Penguins Grades: Inside the Big Surge, Rust & Rakell Go Off

MONTREAL — The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up a goal on the first shot of the game, allowed an opponent to score immediately after claiming a two-goal lead, and flirted with punting away yet another multiple-goal lead. Yet, this time, they flipped the script on themselves, changing the ending from agonizing drama to comedy with a 9-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

Bryan Rust had four points, including a hat trick, though he confessed he probably won’t receive the three hats that landed on Montreal ice. However, he did urge Penguins fans to buy a Rusty milkshake as he laughed through his postgame interviews.

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Rust could smile as the Penguins fought themselves and through the Montreal attack in the second period to be in a position to break the game open in the third. They scored six third-period goals.

“Obviously, (a hat trick) doesn’t happen all too often. Definitely one I’m going to remember,” said Rust. “Some nights, it feels good, and sometimes it just finds you, and that’s how it goes. Obviously, in the third period, everybody was great. We were on our toes and scored a lot of goals.”

Quite frankly, Montreal waved the white flag when Kris Letang scored a power-play goal to make the score 5-2 at 7:42 of the third period. Until that moment, Montreal was not only close but charging.

“(Montreal) is proud team. I think what broke it open–and I said this to the guys after the game–was that fifth goal on the power play in the third period,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “For me, it was really important for us. We talk about power-play statistics and things of that nature, but for me, one of the biggest attributes of a good power play is the timing of when you score goals. That was an example … that was so important.”

Penguins rookie defenseman Owen Pickering evoked the power play with a clean chip on Montreal’s Josh Anderson. Anderson hit Pickering in the head with his stick–whether Anderson lost control of his stick or intended to whack Pickering is debatable, but the penalty was impossible to ignore.

The goal made it 5-2, and the Penguins smelled blood as the previously rowdy Montreal crowd, which vociferously reacted to every Montreal scoring chance and even a lot of good defensive plays, turned on their wilting home team—for good reason. Montreal quit.

That doesn’t mean it started well. The Penguins again gave up a goal on the first shot of the game.

“Just keep going (was the mindset). I don’t think there’s much more you can do. They got a lucky break just in transition–they were able to get behind our guys. It happens. I think they’re just on the wrong side of the puck there, but we just have to keep going. The guys had a great response, and we were able to get one back pretty quickly.”

They did. It was a sign of things to come.

Penguins Xs and Os

The first half of the game and the second half bore little resemblance, except for Sidney Crosby’s line.

“Yeah, he likes playing here,” quipped Sullivan. Montreal was Crosby’s boyhood team and the organization that drafted his father.

The Crosby line did something the other lines did not: control the puck down low. The Crosby line was dancing below the goal line and along the walls; it was artistry in tight spaces.

The other Penguins lines were playing on the rush—none played poorly. Still, none generated puck possession quite like Crosby, who was in high gear despite showing some signs of frustration in the second period after not getting a goal.

Too many Penguins players were content to steer to the perimeter–the same problem that submarined them against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

Thursday, the Penguins were a tale of two teams: the team in the first 30 minutes and the team in the last 30 minutes. In the last 30 minutes, defensemen were responsible, didn’t make mistakes, and the team sorted out on the backcheck. In the second part of the game, the team nullified the space and scoring chances that they ceded in the first part of the game.

If there is a tell-tale sign of the Penguins’ engagement on any particular night, it’s usually immediately evident in how they defend. The defensemen take the brunt of the blame–and they certainly have made more than an average number of mistakes–but the Penguins forwards have been almost non-existent at creating traffic and slowing teams through the neutral zone.

The Penguins’ forwards too often allow the other team speed out of their own zone and through center, which puts even more pressure on the beleaguered defensemen.

When the Penguins are playing well, teams don’t get that speed or space. Thursday was the dichotomy.

One bad habit is emerging: the Penguins defensemen are far too apart at the blue line yet trying to go D-to-D. They did so Tuesday, yielding an early goal to Colorado, and did so again Thursday on the first goal. It’s a terrible habit and is not born of any hockey strategy.

Penguins Report Card

Tristan Jarry: A+

He only had to make 21 saves, but he had to stop a few glorious chances early in the first period and the first 10 minutes of the second. It’s hard to say a goalie stole a point in a 9-2 win, but Jarry just may have done so by buying the Penguins’ time to perform a cranial colon extraction.

Rakell-Crosby-Rust: A+

Rust had a hatty and four points, while Rakell had two goals and two assists. Poor Crosby only had three assists. Sheesh, slacker.

They also kept the rest of the team in the game while the other 15 navigated inconsistency. By dominating the puck down low, they forced Montreal to

Erik Karlsson: A

Unbelievably, Karlsson didn’t have a point. However, he signaled his engagement on the first shift of the game by bailing out defense partner Marcus Pettersson, who had just been walked. Karlsson zipped over to negate the play that was about to be a short breakaway.

Karlsson not only made good decisions with the puck but also defended well.

Owen Pickering: A

Coaches are bringing him along slowly, but he played 20 minutes against Montreal. He made a lot of simple plays, and a few you couldn’t see on TV when he tried to make himself available for a pass in the offensive zone, but quickly retreated when appropriate. He didn’t linger low in the zone as Penguins defensemen too often do.

Kris Letang: Not his best, but…

It was a sundae with a scoop of good and a scoop of the bad. It was his turnover that sprung the first goal, and there were a couple of other moments that weren’t his best. He was also very good on the first and third period power plays, as well as strong in the offensive zone in the second half of the game.

His son, Alex, now 12-years-old was with him Thursday. Sullivan admitted he and Alex watched pre-game video for 30 minutes before the morning skate, and Alex is a lot like his dad, “kids don’t grow up like the neighbors.”

Other performances of note

Drew O’Connor: Would someone give him a goal?! He earned one Thursday but didn’t get it.

Evgeni Malkin: Very responsible and hard in the defensive zone.