How would the Pittsburgh Penguins begin the stretch run without their leader and best player, Sidney Crosby, who is out for four weeks with a lower-body injury?

The answer was quick and definitive Thursday. And then, it became more muddled than a Facebook political debate, with more infractions, too. After a strong start in which the Penguins largely carried the play in the first period against the New Jersey Devils, they toyed with self-destruction when they took four penalties in the second period and were otherwise disjointed in all three phases of the game.

Eventually, they rallied against themselves in a game with significant fluctuations for a 4-1 win over New Jersey at PPG Paints Arena.

Tommy Novak, Connor Clifton, and Egor Chinakhov scored the contested goals, and Blake Lizotte added the empty-netter.

Once the Penguins’ penalty kill got the team through the second period, the Penguins finally rediscovered their offensive attack early in the third period. Following a couple of great saves by New Jersey goalie Jacob Markstrom and a clanged post by Ryan Shea, the Penguins scored a pair of goals 50 seconds apart to claim their much-needed first win of the post-Olympic stretch run.

Tied 1-1 in the third period, Shea’s slapper from the top of the zone hit the post so hard that it caromed to Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton at the top of the zone. While Markstrom scrambled to regain position, Clifton unleashed a heavy slap shot that slammed in and out of the net at 6:30 of the third.

Then, new daddy Egor Chinakhov tallied the insurance marker with a breakaway goal 50 seconds later.

Amongst the Penguins’ standouts was Clifton, who had one of his best games. Not only did he score the game-winner, but it was one of those games in which he seemed to play every other shift.

Clifton finished with 18:15 of ice time, one goal, and seven … SEVEN … hits.

“The beginning, going into the game, I felt good. I was pretty slow in the first. I felt slow,” Clifton said. “My closing (on puck carriers) was not very good, honestly. But you know what, I felt better in the second. And you kind of had to ease into it with all that time off. Yeah. Obviously, I liked (my overall game), especially scoring. It’s always nice.”

Eventually, an inconsistent effort became two points, which became even more valuable when the Columbus Blue Jackets lost, padding the Penguins’ playoff cushion to seven points over Columbus, which has the ninth-best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference, with 25 games left for both.

The Penguins also lead the Washington Capitals by five points with three games in hand.

Penguins Analysis

There were enough crisp and clean breakouts that launched the Penguins’ speed game. Instead, it was choppy.

Instead of generating speed against New Jersey, the Penguins took zone possession with a forecheck that created turnovers and made it difficult for New Jersey to get out of their own zone or enter the Penguins’ zone.

For the difficulty the Penguins endured in creating connective breakouts, they made it doubly difficult for New Jersey.

Of course, the second period was a special teams practice session as the Penguins had a pair of power plays, both of which generated pressure and one of which was successful, and four penalty kills.

Overall, the Penguins’ PK was a perfect six-for-six. Connor Dewar had a pair of shorthanded breakaways, though he failed to score. Behind the curtain, his teammates were obviously razzing him as both Connor Clifton and goalie Arturs Silovs made sly comments about everyone expecting Dewar to score on the next one.

“(The PK) was great. It was great. We were working with that four man, you know? And we obviously got so many chances offensively, too,” Clifton said. “We had a couple of breakaways there. (Dewar) said the next one was in.”

The Penguins PK was the foundation of the Penguins win, and nearly had as many shorthanded shots as New Jersey had power play shots.

“You create shorthanded chances–you always like to get those. It’s always good. You love to see those going, but at the same time, there’s a massive momentum swing, I think you get every time you get a shorthand chance, because it’s like the momentum swings against the power play,” Muse said. “And so all those ones, even though (Dewar) had two that didn’t go in, that changes the field. Now they might be forcing it a little bit more, you know, cautious in terms of their puck play, because they’ve given up a couple of breakaways.”

Penguins Report Card

Team: B

The Penguins began not only with energy but with direct intent. They were stronger on the puck and stronger to the puck than New Jersey. There were numerous examples of Penguins players, including Ben Kindel overpowering Nico Hischier, of the Penguins simply playing through New Jersey. The forecheck was good. The backcheck was better.

And then there was the second period. It was nap time minus the comfy mats and story time, before running away with the game in the third.

“(Silovs) was great. But I also think a credit to those guys who were sitting on the bench for long periods of time (in the second period) and being able to kind of get themselves back into the game in the third period,” said Muse. “So really, it’s everything. I thought the third period overall was better. I mean, I thought that was our best period of the game. I thought we started to find our rhythm a little bit more, and that’s what you want to see when you have a tight game at that point.”

PK: A+

Here’s the stat of the night: In six power plays, New Jersey had six shots. On those same power plays, the Penguins had five shorthanded shots, including the pair of Dewar breakaways.

Included in the PK, Connor Dewar, Noel Acciari, and Bryan Rust earn some special recognition.

Connor Clifton: A

In honor of the recently passed brilliant actor Robert Duval, a quote from Days of Thunder seems appropriate.

“I want you to go back out on that track and hit the pace car. You hit every other g*ddamn thing out there! I want you to be PERFECT!”

With some seriousness, the jovial Clifton summed up his night succinctly.

“I played, I think, one other game with (Ryan Shea), at most two, right? So we were kind of building that chemistry. But obviously, coming off the break, we’re kind of jumped into it right where we left off,” Clifton said. “Really big win tonight. But yeah, I felt pretty good about it. Obviously, in the first, I didn’t feel that great, but I got into it. So I threw a couple of hits and was much better in the second and third.”

Arturs Silovs: A+

The Penguins’ goalie was on top of his crease and made a few sterling saves to preserve a tie game, including an unbelievable splits save to rob Arseny Gritsyuk, who tried to stuff a rebound into what seemed like an empty net. Silovs stopped 28 of 29 shots.

Parker Wotherspoon: A

Don’t overlook Wotherspoon, who was feisty, if not playing angrily, near the Penguins’ net. He asserted himself properly in the offensive zone when appropriate, but he continues to demonstrate some snarl in the defensive zone.

Rusty Games

Kris Letang. It was not his best game, and there were a couple of turnovers as he settled in with new defense partner Sam Girard. Letang was a minus-1.

Rikard Rakell. Not so much rusty, but miscast. While Muse lauded his work as a center after practice Wednesday, the line didn’t have much pressure. The advanced analytics disagree, but the eyes said they didn’t put New Jersey on its heels.

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