Penguins Room: McGinn Changes Game; Jarry Smiles

Brock McGinn didn’t score a goal in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 4-1 victory against Ottawa Friday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Didn’t set one up, either. For that matter, he didn’t even record any of the Penguins’ 44 shots on Senators goalie Cam Talbot.

But he might well have been responsible for turning the game in his team’s favor.

The first half of the opening period, you see, had been a nice, conventional 10 minutes. Good structure by both teams, and not many high-danger chances for either.

But that was before McGinn dropped Ottawa defenseman Erik Brannstrom with a hard hit, which prompted an immediate response from his teammate, Travis Hamonic.

Hamonic went after McGinn and the two traded punches to earn matching fighting majors. For starting the altercation, Hamonic also picked up an instigator minor and 10-minute misconduct, and the game he came back to early in the second period was a lot different than the one he had left.

Rickard Rakell put the Penguins in front to stay while Hamonic was serving his minor and, coincidentally or otherwise, the game opened up after that fight.

“That kind of got us going,” defenseman Jeff Petry said. “Got us a power play there, and we were able to score, capitalize on that. That was a positive. The second half of that first period did kind of open up.”

Jake Guentzel echoed that feeling.

“That (fight) is a big-time play in the game,” he said. “We score on the power play there. It gets the building riled up. … Big time play by (McGinn) there. It got us going.”

Jeff Petry:

Petry was in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup for the first time since being injured Dec 10, and acquitted himself well.

He played 25 minutes, 25 seconds and assisted on the Rakell power-play goal.

Still, Petry’s comeback was overshadowed by that of goaltender Tristan Jarry, who stopped 44 of 45 Ottawa shots while making his first start since being injured at the Winter Classic in Boston Jan. 2.

“I thought he was great,” Petry said. “He made some big saves, and he looked like he didn’t miss anything at all. He was moving well. … I thought he played really well.”

Tristan Jarry:

Jarry wasn’t exactly able to ease his way back into the lineup after being out for about 2 1/2 weeks.

Not when the Senators launched those 47 shots at him, including a dozen in the first period and 21 during the third period.

“I thought I was seeing the puck well,” Jarry said. “I guess it helps to get that many shots early, just to get into the feel of the game.”

Jarry joked about being “well-rested,” but made it clear it was difficult to be unable to help his teammates while he recovered from his injury.

“I’ve had a little bit of time off,” he said. “Obviously, it’s never easy having to watch games. It’s never easy to watch guys go out every night and give it their all and you can’t be out there with them.”

Jake Guentzel:

The Pittsburgh Penguins still are missing some key players, a group headlined by Kris Letang, but having Jarry and Petry return gave their teammates a psychological boost, as well as the practical one that comes from having other guys slotted into more familiar roles.

“It feels good,” Guentzel said. “Guys who play big minutes, and our No. 1 goaltender. It’s special to have them back. Great guys in the locker room. You can tell, the morale in the locker room … It’s nice to have them back.

“Injuries are part of the game. You know they’re going to happen at some point. We feel we have good enough depth to handle it.”