The Penguins capped off the week with their third straight win after beating Calgary, 6-2, on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. They’ve been much harder to play against these last few games without compromising offense. It’s been more of an honest effort from the group, and they’re getting rewarded.
“I don't think it's by coincidence we're able to string three in a row here. I think the style of game that we're playing is conducive to winning, and it gives us a chance,” Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan said.
“I give the players a lot of credit. I think they're buying in. I think they're playing on their toes. I think they're starting to believe. And for me, that's a good feeling. Happy for them. We've gone through a tough stretch (1-4-2 before this run). To win a few in a row is a good feeling. I'm happy for the players."
Here are some of the biggest positives from tonight in particular...
NED! NED! NED!
This was Alex Nedeljkovic’s best performance of the season. Before the game, I asked Sullivan how he would evaluate the netminder at this point, and his response said it all: “Ned, he's a battler. He competes hard in there every night. You know, some nights are better than others, but you know what you're going to get from him most nights. He's a consistent guy... competes extremely hard.”
Nedeljkovic didn’t give up on a puck in this game. He had so many strong saves on tremendous efforts, but one that stands out came in the first period. Nedeljkovic lunged across his crease and managed to glove a shot from Rasmus Andersson right before it crossed the line. It kept the game scoreless and allowed Anthony Beauvillier to go the other way and get Pittsburgh on the board late in the opening frame. It was the first of five unanswered goals.
While the Flames found a couple goals in the last five minutes of play, Kris Letang said, “at the end, the game got a little bit loose. There's no explanation for that. It should not happen. But he played really good in the first, kept us in. We built the lead, and it gives you confidence. Ned was outstanding.”
It feels like both goalies have made big strides in finding their games this week, with Tristan Jarry stringing together a couple wins in his first two starts after a conditioning stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“I felt good. Felt like the same as the last couple of weeks, maybe a little bit more relaxed. That probably, honestly, allowed me to make a couple more saves tonight,” Nedeljkovic said. “Obviously, it's easier to play, too, when the guys in front of you are doing a great job and boxing out and not giving them much of scoring chances in terms of quality. So yeah, it was a good night.”
POWER PLAY DOMINATED
The day after the Penguins scored on the power play for the third straight game in Wednesday’s win over Vancouver, Sullivan said while they were pleased about that element, he felt like there was another level. They found it tonight, particularly their second unit of Letang, Michael Bunting, Kevin Hayes, Matt Grzelcyk, and Phil Tomasino.
They started Pittsburgh’s first power play of the night early in the second period after some of the first unit personnel was gassed after a tremendous first shift and extended delayed call. It took Bunting all of seven seconds to convert.
“What’s made me successful in this league for a while now, I’ve got to stick to that,” Bunting said. “Just going to the net, going to those greasy areas. That was kind of how I scored tonight. Just at the side of the net there. A few good plays by my linemates.”
Bunting now has five goals and nine points in his last 13 games after struggling to find his game in the first 12, recording just one point in that span and spending a game in the press box as a healthy scratch.
“Just sometimes, you’ve got to simplify and just play shift by shift. That’s what I told myself going into tonight and it worked out,” Bunting said. “I want to obviously continue that and have confidence going forward because I know what I’m capable of... You’ve just got to be able to do your best and work your way out of it and have confidence in yourself. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in myself and know what I’m capable of. I just want to keep building off it tonight.”
Around the period's midway point, Tomasino found his second goal in his first three games as a Penguin after scoring the game-winner last night in Boston. In the third period, Letang got a goal to go along with two assists. Bunting also ended with three points on the night.
“Our whole unit played really well. We were able to get a few there. ‘Bang-Bang’ was able to power one through. That was a heavy shot. (Tomasino) as well. That was good for us.”
“I think our mindset going over the boards, I think it's just creating chances with shooting. I think we did a pretty good job,” Letang said before adding with a smile, “Bunts was pretty good today around the net. So, we kept it simple.”
The penalty kill quietly delivered as well, going 3-for-3 for the second night in a row. They’ve bounced back since a tough night in a 6-1 loss to Utah a week ago.
TEAM EFFORT
The Penguins’ star players have been excellent for much of this stretch. Letang put together arguably his most complete game of the year, playing in all situations, picking up three points, and registering eight shots. Erik Karlsson has been playing his best hockey of the year on both sides of the puck. Sidney Crosby’s line has been all over the scoresheet. Rickard Rakell scored his team-leading 10th goal of the year off a beautiful setup from the captain. Tomasino has contributed immediately since being acquired from Nashville on Monday, playing on Evgeni Malkin’s line and picking up two goals on 10 shots.
But they’re also getting honest efforts from the depth guys. After Beauvillier got a big goal, Blake Lizotte found his fourth tally in 10 games late in regulation. Pittsburgh is now 6-2-2 with Lizotte in the lineup.
“We're getting scoring up and down the lineup tonight. It's just good to see,” Nedeljkovic said. “You're not going to score five or six goals or however many we scored tonight with just one or two guys putting the puck in the net. So, it's good to see from everybody.”
The Penguins are also defending as a unit of five, which Letang said is key. Everyone did their job tonight, with Nedeljkovic crediting attention to detail.
"We're playing a 200-foot game, not cheating for offense, not giving them easy offense in our own end. You see we're getting rewarded for it in the other end," Nedeljkovic said. "The bounces are kind of going our way, but at the same time, we're creating more because of it. We’re wearing them down and we're forcing them to make bad plays or to make high-risk plays that we were maybe making ourselves a week or two ago. We've gotten away from that in our game as well. That's obviously helped clean up a lot of things."
