The Penguins continued to stay hot coming out of the holiday break, beating the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena by a score of 4-2. Pittsburgh has gone 6-1-1 since Dec. 11, and has earned a point in every game since losing in Toronto two weeks ago.
“We want to trend in the right way,” goaltender Tristan Jarry said. “We obviously need the points. So, I think just playing a good solid team game, I think that really helps.”
Jarry saved 26 of 28 shots in the contest, including a 2-on-0 shorthanded break. Drew O’Connor, Evgeni Malkin, Jeff Carter, and Sidney Crosby all scored for Pittsburgh.
O’Connor opened the scoring with less than five minutes remaining in the opening frame with a one-timer off a feed from Evgeni Malkin. Reilly Smith got the secondary assist, and O’Connor feels the trio has started to develop chemistry since being reunited in Wednesday’s 7-0 win over the Islanders.
“Geno gets in those situations, he’s really good with his patience and waiting for that lane to open up,” O’Connor said. “I know he’s looking for the pass there, so I just try to be ready.”
In the next period, Malkin found a goal for himself on the power play, minutes after the Blues had scored one of their own on the man-advantage. After some crisp passing, Jake Guentzel flung the puck at the back post, where Malkin was waiting to re-direct it off his skates.
“We knew they were going to have three high, tried to take advantage of the low plays when we can,” Guentzel said. “Raks made a good touch to me, and I just tried to throw it backdoor to Geno, and he made a nice play on that one.”
Pittsburgh found an insurance goal early in the third period when Jeff Carter snuck behind the Blues defense to score his fourth goal of the season. By setting up the goal, Jansen Harkins earned his first point as a Penguin.
“After a while, you just want one to drop,” Harkins said. “Happy it worked out in a game where it helped us win.”
That goal wound up being vital, as former Penguin Kasperi Kapanen scored four seconds after Pittsburgh went back to full strength after being shorthanded. However, the Penguins held strong, and Crosby scored an empty netter that put the game away.
Guentzel got the primary assist, his second helper of the night to go along with nine shots, one short of his career high.
“It was just one of those nights where it wasn’t coming tonight. But it's going to happen if you’re getting chances,” Guentzel said.
Despite the win, the Penguins see opportunities to improve before tomorrow night’s rematch against the Islanders.
“I thought it was good at times,” Guentzel said of their performance. “I thought we gave them some chances off the rush. They like to play off the rush, you’ve got to limit their chances that way. Jars made some big-time saves, and we held on. It wasn't the best third, but we held on, so that's all that matters.”
Here’s what Head Coach Mike Sullivan had to say.
On tonight’s game:
I thought we competed hard. I don't think it was our best game, but I thought we competed hard. I thought we defended hard in the third. Give St. Louis credit, they elevated their game to try and get back in the game. I thought our guys, we were digging in, and we were competing. We were trying to defend the good ice. We got some timely goals, that help. And I thought Jars was solid in net.
On Malkin’s overall game being elevated in all three zones, and if he needed the break, or if it’s simply a matter of a great player eventually breaking through:
That’s probably a better question for him than me. I do think his last couple of games, he's played extremely well. He’s competed hard, and I love that about him. I just think he plays the game with so much fire. I think Geno's a guy when his confidence is high, you can see it in his body language, and I feel like that's where he's at right now. He goes over the boards, he feels like he’s gonna make an impact on the game, and he has. When he's going like that, he’s a threat most shifts.
On Carter leading the team with three game-winning goals, and how important his contribution to the team have been, especially after spending some time out of the lineup:
I think Carts has been invaluable. His demeanor, I think, is great for our team. From a leadership standpoint, he doesn't get rattled if we lose momentum or we get on our heels. He’s a guy that just has such a calm demeanor, and he just knows how to play. He understands positioning. He’s good at the puck battles. He's got a good stick. He's good on the walls. He's good on the faceoff circle, he can play the wing. He's a real versatile player for us. So, we've utilized him a lot in defensive situations. He was helping us defend the lead when the goalie was pulled at the end. I just think he can do a lot from that respect. I think just his understanding of how to play the game, and I'm sure the wealth of experience that he has, helps him there. He also has a high hockey IQ. So, I think he gets it on both sides of the puck. But I think since he's come back in the lineup, I think he's been a real important player for us and a lot of what he does probably goes unnoticed, because it doesn't always end up on the scoresheet. He does tonight, which is great. He does so many of the other little things I think that help us win.
On if O’Connor has a better understanding of how to play with a talent like Malkin:
I think so. One of the things we like about OC’s game is just his skating ability and his ability to close his puck pursuit game. I think that helps Geno's line, because he gets in on the forecheck, he creates loose pucks, he goes to the net when we have possession – which I think is an important element of playing with Geno and Reilly. And he has a little bit of finishing touch to his game. So, I think that's probably what you're alluding to. I think he's shown the ability to score goals at other levels. I think maybe he might be starting to figure it out at this level. He has some touch, he has the ability to score. He's got a pretty good shot, he's got a good release and he's a big body that goes to the net front. He can be a threat there in the blue paint, and I think that's an important aspect of playing with Geno's line. Because when G has the puck in the offensive zone, there's a lot of motion there. And unless we have somebody at the blue paint making the sight lines for the goalies difficult, it's hard to score. So, that's an important element I think of having someone on Geno's line that's willing to go there. OC’s one of those guys. He's hard to push out when he's in there, and he has good hands if there's a rebound or deflection opportunity, things of that nature. I think he has the ability to score goals in different ways. The more experience that he gets, I think he gets a little bit more confidence and he’s starting to figure it out.
