Snap Shots: Rangers 3, Penguins 1
By
Michelle Crechiolo
Penguins Team Reporter
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OVERALL ASSESSMENT
No Kris Letang. No Brian Dumoulin. No Marcus Pettersson. No Mike Matheson. No Juuso Riikola. No Zach Trotman. And it was no problem, really.
Led by a top pairing of 21-year-old rookie Pierre-Olivier Joseph and 23-year-old sophomore John Marino, the Penguins actually played a pretty strong defensive game. They didn't give up a ton of high-end scoring chances, and when they did, DeSmith was there to turn them aside. Offensively, they struggled a bit when it came to converting chances, but not necessarily when it came to creating them, as they hit a couple of posts and missed the net on some key opportunities.
"I think we simplified," DeSmith said. "There weren't many catastrophic breakdowns. We protected the slot really well, I thought, for the most part - tying up sticks and keeping them to the outside. So if we can keep doing that, I think we'll limit the goals against and then we'll figure out some stuff on offense and put both of them together."
Overall, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said there was a lot to like about their game 5-on-5. It was special teams that made the difference, as Pittsburgh went 0-for-6 on the power play while New York scored the game-winner on a man-advantage of their own in the third period before getting an empty-netter in the final second.
This marked the fifth straight game the Penguins have gone without a power-play goal. After not being awarded a man-advantage on Jan. 24 against the Rangers, they went 0-for-19 over their four-game road swing that started in Boston and ended in New York.
"It looks like we're looking for a better play that's not there," Sullivan said. "I just think we're in a little bit of a mindset where we're a little too robotic and predictable. We've got to just free up our minds a little bit and the best way to do that, in my experience, is just to shoot the puck and create opportunity off of that."
The Penguins will be getting a lot of practice time this week, as their games against New Jersey on Feb. 2 and 4 have been postponed with a number of Devils players on the COVID Protocol Related Absence List. And Sullivan said special teams will be a big focus.
OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS
- A big stick tap to Marino and Joseph. The Penguins had to put a lot on their young shoulders with so many defensemen down, but they did a remarkable job considering the circumstances.
The Penguins relied the heaviest on Marino, who finished with a career-high 30:44 minutes, including 7:56 on the power play and 3:26 shorthanded. Marino said afterward that he just approached it one shift at a time and tried not to think about the amount of minutes he was logging.
"I think John's done a great job," Sullivan said. "He's been given a huge responsibility back there out of necessity based on the amount of injuries that we have on the blue line. We're asking him to do an awful lot and play in a lot of situations that maybe he wouldn't be accustomed to playing if we've got a healthy complement of defenseman. But whatever we give him, he embraces it. He's a competitive kid. He's trying to help us win. I think he's really done an admirable job back there.
- Zucker is starting to heat up, as he got his third goal in four games. He's done a tremendous job of just getting to dirty areas and making plays from there.
"It's about playing the game the right way and if you do that consistently, you're going to put yourself in positions to score goals," he said. "I'm just trying to hang around the net and use my speed to create some plays."
His linemates Kasperi Kapanen and Evgeni Malkin have been making plays as well, with Sullivan saying they feel like the trio is starting to gain some traction. Malkin was dominant on the shift that led to Zucker's goal, while Kapanen - who scored a breakaway goal in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win against the Rangers - showed some spark and feistiness by dropping the gloves for Pittsburgh's first fight of the year.
"Geno and Kappy and I are trying to talk a lot on the bench, making sure that we're checking where each other are and trying to get open for each other to make those plays," Zucker said. "So that's all been good, and I think we've taken a good step here. But we want more, we want to keep getting better as a line. We feel we can be a line that leads this team along with Sid's line."
- Speaking of Crosby, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it's truly remarkable how he still finds new ways to amaze us, even now in his 16th NHL season.
Tonight, Crosby tried what's known as 'the Michigan move' for the first time in his NHL career. It's when a player attempts to score lacrosse-style by flipping the puck onto his blade and then wrapping it in from behind the net. And not only did Crosby go for it - he did it on his backhand, which is infinitely harder.
That's just one of the scoring chances Crosby had throughout the night, as he also got a mini-breakaway in the second period where he rang a backhand attempt off the post. It was just a vintage Crosby performance.
