It wasn’t easy, but the Pittsburgh Penguins earned an important victory on Sunday – and their captain made history in the process.
The Penguins narrowly defeated the New York Islanders, 3-2, to take the second game of a home-and-home and catapult themselves into a playoff spot. And, with an assist on a second-period power play goal by Michael Bunting, Sidney Crosby surpassed Mario Lemieux for the most assists in franchise history with 1,034.
After the goal – and his accomplishment – was announced, Crosby received a loud standing ovation from the Pittsburgh faithful:
“Just definitely appreciate it,” Crosby said. “I’ve had some special moments here at home over the years. To get that kind of reception, to be up in the game and that sort of thing, it means a lot.”
He also acknowledged how it feels to surpass a guy like Lemieux and some other all-time great Penguins players with his recent milestones.
“I think I have a lot of appreciation for what the guys have done on that list, especially Mario, what he means to the city and the organization,” Crosby said. “But yeah, I think all the guys that have played prior to me, it’s really nice to be part of that company.”
Anthony Beauvillier – a former Islander – opened the scoring for Pittsburgh off a nice feed from Bunting early in the first period for his ninth of the season. Bunting scored his power play goal in the second period, and Philip Tomasino added another power play tally for Pittsburgh in the third period.
The Islanders came back with a late push, scoring two goals with an empty net in the last seven minutes of the game. But the Penguins perservered, and they earned an important two points against a team they have struggled against.
“We just knew it’s got to be a good bounce-back game,” Bunting said. “It was a quick turnaround, and you can have all these excuses in the world that you’re tired and what not. But we didn’t do that. I think we played a complete game. They got those two six-on-five goals, but I thought we defended hard, and it showed tonight.”
Here are some thoughts and obeservations from Sunday’s win:
– Crosby continues to build both his Penguins legacy and his NHL all-time repertoire.
There are so many reasons why Crosby surpassing Lemieux to hold a fitting record of his own is so impressive. But, when considering Lemieux’s legacy to the city of Pittsburgh, it means even more than Crosby is on track to best most of his sheer career numbers.
I – along with everyone else – am running out of adjectives to describe Crosby’s significance to this franchise. I’ll have a nice piece on him tomorrow that I hope you take the time to read.
– The Penguins had a much, much better second period than they did against the Isles on Saturday.
Bunting managed to score that power play goal in the second period, but the Penguins dictated the terms for most of it. In fact, they dictated the terms for the majority of the first 50 minutes of the hockey game. They didn’t let off the gas when leading 1-0 after one period, and they kept frustrating the Isles in all three zones.
– That being said, the final 10 minutes were controlled by the Islanders, but Alex Nedeljkovic – who stopped 30 of 31 Islanders shots – was able to fend off their final push. He also put on an incredible display on the Penguins’ second penalty kill of the evening near the end of the second period.
A loss like that would have been devastating for the Penguins, and this is, again, a game they probably lose earlier in the season. But goaltending came up big, and their defensive zone play in the last minute of the game was pretty strong.
They didn’t make it easy, but they still got the win. And an important one, at that.
– What a coaching decision by Patrick Roy to pull the goaltender with more than seven minutes remaining in the third down 3-0. Anders Lee scored to make it 3-1, and they pulled the goaltender early again with just over four minutes remaining, which led to another goal by Lee.
I realize this is one of those things that looks genius when it works and probably looks the opposite when it doesn’t. But the Islanders controlled the rest of the period after that first goal, and it certainly caught the Penguins off-guard a bit. Great coaching move there.
– What a difference special teams is making for the Penguins.
The penalty kill has been very, very good recently. The penalty kill is operating at 89.3 percent in December, and they killed both Islander opportunities again on Sunday. They are tied for sixth in the NHL overall in PK percentage at 83.
As far as the power play? What was once an area of weakness for the Penguins has now turned into a top-five unit in the league. Their 25.9 percent mark on the power play trails only the Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers, and they have been operating at a very high level since the units were split on Dec. 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A lot of credit goes to assistant coach David Quinn, but another guy has been integral to its success as well.
– Matt Grzelcyk continues to compile points and drive up his trade value.
He now has 19 points on the season, and I’ve said it before, but his current 41-point pace is set to obliterate his career-high of 26 points in 2022-23.
If he continues to play alongside Erik Karlsson and get minutes on that top power play unit – which is something well-deserved at this point with his seven power play points – he should reach that number rather easily, and possibly even surpass it.
But, should the Penguins choose to go in a different direction given their left defensive depth, a team in need of an offensive defenseman and power play quarterback may very well surrender a second-round pick for those services.
If Marcus Pettersson – their most valuable pending-UFA trade option – is dealt, it’s hard to see the Penguins dealing Grzelcyk, too. If he continues to put up these numbers and drive the bus on the Penguins’ power play, however, the return for him might be too enticing to pass on.
– With Pettersson, Owen Pickering, and now Kris Letang injured, Karlsson led the Penguins with two minutes and 46 seconds of PK time on Sunday.
Karlsson and penalty-killing aren’t two things typically paired with one another, but honestly? He was great on that unit and blocked five shots, and he was probably Pittsburgh’s best penalty-killer aside from Nedeljkovic.
I’m not saying he’s some kind of secret PK stalwart. But, if he can eat some of those minutes while three of their top-four penalty killers are injured – and the unit doesn’t fall apart in the process – that is huge for the Penguins.
– Ryan Shea has been much, much better in these last few games, and he and Nathan Clurman – who made his NHL debut on Sunday – were outstanding on the Penguins’ bottom-pairing in their win against the Isles.
The pairing led the Penguins in on-ice expected goals for with 1.17, they had a massive advantage in shot attempts, 20-7, and they controlled a whopping 90.3 percent of the expected goals share.
Clurman had four shots and was solid defensively in his debut, but Shea was just as steady and did a lot of the little things right. It was a very good night from them.
– The second line of Bunting, Evgeni Malkin, and Beauvillier was on fire, and they were generating chances left and right. Bunting, in particular, is playing at a very high level.
But the Penguins’ best line of the night was the third line of Drew O’Connor, Cody Glass, and Tomasino. They combined for 14 shot attempts and forced several turnovers.
O’Connor is still struggling to put the puck in the net – he has now gone 32 games without a goal – but he was helping generate chances on the forecheck. Glass was using his speed and size to get to the danger areas and make things happen.
But Tomasino may have played his best game as a Pittsburgh Penguin. He was everywhere on the ice, and even though his goal came on the power play, he could have had a few more in this one with the way he was playing. He also set up Crosby for a nice opportunity during the third period.
It’s nice to see his game trending back up, and the Penguins are 10-4-1 since the Tomasino acquisition. He has four goals and seven points in 14 games since joining Pittsburgh (he missed one game due to injury).
Winning and losing certainly does not come down to one player, but it’s not a stretch to say that the trade helped re-energize the group.
– Despite having played more games than some other teams in their periphery, the Penguins currently sit in the East’s second wild card spot.
Had you asked me where this team would be in mid-November, I would never have thought we’d be talking playoffs. But, here we are.
“I’m having fun,” Bunting said. “We’re winning, too. Everyone is playing well, and I find that when the team is having success, individuals are having success as well. And it’s going around this whole room and you can see that. We want to keep this going. We’ve got a road stretch here, and we’re looking forward to it.”
There are a lot of games left to be played, and many of them in the first part of January will be against either divisional opponents – where the Penguins have struggled – or teams around them in the standings.
It’s safe to say that these next 10 games are crucial for the Penguins. They could be in a pretty dramatically different spot in either direction when this stretch concludes.
