Playing against one of the better teams in the league and with Matt Murray in net the Pittsburgh Penguins left Denver with a 4-3 win in overtime and find themselves alone in second place for the moment in the division. They even did this without Sidney Crosby in the lineup who earlier in the week looked like he would be making his return on Friday.

Crosby didn’t even skate yesterday.

Per Coach Sullivan, Sidney Crosby did not skate today in Colorado. He was scheduled to, but did not feel well.

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 11, 2020

It appears Sid learned a life lesson the hard way. Be patient before your edible kicks in. Don’t go in for seconds before the first kicked in. Rookie mistake.

The game had goals from the stars you expect to get them from. Nate MacKinnon, Evgeni Malkin, and… Bryan Rust. Rust’s amazing season continue to churn along as he registered his career high 18th goal in only the team’s 44th game. His goal was on a quick release to beat Francouz through the five-hole. I thought Rust’s play later in the game was better than his goal. It happened leading up to the Malkin goal which was a great sequence.



Over the years I have seen many players be deferential to either Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby on the rush. The player will force feed the puck to those players even if they aren’t the better option. Instead he lays a great area pass to Dominik Kahun who came into the area with speed. His speed gave him just enough of a buffer to pull up and feed Malkin who came across from the other side. Malkin’s shot was amazing and he picked what appeared to be the only puck path that would have even found itself on goal. I get frustrated when Malkin doesn’t shoot the puck a lot and here is a good example why.

Pittsburgh did allow a goal late to the Avalanche, but put it behind them and took a clinical approach to the 3v3 overtime. A lot of teams are figuring out zone time isn’t what it is cracked up to be in the overtime period. You are better off using the full sheet of ice to attack in transition with speed. You can catch defenders flat footed and the other team can’t score on you if you aren’t forcing plays and turning the puck over. Last overtime game the Penguins didn’t regroup back to the neutral zone and instead set up behind their own net to start their charge up ice. Teddy Blueger’s speed pushed defenders back and they collapsed in the zone flat footed. Jared McCann filled in the open space and beat Francouz through the five-hole yet again for the game winner.




Possession is becoming more and more deliberate and important in these overtime sessions and the Penguins are doing a nice job understanding the concept and executing their plays.

My favorite play in the overtime wasn’t the goal. It was a sequence by John Marino. He earned a high danger scoring change in on goal when he tried to go forehand backhand five-hole on a deke. It didn’t go in. He was caught down low. His backcheck looked like he was shot out of a cannon. It was an amazing showcase of his skating ability. He made it all the way back in what would have been a 2v2 situation if the other Penguin didn’t blow a tire by the blue line. If not for his backcheck it may have been a 2v0 in on Matt Murray. Even with his amazing backcheck Andrei Burakovsky almost made an even better played as he pulled up with the puck and curled and dragged around Marino’s attempt to slide and take the puck away. Even if the game ended there it would have been an amazing sequence to finish on. Great plays by everybody involved.

Matt Murray was given the start even though the team was off for multiple days before the game. It was a tough spot being on the road against one of the best offensive teams in the league. He did a good job and stopped 28 out of the 31 shots he faced. The save percentage would have gone from .903 to .935 if not for the fluke bounce which beat him on Gabriel Landeskog’s dump in. Although the goal kind of sums up the year Murray has had to this point.

Things going from bad to worse for poor Matt Murray pic.twitter.com/hhmgEufOCS

— Gregory Balloch (@GregBalloch) January 11, 2020

The Penguins have won four out of Murray’s last five decisions with his last three starts all cracking the .900 barrier. I know it doesn’t sound impressive, but his prior six starts he was unable to get above .900.

Penguins will get Phil Kessel and the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

Thanks for reading!

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