Observations on the Penguins’ 4-0 victory over the Sabers:
Between his skating, his desire to play a tough and daring style and a heavy kick, Jared McCann has a lot of skill. This is evident to the naked eye.
But he never got a full-time role with the Penguins.
Much of this is due to the fact that the Penguins were often so impaired during his tenure in the franchise that he was pressured for a variety of roles.
This season was no different.
With Jason Zucker out, he filled the left wing of the second row.
So, when Evgeni Malkin fell, he took over as the center of that line.
Now, with the Kasperi Kapanen ambush, McCann is working on the left wall of the upper power-play unit.
On Thursday, that deployment resulted in two goals for McCann.
Each of them was shots also. Heavy, blistered bubbles that would have made holes in the vibranium.
The Penguins’ lineup seems to be an everyday proposition, so it’s hard to say whether McCann’s success on Thursday will have any kind of lasting effect on his position on the depth chart. Given his versatility and also the personal problems that this team always seems to have, McCann will probably always change his position, as long as he is a member of the Penguins.
But that is what makes McCann so valuable. When a player with more skill suffers an injury, McCann is a more than viable option to serve as a substitute.
“Jared can score goals,” said coach Mike Sullivan in a videoconference. “We said that some time ago. He can score goals. He can actually shoot the puck. He has a really misleading shot and he shoots hard. At this specific moment, with the injuries we suffered, we count on him to help us in an offensive way. This is something that we think is his strong point. He is very good at the strength game coming out of that wall on his strong side. He has a knack for taking the disc in motion and putting his weight behind it.
“He can really shoot the puck. He’s a gunner. “
What happened
The opening goal came from an unlikely 17:21 source in the regulations. Controlling the puck at the edges of the offensive zone, Penguins striker Anthony Angello gave a forehand pass to striker Frederick Gaudreau, but broke in a check from Sabers defender Rasmus Dahlin. Angello recovered the puck in the left corner and quickly gave a backhand pass in the left circle to rookie striker Radim Zohorna, making his NHL debut as a replacement for Kapanen in the squad. Quickly passing a wrister through the glove of goalkeeper Dustin Tokarski on the other side, Zohorna scored his first goal on the first shot of his career. Angello and Gaudreau were credited with assists.
A power play score of 1:27 in the second period put the Penguins at 2-0. After Penguins striker Sidney Crosby made a big effort to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the left, he hit a cross pass to defender Kris Letang at the right spot. From there, Letang distributed the disc to the high slot for striker Jared McCann, replacing Kapanen in the upper power-play unit. Waiting for a kick track to open, McCann took down a rising wrister who beat Tokarski’s blocker by his sixth goal of the season. Letang and Crosby collected assists.
McCann scored on another power-play opportunity at 8:56 of the third period. Controlling the game at the center point of the offensive zone, Letang made a simple pass above the left circle, where McCann grabbed and tore a wrister who overtook Tokarski’s blocker on the near side. Letang and Crosby again had assists.
A possible goal by Sabers striker Victor Olofsson at 2:03 pm of the third period was overturned after the Penguins launched a successful coaching challenge, claiming the goal sequence was out of play.
An empty goal by striker Jake Guentzel – his 14th – at 18:54 of the third period ended the score. Strikers Bryan Rust and Crosby provided assists.
Statistically speaking
• Sabers controlled shots, 36-31.
• McCann, as well as Dylan Cozens and Dahlin, Sabres and Dahlin forwards led the game with five shots.
• Letang led the game with 24:46 ice time in 25 turns.
• Dahlin led the Sabers with 23:29 ice time in 22 turns.
• The Penguins controlled the direct confrontations, 33-25 (57%).
• Crosby was 15 to 21 (71%).
• Sabers striker Eric Staal went 9 to 17 (53%).
• Penguins defender Brian Dumoulin and Sabers defender Jacob Bryson led the game with four blocked shots.
• DeSmith made 36 saves in 36 strokes.
• Tokarski made 27 turns in 30 shots.
Randomly speaking
• Zohorna had a great time in this game. Placed on a fourth improvised line with Angello and Gaudreau, Zohorna has shown that he is much more than a physically imposing body six feet tall and weighing 100 pounds. He has some legitimate skills. This was evident in the cool goal he scored, which proved to be the winning score.
To celebrate, he jumped into Angello’s arms and let out a cry that could have been heard in his native Czech Republic.
When the Penguins hired him in April 2020, it was not immediately apparent what the administration saw in him. He had less than half a point per game in the low-level ELH league in the Czech Republic during the 2019-20 season, with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 46 matches. Its size obviously increased, but there was little on the surface that really stood out in its game.
When the 2020-21 season opened in most of Europe, the Penguins loaned Zohorna to BK Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic and he managed 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games.
That loan was terminated in late December, when the NHL approached the start of its 2020-21 season. After participating in the Penguins’ training camp in January, Zohorna was assigned to Wilkes-Barre / Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Playing on a smaller North American rink for the first time in his career, he added solid numbers with nine points (three goals, six assists) in 11 AHL games.
Called back to the NHL squad a week ago, he made a fantastic debut.
Zohorna is already quite a story and he just started writing it.
• Before the warm-up, the veterans of the Penguins made Zohorna make the mandatory lap of “guy making his debut”:
• The fourth line in general was very good. He placed the record deep in the Sabers’ zone and kept it there most of the time. It was a very rare display of positive play for any of the fourth lines that the Penguins used this season.
By the way, Gaudreau has a two game scoring streak.
• DeSmith was locked up again. Okay, it was against the Sabers. They stink. But he had to make some difficult saves in the third period.
First, there was a denial of Staal in a run from goal, about two minutes into the third period.
He then coldly denied Sabers striker Cody Eakin in a few-player escape at the 12:17 mark.
DeSmith has become much more than just the goalkeeper that the Penguins turn to on consecutive nights.
• The Penguins’ penalty was a little complicated after four games without a goal. They are 13 by 13 in that period.
That said, remember the competition on that stretch. The New Jersey Sabers and Demons are very limited in what they can do offensively. But given how hard the Penguins fought to kill the penalty this season, they will have any success, no matter what the opponent.
• Sabers are just a special type of evil.
Seriously. How do you lose 16 consecutive games?
It looks like a fragmented group of players. This season cannot end quickly enough for this team.
• To make matters worse, the Sabers discovered before the game that their interim head coach Don Granato and interim assistant coach Matt Ellis were unable to participate in the game due to the covid-19 protocol.
This team is just one calamity after another.
• With Ellis off the pitch, Seth Appert, an assistant to Rochester Americans, affiliated with Sabers’ AHL, had to make a mad dash to Pittsburgh to join the team behind the bench in the second period.
• Taking everything into account, Tokarski was quite solid for the second game in a row against the Penguins. He rarely seemed overwhelmed by the penguins.
Historically speaking
• Zohorna became the third player to use No. 67 for the Penguins. His predecessors were defender Alex Goligoski and striker Paul Bissonnette.
• Zohorna is the 541nd player to score a goal in the regular season for the Penguins.
• Zohorna became the 33rd player to play for the Penguins this season. The franchise record of 48 was set by the ill-fated 1983-84 squad.
• Zohorna became the 24th Czech to play for the Penguins.
• When scoring a winning goal for the game, Zohorna joined a rather random company:
Radim Zohorna’s #FirstNHL The goal turned out to be the first goal of the Penguins’ sixth win.
The others:
Beau Bennett
Scott Wilson
Carter Rowney
Zach Aston-Reese
Juuso Riikola– PittsburghHockey.net (@PghHockey) March 26, 2021
• Zohorna became the 22nd Penguins player to score on his NHL debut.
• DeSmith (six shutouts) overtook Tristan Jarry and Dunc Wilson (five each) and moved up to sixth on the franchise’s list of shutouts.
• This was DeSmith and Penguins’ second shutout of the season. The first also came against the Sabers during a 3-0 victory on 13 March. DeSmith made 24 saves in that win.
• Three of DeSmith’s six career layoffs took place at the expense of the Sabers. Only Marc-Andre Fleury (four) has more Sabers shutouts in the franchise’s history.
Speak publicly
• Zohorna was brief, but moving about her night:
“I do not have words. That’s why I play hockey. That’s what I want to be. … The boys (teammates) made my dreams come true. I have no words.”
• Zohorna spoke about her family in the Czech Republic:
“I hope my whole family has seen my game. I can’t wait to call them the next day and share my feelings. “
• Sullivan went through the roof over Zohorna:
“So good, it was so good. First, it was a fantastic goal. It shows how good your hands are and your skill set. I thought he had a very good game. Seeing the emotion on his face – not just him, our entire team – is a really cool moment. Whenever a player gets his first goal in the NHL, I think everyone on the bench can identify with what that moment means. Players never forget that first goal. I think it meant a lot to everyone. You could see that. Just the raw emotion on the bench, too. Everyone was very happy for him. “
• DeSmith in Zohorna:
“That was huge. There was no better person to score that goal for us. I think it was the most difficult thing I saw the bank celebrate after a goal this season. Even I was back there raising my hands. I was so excited. It was great to see. “
• Crosby in Zohorna:
“You love to see that. You know it’s his first game. You think about the emotions and feelings you had in your first game. … Seeing him score in the first game and seeing that emotion is a big boost and keeps us going. But it also feels great on the bench when you see it. “
Visually speaking
• Summary of the game.
• Event summary.
• Lights:
Follow the penguins throughout the season.
Seth Rorabaugh is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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