Pre-game
The Penguins have mixed up since the first game, Cody Ceci takes a seat and Chad Ruhwedel joins the game. D pairs are adjusted to place the top four players in the first two pairs. New concept!
First period
For a team that lost 3-0, Pens started well against the Flyers. The shots were 5-0 at the beginning. So Pittsburgh was called up for his second number of men called up in so many games this season. The PK was even doing well, but Chad Ruhwedel was called on a trip because he was dying, giving the Flyers another chance. This time, Philly made a beautiful pass from Claude Giroux to Jakub Voracek quickly to Travis Konecny. How this eluded Brian Dumoulin’s stick is beyond my comprehension. 1-0.
Two minutes later, Konecny strikes again. Tristan Jarry is unable to keep the disc in front and rotates backwards (it never works) and the Flyers insert it. 2-0.
Then, just two minutes later, the floodgates open. Jarry breaks his cue, is totally beside himself and Ivan Provorov blows a puck through it short-side. 3-0 and this is the end of the night for Jarry. 3-0, only 11:30 of play.
Fortunately for the Pens, they turned the tide. After getting his first strength game in the game, Sidney Crosby profits from a backhand goal.
In the next round, the best Pens line of the season so far strikes. Jared McCann does well to shoot Carter Hart away. Hart punches the rebound, but unfortunately for him it is right for Brandon Tanev’s attack. Tanev has an open net to shoot and is 3-2 with Pittsburgh back engaged and on the return trail.
Casey DeSmith, in the cold of the game, sees Kevin Hayes attack him for an escape to his first NHL chance since March 16, 2019. DeSmith stoned him. Great time to keep the game at 3-2.
Pens have two more power games, but they don’t do much with that. Out of shame!
Crazy period. The shots are 14-9 in Pittsburgh. 5v5 Corsi% is 54.2% at the edge of the Pens. The chances of a 5v5 goal are equal (8-8), as are the chances of high danger (4-4).
Second period
Sean Couturier left the game in the first period and did not return for the second.
Kris Letang penalizes early to deny the power play. Pittsburgh kills him.
John Marino attacks Jason Zucker in a clear escape, but the backhand stroke is stopped.
Mike Matheson goes to the box for stumbling. Tanev is slapped directly on the foot, but of course it is very difficult to let go and comes back soon.
The Pens have another power play when Scott Laughton cuts Crosby, they don’t make a ton of it and then McCann goes to the box by a very reckless way to reach out and stick his elbow into a Flyers head. It is not good. All penalties go through a cycle.
Great time for Pens, despite being in PK for 5 minutes (for only 1+ in PP), the shots are 10-4 in the second frame for PIT. Overall, it is 24-13 PIT. 5v5 CF% for the game is 60% Pens. SCF% and HDSCF% are 56.0% and 57.1%, respectively for Pittsburgh in two periods. Everything was going well, except they didn’t put any Hart in this period.
Third period
Without much going on in the third, the Pens get a strength game in the middle of the third, when Mike Matheson is crushed in the back. Very quality time zone and looks at the network, but they fail to resolve Hart.
The referees even sent Zucker on for a hit shortly after. Pens kill, but right after the Flyers get a strange run to the other side, do some cross-ice passes and Konency mostly fans, but still get enough to put him in the net for a 4-2 lead for his club with just over 7 minutes remaining.
Oskar Lindblom hits an empty net with 2:08 remaining to clear any doubt and make it 5-2.
Some thoughts
- When we were little and we couldn’t trick anyone’s younger brother into playing as a goalkeeper (sorry Trevor), we put an old folder or trash can or some obstacle in the net. It wouldn’t really provide much resistance, but it would simply be there. For some reason, that was what Jarry reminded me of in that second goal, when a weak kick just escaped him and he spun out of the net for an easy touch for the Flyers. The Pens are not very strong defensively (we can’t blame the goalkeeper for a first dunk in the first goal), but his goalkeeper didn’t help the cause much either.
- Jankowski finished second in the NHL in 2018-19 with five SHGs. It is easy to see why. He hangs himself on the disc, takes him to the area and is a pleasure to watch deadly penalties.
- Guentzel and Zucker had glorious chances in the second from the right at the front, but failed to profit. The same goes for Ruhwedel and Evan Rodrigues. Hart was good, but the Pens were a bit of a snake bite too.
- The Pens became very physical. McCann checked Couturier’s body (and Coots wouldn’t be back after that first shift). Sam Lafferty bloodied Laughton. Tanev was flying like a maniac, as usual, taking anything off with a pulse. The overall hits in the game were 30-24 pens.
- Letang was on the ice for all 5 goals against. Not good! All of Konecny’s goals were scored with the goalkeeper’s breath as well.
- DeSmith was not asked to do much, but he provided a tuning game, keeping the disc off the grid for 41 minutes. From what we’ve seen this season, that’s a positive thing.
- On the other hand, Hart was very good. Especially in that second period, the Pens tested him intensely and he had all the answers. Difficult to put up with in a short season, but sometimes it is.
Unlock keys for the game (in preview)
# 1: “Pens need more of the Malkin line (and more defense against the Hayes line).”
50% credit here, I think. Hayes’s line did nothing, but unfortunately the bigger story was again a smooth line from Malkin and his line. Pens won’t do much when that line isn’t clicking and it wasn’t.
No. 2: “How did Jarry recover for the second game?”
Jarry jumped after just 11:30 of the game, seeing only 6 shots, but 3 of them ended up behind him. It is fair to debate how much of the guilt pie he has to accept, but Jarry allowed nine goals in 71 minutes this season with a reduction of 0.758%. This is Niemi-esque. It just can’t happen, the goalkeeper has to find a way to keep the puck out of the net more than that. No one needs to be happier to leave Philadelphia tonight than Tristan Jarry. For the next.
# 3: “Win the battle for special teams.”
I can’t say that the Pens did it. The power play was 1/5, OK, but it had a chance for more. PK made 5/6, which was good, but gave up another goal shortly after the end. Going to the box six times is also a problem in itself, as is answering another call from many men.