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Gutsy win to start road trip |
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Sometimes the sport doesn’t make sense, it is just is. Last night was the latest example. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the league leading Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in overtime while not having their two best wingers in Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. The Penguins were outchanced in both frequency and quality and found a way to get two points and a positive start to the four-game road trip.
You can probably guess who led the way. It was Sidney Crosby with two primary assists on both of Rickard Rakell’s goals. The assists kept the Penguins in the game during a stretch where it was very plausible the Canucks could pull away for good. His assists also got him to the 1,000 point mark at even-strenght. A feat only eight other players in league history have accomplished. Those players are Gretzky, Jagr, Howe, Messier, Dionne, Yzerman, Francis, and Esposito.
Crosby also did something 14 years ago on this day that will go unmentioned.
One of the Rakell goals was actually on the power play, a 5v3 specifically. Yes, another power play goal. It is the third game in a row where they’ve had a power play goal. It is only the second time they’ve done so. The longest streak of the year has been four games.
A very nice and much needed goal. Unfortunately, as tradition dictates, the Penguins must also give up a shorthanded goal, which they did, to JT Miller immediately after this one. The power play remains a highly volatile and highly frustrating endeavor to watch with this team. The highs are mid and the lows are subterranean.
Erik Karlsson ended up with the game winner in overtime. He’s no stranger to overtime goals in the regular season. He now has ten and he also has the most overtime points ever for a defenseman.
Last night when I saw Jansen Harkins on the ice I went to look up how many games he’s actually played so far this year and the answer was way higher than I was anticipating. Last night was his 39th game of the season. In those 39 games he has 0 goals and 4 assists. His xGF% is 44.07. They gotta do better than this. This is dead weight.
On the flip side Valtteri Puustinen has been a quality recall. He leads the Penguins with an xGF% of 60.03 and his 5v5 points per 60 is at 2.71. The only player better is Sidney Crosby at 2.72. Point being, good on Puustinen for making the most of his opportunity so far this season. He’s an effective depth player who is cheap and in his prime. Those kinds of players are clearly not growing on trees in Pittsburgh these days.
Tristan Jarry was atrocious against the Flyers. Last night he bounced back and made some huge saves to keep the game manageable. The power of solid goaltending and a power play goal when combined together can be enough to earn victories even in games where you are mostly getting outplayed.
Up next for the Penguins are the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. Pittsburgh is 4-1-1 in their last six games and have won three in a row. Last night was a gutsy win. Will those two points be important? Not unless they keep stacking points. We’ll see how things shake out in Seattle.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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