The Pittsburgh Penguins have managed a 3-2-3 record since the Olympic break without Sidney Crosby. That might not sound like much, but in the NHL’s point system that level of play (.563%) will keep them afloat for now until their captain returns. That might be happening soon since Crosby took part in the morning skate yesterday and is now starting the fourth week from the time of his injury.
Their comebacks lately, both complete and incomplete, have been something to marvel about. On Sunday, the Boston Bruins were leading the Penguins 3-0 in the second period, Pittsburgh would rally back for a 5-4 overtime win. Last night, the Carolina Hurricanes swamped the Pens in the third period to hold a 4-2 lead in the third period, the Pens rallied to tie before dropping the shootout decision. Avoiding regulation losses is the name of the game when it comes to the NHL standings, the Pens have managed to find a way in that department through resiliency and a force of will.
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“We’re a resilient team,” Stuart Skinner said after last night’s game. “We’ve got guys in here who will do whatever it takes to win games and to get a point. We’re in March now, against a team that’s really hard to beat in their building. The fact that we came back on them is impressive to say the least.”
Skinner’s contribution might have been the most impressive. He made this save with 3:14 to go, in a 4-2 loss. Shots in the third period were 14-2 Carolina at that point, which speaks to the magnitude of how unlikely any potential positive result was looking with so little time remaining.
Between the setup and shot, it was a tremendous save that kept the Penguins in the game, even if it didn’t look it at the time. It was a good enough effort to deserve to become a game-changing moment, and somehow it ended up becoming relevant. Pittsburgh would score two goals in the final 2:08 of regulation to pick up a point that it looked like for much of the third period would not even be a possibility.
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“We certainly don’t give up in this room,” Bryan Rust said. “It says a lot about the guys in here.”
Rust, of course, would know, because he’s forefront at the players that fueled the comeback by shooting a puck that deflected off Noel Acciari for the Pens’ third goal. Rust would go onto score the last minute goal to force overtime and etch another small chapter in his Penguin lore for coming through in the clutch. Creating a couple of regular season goals aren’t as magnificent as Game 7 goals by circumstance, yet Rust’s late performance was no less heroic.
The Penguins have some areas to clean up, especially defensively where they’ve allowed 16 goals over the past four games (with two more tacked on for shootout losses). The shootout itself continues to be an abject disaster now with a 1-10 record and inability to both score goals and keep the puck out of the net.
The pluses have outweighed the negatives, given the circumstance of playing without Crosby in this stretch and having Evgeni Malkin out on suspension. Rust (4G+5A) and Erik Karlsson (2G+6A) both have nine points in the eight games. Budding star Egor Chinakhov (3G+4A) has seven points. Anthony Mantha has four goals and six points. Usually Rust, Chinakhov and Mantha have played on three separate lines, adding a touch of balance that belies the lack of on-paper depth the team shows right now. They keep scrapping and finding ways, like Skinner did with his 39 saves last night, capped by the huge stop towards the end.
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“Huge credit to those guys,” Skinner said. “We battled hard all night. You could tell that it was a division game, and a huge point for us. This group should be very proud.”
The road rolls on, the Pens are in Vegas tomorrow night to meet a Golden Knight team that has now lost three-straight games. Malkin will be unavailable and there’s no certainty that Crosby will be playing. That hasn’t much affected a resilient, proud group that keeps on showing mettle by carving out impressive performances without their two leading scorers.
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