Penguins Win Wild Game; Milestones, Implosions & Comebacks vs. Buffalo

PITTSBURGH — Milestones, implosions, and comebacks. The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending situation exploded Wednesday as starting goalie Tristan Jarry played barely more than 10 minutes. His quick hook after allowing three goals was preceded by Bronx cheers and derisive groans from the home fans as the Penguins quickly trailed 3-1.

Sidney Crosby earned his 1600th point, and Evgeni Malkin scored his 500th goal, but the historical milestones were just part of the wild night in which each team rallied, and Bryan Rust (2) scored his second goal of the game with 46 seconds remaining to force overtime.

And Crosby scored the game-winner in overtime for a 6-5 Penguins win.

Read more: Sidney Crosby Gets 1600th Point!

The first story emanating from PPG is between the pipes. It may not be a controversy, but it would appear to be a goaltending problem. Rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist relieved Jarry at 11:33 of the first period and was stellar, only to be undone by more Penguins gaffes, bloopers, and goofs in the third period. Buffalo scored twice midway through the third period to turn a 4-3 Penguins lead into a 5-4 lead.

Blomqvist nullified a half dozen unabated chances, stopping 26 of 28 in regulation.

Crosby assisted on Bryan Rust’s first-period power play, which cut the Buffalo lead to 2-1. Rust (1) put back a rebound, earning Crosby an assist and his 1600th career point. Crosby is the 10th player in NHL history and the only active player to reach the milestone.

However, poor wouldn’t begin to describe the Penguins’ netherworld zombified performance in the first 15 minutes of the game.

The cumulative mistakes defied family-friendly adjectives. Jarry turned the puck over behind his net on the first shift of the game. Buffalo center Tage Thompson (3) didn’t have to work very hard to steal the puck and stuff it into an open net at :43.

A few minutes later, defenseman Erik Karlsson allowed a chipped puck to get behind him but didn’t really effort to play it. Jordan Greenway (2) had a clean rip at Jarry from about 15 feet and beat him glove side.

Multiple Penguins were trapped low, and Buffalo transitioned quickly to offense for a two-on-one rush, and JJ Peterka zipped a shot past Jarry so cleanly that it rocked out back out as fast as it went in at 11:33.

Jarry was done. Blomqvist relieved him.

However, the Penguins’ cavalcade of blunders wasn’t over. The mistakes were still present in the second period, but a few timely saves and a couple of pretty goals pulled the Penguins even by the end of the second period.

First, Blomqvist made a trio of 10-bell saves, stopping uncontested chances by Jack Quinn, Peterka, and Zach Benson.

On the penalty kill at 10:30, Penguins winger Noel Acciari won a 50/50 puck battle on the defensive wall and quickly raced up ice, creating a two-on-one with Drew O’Connor (2), who snapped a wrist shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the shorthanded goal.

Penguins winger Jesse Puljujarvi scored the highlight reel goal of the evening. O’Connor sprang Eller and Puljujarvi on a two-on-one, and then Eller floated a perfect pass for Puljujarvi’s breakaway. Puljujarvi (1) deked right, then slipped sideways for a top-shelf backhand into the net for a tie game at 15:20.

Puljujarvi has been a revelation since the early stages of training camp.

The Penguins got their second historic milestone early in the third period. Fans blew the roof off of PPG Paints Arena when Malkin scored his 500th career goal at 3:45 of the period. Malkin was falling to the ice near the net and lifted it past Luukkonen for a 4-3 Penguins lead.

And, just as the pair hoped, Sidney Crosby assisted.

However, Peterka scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway as the Penguins’ defensemen, including Karlsson, lost track of the cherry-picker who scored a breakaway goal at 10:16.

Just 40 seconds later, the Penguins failed to clear the puck or protect their goalie, and Ryan McLeod’s (1) long shot through traffic, including several Penguins, eluded Blomqvist for what appeared to be the winner until Rakell tied the game in the final minute.