Penguins Report Card: THAT Was Their Very Best; Full Analysis

The hockey gods smiled upon the Pittsburgh Penguins. They flirted with disaster but it only seemed to energiz them. They never held a two-goal lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs, thus they fought and grinded their way to an impressive 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena.

The final scored included a pair of shorthanded empty net goals to seal the team’s fifth win in six games, energy and intensity grew throughout the game. From thousands of Toronto fans chanting, “Crosby sucks,” which brought thunderous responses from the home fans.

“That was the game we needed to play,” Marcus Pettersson told Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

The Penguins had a pair of leads over the Toronto Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena. The first lead, 1-0, generously lasted almost two minutes before Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson hit the post, and moments later, Mitch Marner buried a rebound.

Read More: Penguins Bounce Back With 5-2 Victory Over Toronto

“I told the guys after the game, what a difference a day makes,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we were a different team tonight from the drop of the puck. It might have been the most complete game that we played all year from start to finish. A lot of it for me was having the right intentions, a willingness and a commitment to play the game the right way and doing the doing the mundane or the ordinary things really well consistently shift in and shift out.”

Moments after Bryan Rust staked the Penguins a 2-1 lead later in the first period, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson skated deep into the offensive zone but passed the puck to the wrong team, leading to William Nylander’s breakaway chance, which Tristan Jarry stopped.

The hockey gods gave the Penguins a repreive, which they embraced.

“We just played harder. (Toronto) was physical, they played hard and in your face. I think for the most part, we matched that and played really hard,” said Rust. “Jarry was great. Special teams were pretty good. Overall, it’s a good win.”

The team elevated its game throughout the next 40 minutes as the speed of the game began to resemble a late season battle for a playoff spot. There were angry players on both sides as multiple scrums broke out throughout the second period and near line brawl in the middle of the period.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan and Toronto coach Craig Berube will not cite the second period as a clinic on clean, fundamental hockey. Four minor penalties gave the respective special teams nearly half of the period, but the teams channeled the energy into a generally well-played game for the final 30 minutes.

The Penguins believed they had that type of game within them, but there has been scant evidence they could overpower a very good team playing very well. Saturday was their best win of the season. By a mile.

“I thought it was a great hockey game. There was a lot of tempo to the game … I thought Toronto played extremely hard and I thought our team played extremely hard,” Sullivan said. “And when we put a game like that on the ice, I think we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win a lot of nights.”

It seemed the hockey gods had it out for the Penguins. especially after fourth-liner Kevin Hayes clanked the post with a wide-open net on the second-period power play and a Toronto defender found a loose puck when no Penguins saw it behind Woll after several seconds of no whistle late in the second period.

Toronto was clearly the better team in the first 30 minutes, but the Penguins survived. They again flexed their puncher’s chance with quick strike goals without much warning. Late in the first period, the Penguins were under siege when Sidney Crosby rushed the offensive zone, outnumbered. His heavy wrister hit the back wall and caromed to the right circle, where Rust simply snapped it back to the net, fooling Woll.

Credit the Penguins. They didn’t buckle, crack, crumble, or cave. They didn’t pout or waver. At every point in the game, they met their challenge with enthusiasm.

They looked like a good team.

“That’s a game we’ve gotta play more often. We’ve got to play hard, and in your face. Nobody was happy with the way the game went (Friday),” Rust said. “We came into the room and said we have to be a lot better.”

Even the blue line looked competent as Sullivan made a few more tweaks to the lineup by putting rookie Owen Pickering with Kris Letang on the top pairing. Pickering played a career high 18:21.

Sullivan also reinserted Ryan Graves into the lineup and flipped Matt Grzelcyk to the right side of the third pairing. It wasn’t flawless, but the pair was effective in lower minutes.

“He was solid. I thought he played the game that that we’re asking him to play,” said Sullivan. “I thought he was hard at our net front. He was good on the penalty kill and defended hard using the stick and his size to lean on people.”

Penguins Xs and Os

Toronto stretched the Penguins, especially in the first period. Much like what the New York Rangers did to the Penguins the night before, Toronto sent a rabbit out of the zone. The strategy is to stretch the defense, but the Penguins defensemen had trouble picking it up in the first 20 minutes and it nearly resulted in several breakaways.

For the first 25 minutes, the Penguins were in survival mode. Defensemen threw pucks off the glass to center ice to alleviate pressure, they possessed the puck for precious little time. As the game got into the second period, tempers flared, referees had a hand in the flow, but the emotions rose, too. The Penguins graduated from survival to attack.

The Penguins got their game as Toronto also played theirs. Toronto is lethal in the offensive zone, regardless of how they get there. Their precision and confidence to attack from all angles is impressive–they’re perhaps the best in the league at attacking the net and scoring zones with puck possession and support.

Jarry had to turn aside a few good rips.

Into the third period, the Penguins were working the walls and the slot. Where once Toronto was attacking their defensemen, the Penguins were able to pressure Toronto. The Penguins three-wide rushes sprang from defensive committment.

And yes, we just typed the words Penguins and defensive committment in the same sentence. Such an effort was the reason the Penguins had the most energetic locker room of the season. They weren’t happy or excited, they were pumped up.

Confidence.

Penguins Report Card

Team: A

To dial it in a night after an embarrassment would seem easy, but this team hasn’t always dealt well with adversity. The Penguins didn’t backdown when Toronto pressured them. The game could have been over quickly as Toronto went for an early knockout.

With few exceptions, the Penguins 18 skaters played one of their better games. Only four Penguins players didn’t have a shot on goal (Jesse Puljujarvi, Anthony Beauvillier, Ryan Graves, and Owen Pickering) The team attempted 67 shots and attacked with a third period lead, but did so responsibly.

They can play with a lead–just not a two goal lead (or a three-goal lead).

Tristan Jarry: A

First the bad. I wasn’t crazy about the 44-foot clapper that William Nylander scored on early in the second period. The rest? It was exemplary. Jarry stuffing Nylander on a crucial breakaway was the save the team needed. Jarry also denied Auston Matthews who weaseled his way into the scoring zones with fluid stealth (Matthews is really fun to watch–he’s playing chess in the offensive zone).

There were no bad rebounds, no soft goals, and Jarry did not get scrambly with the game on the line. He’s won four straight.

PP2: A+

Sullivan and assistant coach David Quinn spent the first couple of periods tinkering with personnel. The third-period power play which proved Michael Bunting’s game-winning goal was ruthlessly effective. Bunting, Cody Glass, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsosn dominated the zone by taking space, with puck movement, and ill-intent. They were going to score and there was nothing Toronto could do about it.

It was their best 1:10 of a power play this year.

Owen Pickering: B+

Quiet and effective. Early in the first period, he was caught on the wrong side of the puck at center ice, but dogged William Nylander all the way into the offensive zone. Nylander never had a chance to get a shot as Pickering fought him every stride. Great recovery.

Rikard Rakell: A

He’s picking up his physical game as well as being a threat when he has the puck. He’s playing very well.

Bryan Rust: Leadership

Rust was clearly not going down without a fight, and that attitude was obvious from the first shifts. He played like it really mattered. He and Rickard Rakell had one goal and an assist, the only Penguins to have multiple points.