COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Pittsburgh Penguins were impeccable for the first eight minutes, had a lead, and the chances for their fifth-straight win looked quite good.
And then, very quickly, they were far from impeccable. And that fifth-straight win was turning into an ignominious defeat. But then the Penguins resumed their attack with ferocity.
Go figure. The Penguins imploded before putting the pieces back together and scoring four unanswered goals, including Rickard Rakell’s game-tying goal with 12 seconds remaining and Sidney Crosby’s OT winner, for their fifth win in a row.
It was also their second overtime win in less than a week as they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime at Nationwide Arena Sunday.
“Obviously, (we had) a lot of big plays that led up to us coming back into it,” said Crosby. “Whether it’s guys drawing penalties or big goals–the one from Tommy (Novak) there on the power play, and then (Rickard Rakell) late, you know, I think we just hung in there. It was a great test, and we found a way.”
The final puck stats are enormously lopsided, but the game was a contrast of wild swings, mistakes, and ultimately, the best of the Penguins. They had 91 shot attempts,
The Penguins overwhelmed the Columbus Blue Jackets for about eight minutes. Then, perhaps they were the victims of their own success.
With a lead and full control of the game, the Penguins entered their self-destruct mode. The team that was flawless on a Saturday in a win over the Detroit Red Wings was then overcome by the temptation of cute passing, perimeter hockey, and overaggressive forechecks without responsibility.
“I thought we were in the offensive zone a lot. I think we were early in the game, (but) I thought we didn’t do nearly a good enough job getting to the net front,” said coach Dan Muse. “Credit to (Columbus). They did a good job boxing us out. They made it hard, but I thought we were starting to do a better job there as the game went on. And obviously, we stuck with it.”
It was a colorful display of pretty much everything that led to their eight-game winless streak through December.
And then it was a dominating display of the positives that have shone brightly in their now five-game winning streak.
A funny thing, when the Penguins aren’t self-destructing like Kanye on a tweet storm, they are quite good.
When Noel Acciari scored later in the second period to chop Columbus’s lead to 4-2, there was a palpable feeling that a comeback was about to unfold.
The Penguins’ confidence returned.
“I mean, when ‘Cookie’ gets the goal at the end of the second, you know, going down by two at the end of the (second) is manageable, and doable for us,” said Tommy Novak.
All of the players who spoke to the media following the game specifically mentioned Acciari’s goal in the second period as the turning point. Every single one.
Penguins Analysis
Of the two problems the Penguins suffer, one is internally correctable, the other … we’ll see.
Overall, the Penguins are far too susceptible to individual players’ bad games or even just bad moments. Every hockey player makes mistakes in every game. It is, indeed, a game of mistakes. Yet the Penguins are abnormally affected if one player makes a mistake.
They make far too many big mistakes.
For example, the Penguins were dominating the first period until Novak didn’t engage in a puck battle in the offensive zone. It was probably his puck to win, but instead of engaging, he reached.
Columbus quickly counterattacked, and Novak’s loss unraveled the team’s backcheck and D-zone coverage until Columbus scored about 15 seconds later.
In the fog of getting back to the defensive zone, the Penguins’ defensemen Ryan Shea and Jack St. Ivany were chasing bodies higher in the zone while Novak covered Danton Heinen at the net front. Novak didn’t prevent Heinen from stealing the puck from goalie Arturs Silovs, and the play continued until Heinen screened Silovs enough for Dmitri Vrinkov to score.
Sure, there were mistakes by Novak, but mistakes quickly undo the Penguins, compounding little mistakes into big mistakes.
The second major issue is the Penguins’ willingness to default to the same pretty game that has brought them no success, but seems encoded in the team’s DNA. Too many passes. Cute passes when a good shot is available. Claiming the perimeter but not using puck possession to break down the opposing defensive coverage.
The Penguins have shed those terrible habits in their five-game winning streak, but what sent their game into a spiral was an attack of their worst angels. They didn’t play in the middle of the ice, or come close, despite having the puck.
The tactical analysis from Sunday is the same as the praise.
Are they learning to overcome their default tendencies? Sunday was the best, worst, and best of their game. When they got back to attacking, Columbus’s puck-moving defensemen couldn’t take the puck from them; the Penguins cracked their defense and had shot after shot from the scoring zones.
The Penguins used the perimeter to begin playing behind the Columbus defense, and began muscling their way into the slot.
“We had Twenty-something shots (21) in the second period. And we were happy with the direction our game was going in. Then it’s a huge goal at the end of the second,” said Muse. “I mean, that totally changed the feel of the game, the feel coming into the locker room. So, I think the timing of Acciari’s goal carried over into the third period. And then I thought there was a lot to like.”
They were getting goalie’d until Tommy Novak’s power play goal at 3:28 of the third period made it 4-3. The drumbeat of a comeback grew louder. And then Rickard Rakell’s quick snap with the extra attacker tied the game.
For all of the Penguins’ faults, perhaps they are showing what might be difficult to believe: They can be a good team–a very good team–when they’re not beating themselves.
“Everybody knows that they’re a very important part of us having success, and when everybody is doing their job every night, I think it gives us a good chance to win,” Rakell said.
Penguins Report Card
Team: B-
The Penguins should feel good about a comeback and 30 minutes of domination, but not feel too good about that one because their mistakes spotted four goals to an inferior team.
The Penguins have the ability to play an A-level game and compete with very good teams. And when they don’t play their A game, they can be punished severely.
Rickar Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust: A+
Superhuman play by Sidney Crosby is expected, isn’t it? With a comeback at hand, the Penguins’ top line was unbeatable, unstoppable, and thoroughly dominant. One performance to note is Rickard Rakell, who has submitted a few brilliant games in a row.
He is playing his very best. Rakell had five shots Sunday, six shots Saturday, and four shots on Thursday. He is on pucks at both ends of the rink and playing with pace.
Erik Karlsson: C
He did not have his best game. He tried to do too much on a few occasions, yielding a pair of breakaway chances. Statistically, he was good. Karlsson was a plus-2 with one assist and four shots on goal, but a defenseman can’t yield those chances.
Ville Koivunen: B
Koivunen was the Penguins’ best forward during their eight-minute burst in the first period. He was both getting to good spots and firing the puck. However, he also had a couple of rough shifts on the defensive end, and coach Dan Muse sheltered his minutes until the third period, when the comeback was in full force.
Koivunen’s feisty play in the first period resulted in his second career goal. An earned tally.
Tommy Novak: C-
Sunday was not his best game. His puck battles and defensive zone coverage were a bit soft until the third period, when he–like the team–awoke for the comeback. He also lost four of five faceoffs.
Arturs Silovs: Battle
Silovs battled. There was a mess of bodies in front of him when Zach Werenski’s 50-foot wrister sailed past, and the goals allowed were not softies. He could have stopped one or two. He could have covered the puck that became Vronkov’s goal in the first period, but he also made key saves in the third period when Columbus pushed back later in the period. The Penguins needed saves in the third, and Silovs made a few tough ones.
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