Another 2-0 deficit for the Pittsburgh Penguins and another come back victory. I wouldn't suggest making a habit of going down by two goals but to Pittsburgh's credit they were able to claw back and gain another important two points.
Evgeni Malkin was the hero of the day by scoring three goals for his tenth career hat trick in the NHL. He now trails Mario Lemieux for the franchise lead by 30 hat tricks.
Geno was tremendous and it deserves a hat trick dance party
The first goal was what every 5 on 3 power play should be for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin as the focal point taking slap shots.
While Malkin was fortunate that Linden Vey scored on his own net I liked the second goal the most of the three. It highlighted something that I think will be very useful to the Penguins moving forward and that is Carl Hagelin's speed. It was Hagelin's motor that caused the Vancouver defense to back down and give a freebie drop pass to Evgeni Malkin. With the defenders drawn back Malkin was able to cut and slither through the slot area before his fortuitous goal. Malkin isn't going to need that kind of luck all the time if he continues to get looks through the slot like that.
Derrick Pouliot got dusted early in the first period. Olli Maatta was dusted a few times in the game. Ben Lovejoy was worked over as well. If you play defense in the NHL you are going to get walked. The difference is two of the players mentioned can create and make things happen at the other end of the rink while one of them can only intentionally shoot wide when given opportunities in the offensive zone.
The only way Pouliot is going to get better is to keep playing in the NHL lineup. AHL players aren't going to test him the way that Bo Horvat did.
If nothing else Pouliot's inclusion in the lineup broke up the Ben Lovejoy/Brian Dumoulin pairing which I think is the right move. It has been overdue to get a look at Brian Dumoulin without Lovejoy as his partner.
Pittsburgh definitely missed Kunitz. There was no solution at the left wing position for the Crosby/Hornqvist duo on this day. Conor Sheary didn't last long, Beau Bennett looked rusty, and Matt Cullen can't be expected to play in that role. Kunitz has been playing good hockey so the sooner he is back the better it will be for the forward depth. Pittsburgh's game against Washington has already been cancelled for tomorrow and will be re-scheduled. This is a fortunate turn of events for Pittsburgh as they won't have to start Fleury in a back to back situation and players like Bonino, Bennett, and Kunitz can get stronger in their recoveries from injury.
Sidney Crosby was relatively quiet on the scoresheet until the empty net goal but he was still doing Sidney Crosby things under the radar.
He led the team in controlled zone entries with six and it led to a team high six shots on goal as a result of those entries. With better play from the left wing position it will more than likely lead to some more goals in the future.
Crosby's empty net goal today gives him six goals in his last six home games and ten goals in his last 14 games.
Don't look now but the Penguins are in a playoff position.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»