Pregame
The Penguins don’t make any lineup changes from last game besides giving Stuart Skinner his turn in net.
They faceoff against the Utah Mammoth, who have this lineup.
First period
Sloppy start for the Penguins, Blake Lizotte can’t handle a pass out of the zone and passes it back under pressure, turns out to be a bad idea that Dylan Guenther jumps on and snaps a low shot by Skinner. 1-0 Utah early.
There’s a scrum in front of the Pittsburgh net, Anthony Mantha escalates things by going after a Utah player and Mantha takes a penalty for it. Utah capitalizes on the power play, a shot bounces off the end wall and Barrett Hayton smacks at it. The Pens lunge to pull the puck off the goal-line but Guenter comes crashing into the crease and knocks the puck in for his second goal of the game.
Parker Wotherspoon holds onto a puck to let his teammates complete a line change and creates an opportunity when he gets slashed to earn the first Pittsburgh power play. They get some zone time out of it but not much more.
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Pittsburgh plays a little better in the second half of the period compared to the first, not that it’s saying much considering how poor they were early on. Shots end up 12-8 Utah after 20 minutes with them also carrying a 2-0 lead.
Second period
A few penalties go for the early part, Ilya Solovyov stops moving his legs and uses his stick to latch onto a Mammoth player to take a penalty but then Hayton slashes a Penguin to make it 4v4. That leads to a tough development for Logan Cooley, who crashes into the post with his leg in a similar way to an injury he suffered last season.
Penalties cycle through, amazingly Cooley is able to return to the game after the nasty collision with the post.
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Later on, the Pens get another power play, then Rickard Rakell gets upended and Pittsburgh gets 1:27 of a 5v3 power play with 5:48 to go in the period. The moment is big, Dan Muse uses his timeout to rest his top players and gameplan something for the opportunity. It works, Mantha finds space on the right side and fires a shot up and over Karel Vejmelka on the short-side to make it a 2-1 game.
The Pens keep surging, the Ben Kindel line produces a great shift to tilt the ice, Tommy Novak’s line is out next. Novak goes low-to-high with a pass to Wotherspoon at the point, Wotherspoon puts it on net. The puck gets jammed into the mess of bodies and pops back to Novak who flips a fluttering puck into the net. 2-2.
Bryan Rust sets Rakell up for a goal in front of the net, Ian Cole has to hook Rakell to stop the goal, the Pens to a power play with 15 seconds left.
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It wasn’t a pretty period, but it was effective and badly needed for the Pens to score two goals and tie the game. They didn’t have much going on until the 5v3 seemed to invigorate them and they found a way to pull themselves back into a game that they weren’t looking very competitive in for the first 35 minutes or so.
Third period
Much of the carryover power play looks disjointed for the Penguins, who struggle with keeping the puck in the zone. Finally, the luck turns and the puck clicks off a pair of Mammoth players and lands within reach of Bryan Rust. Rust fires it into the net. Pittsburgh takes their first lead of the night, 3-2.
That lead doesn’t last long, Rust toepicks and coughs up a puck, Utah finds Ian Cole as a trailing player on the rush, the defense is out of sorts and Cole scores on a wrist shot. 3-3.
The Pens keep at it, Noel Acciari wins a puck back from John Marino down low and passes to the point. Wotherspoon does his thing and gets the puck to the net. Acciari’s stick is tied up but he wills his way to tapping the puck into the net with it anyways. 4-3 Pittsburgh back in front.
With power plays on the night at 6-2 PIT and Utah down on the scoreboard, wouldn’t ya know it’s the Pens who take a penalty with 8:41 to play. The Pens survive.
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Michael Carcone flies the zone and gets a breakaway with about 2:30 left, puck goes off the crossbar and out of play.
The Mammoth pull their goalie soon after and then take their timeout with 1:25 to go. Utah keeps winning faceoffs and pumping shots Skinner’s way, he’s able to battle the way his team has all night. Fittingly, it’s not the prettiest or smoothest sequence with some rebounds left around but he gets the job done well enough until time runs out to secure the victory.
Some thoughts
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“Playing connected” is an en vogue catchphrase these days for NHL teams to describe how they aspire to play cohesively as a unit in smooth, fluid control with one another as a group. The Penguins have not been playing connected lately and the trouble is it’s applying up and down the board. When a player as typically reliable as Blake Lizotte is creating trouble with a decision or Anthony Mantha is taking an unnecessary post-whistle penalty, it’s a tough watch right now. There’s a lot to figure out in terms of decision making right now all across the lineup.
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For the faults, weaknesses and mistakes, the Penguins never really go away or stop trying though. Gotta give them that if nothing else. They’ll keep battling and working to attempt to atone for the mistakes and go after the next one. This night wasn’t a one-off considering the recent comeback efforts against Boston and Carolina earlier this week, that certain spirit and ability to soldier on has been working.
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Falling behind early has been a big problem on this road trip, this was the third game on it and it was the third time the Pens fell down 1-0 somewhat early in the first period. This game and last game against Vegas it was 2-0. That’s not a way to live in the NHL being in a hole and playing from behind. The Pens have been one of the best first period and score first teams in the league this season but the starts have been another area on the fritz lately.
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Things didn’t get much better in the second, the Pens only managed two shots on goal in the first 15 minutes of the second period prior to Anthony Mantha’s 5v3 goal. They started scoring after that but still never really played very consistently or in a textbook manner. At this point, however, the style points don’t matter, only the results.
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Effective night for Wotherspoon, the scoresheet recorded both his shot attempts as officially being ‘blocked’, yet both times the puck ended up in the net due to a teammate in close putting in the loose puck. It’s simple yet proved effective to get bodies to the net and then send the puck in to see what could come out of any chaos created….And now the official scorer has taken away one of the shot attempts.
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Unfriendly night across the league for the Pens; the Bruins, Islanders and Blue Jackets all won their respective games and the Red Wings picked up a point with an OT loss. This was one that the Pens badly needed to keep the pace with all those teams in the playoff chase (where one will be left out) and in a bottom line business, they did. Wasn’t the cleanest game or most pleasing way to go about it, but at this point in the year and given the lineup – a win is a win is a win.
The Pens up their record to 1-1-1 on the road trip to keep hanging around. They’ll have one Hall of Fame center back for Monday against Colorado with Evgeni Malkin returning from suspension. Hopefully soon they’ll add a second one too as Sidney Crosby continues his rehab from his Olympic injury.
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