PITTSBURGH — With just two games in the last 12 days, and no games since Sunday, when the team was on a different continent, the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ (10-6-4) first period Friday figured to be a struggle.
That it was, and that’s also putting it mildly. The Minnesota Wild (11-7-4) staked themselves a 3-0 lead in the first period, outshooting the Penguins 9-2 in the process, en route to a 5-0 drubbing at PPG Paints Arena Friday.
The Penguins loaded the struggle bus and were picking up passengers as the first period continued.
A defensive breakdown amongst the Penguins’ top-line, beginning with hot potato puck handling in the offensive zone, created a Minnesota counterattack in which Matt Bouldy (12) was left alone in front of the net to easily deke around a helpless Penguins goalie, Arturs Silovs, at 3:57 of the first.
Midway through the first period, the Penguins’ fourth-line center took a four-minute high-sticking penalty by clipping Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton. Late in the power play, Joel Ericksson Ek (4) deflected a shot past Silovs at 9:39.
With a two-goal lead, Minnesota kept pushing, and the Penguins remained in Swedish hibernation. More hot potato hockey by Penguins winger Connor Dewar yielded possession in the offensive zone, creating more Minnesota pressure. Marcus Johansson (8) one-timed a bouncing puck from the slot at 11:42 for a 3-0 lead.
Things didn’t improve in the opening minutes of the second period. After a diving save by Silovs, Minnesota scored on its next shot when Kirill Karprizov (12) deflected a shot from the slot past Silovs at 1:09.
That was the end of the game for Silovs as coach Dan Muse replaced him with Sergei Murashov. Silovs stopped just six of 10 shots but there wasn’t a soft goal in the bunch.
The Penguins found a bit of life with the goalie swap and registered six shots on goal in the following 19 minutes, but didn’t get one across the goal line.
Every chance met a bad bounce. Every opening closed. And every moment of hope was quickly dashed.
Murashov only faced four shots in the second period. However, Minnesota got another marker after more Penguins defensive zone lethargy. Defenseman Ryan Shea got back on a dump-in, didn’t see an immediate outlet pass, so he reversed the puck, but there was no one there, either.
Kaprizov quickly interecepted the rim-around and snapped it to the net, where Bouldy (13) was again uncovered and easily deflected it past Murashov at 17:46.
After 40 minutes, the Penguins had a total of nine shots and only Sidney Crosby (2) and Tommy Novak (2) had more than one.
Eventually, Minnesota coasted, and the Penguins almost tied them in shots, but Minnesota outshot them 20-19.
But the Penguins never scored.
Categorized: Penguins Postgame