scored twice last night. On a night where Tanev and the power play both scored two goals the Penguins didn’t come away with a victory. It is tough to pull off a loss with those things going for you.

I’ll leave things on a positive note. Jake Guentzel scored his tenth goal of the year in his 21st game and is on a 39 goal pace. He is shooting 14.1% which is actually lower than his 16.0% career mark in 225 career games. Jake is a crafty dude and as long as he’s in the lineup he is going to have a knack for scoring goals even if Sidney Crosby is missing for a little bit of time.

These two teams face each other again in New York tomorrow night.

Thanks for reading!
Join the Discussion: » 154 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Ryan Wilson
» Penguins earn victory on Jake night
» A salute to Jake Guentzel
» Sid puts on show as Avs dig out of hole
» A dud in Dallas
» My thoughts on Dubas' thoughts