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Penguins Grades: ‘That Was F***ing Crazy’, Jarry Steals Win
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- Penguins Grades: ‘That Was F***ing Crazy’, Jarry Steals Win
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
TAMPA, Fla. —After a steadfast goaltender rotation this season, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse exercised his executive privilege and started Tristan Jarry for a second consecutive game.
Muse's call proved to be correct as the only thing between the Penguins and getting blown out by the Tampa Bay Lightning was Jarry, who not only stood on his head, but he also used his lid to make a tough glove save, too.
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In what might end up being the wildest game of the Penguins' season, and maybe the wildest contest in Hillsborough County since the 2000 election recount, the Penguins survived a thorough undressing with opportunistic goals, great goaltending, and saw Tampa 's late tying goal taken off the board by the NHL situation room to survive for a 4-3 win at Benchark International Arena.
"That was f*cking crazy," Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said of the win.
Karlsson seemed to encapsulate the consensus reaction that no logical or grounded analysis of such a chaotic affair would truly be possible. Even he had to laugh in gallows humor when trying to describe the game.
What else could one do?
"It was it was a fun game in a way. Because it was very unpredictable, I think both ways, so to speak. It must have been fun to watch. It was kind of fun to play too, even though we were on our heels for most of it," Karlsson said. "You know, it's easy to say now because we won the game. I think if we had lost it would have been a bit different. But yeah, it was just a weird one. They played really good hockey. Jarrs bailed us out and probably stole us this game."
Jarry was very good against the Philadelphia Flyers in Monday's 5-1 road win. Jarry's early game work gave the Penguins time to stabilize and pull ahead of Philadelphia.
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Jarry did that and more Thursday against Tampa Bay. Not only did he make a few impressive saves on the first couple of shifts, just as he did Monday, but he also outright robbed a few Tampa Bay players as the Penguins didn't tighten up this time. From Jake Guentzel to Charle-Edouard D'Astous's blistering one-timer from the slot that even impressed the home crowd, Jarry was the difference.
Also, even the depleted Tampa Bay roster is quite good. Without top center Brandon Hagel , top defenseman Victor Hedman , and starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy , Tampa Bay generated speed out of their end, were precise with passes, and held pucks in the offensive zone.
They walked more Penguins defensemen than the rest of the teams this season combined.
It could have been, it should have been, and it was almost a total whitewash. But there's something about these Penguins that makes them more successful when they are not at their best.
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Don't try to add logic to that sentence. A few individual efforts. A few saves. And a couple of power play goals, and that is how they did it.
When PHN asked coach Dan Muse what allows his team to win games like that, he steered very clear of any direct answer. After all, the coach appreciated the win, but surely did not like how it was achieved and didn't want to add any affirmation to bad habits.
"Points are hard to come by. Take the points, but we also have to be honest about the things that we need to clean up. We can't be giving up that many chances," Muse said. "Credit to the guys for sticking with it. We found a way, and that's important, but I think the group's been pretty honest all year … we have a day off, and when we get back at it, we need to look at those areas as a whole and make sure we're addressing them."
Penguins Analysis
First, Ville Koivunen scored his first goal. Finally, eh? It was a power play rip from the left circle, but it's been such a long time coming.
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The Penguins' third line–the Kids Line, with Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty , and Ben Kindel –again held their own in a wild game, and they ended up facing Tampa Bay's top line a fair amount of time.
A tactical breakdown of the Thursday night beatdown isn't really possible. The Penguins gave Tampa Bay six power plays. Tampa Bay gave the Penguins four power plays. And the result was an unbalanced rhythm of momentum and chaos.
And the result was the Penguins hanging on for dear life, and their overall effort was at best disjointed, and more realistically terrible and loose.
Muse referenced cleaning up a few things, and the Penguins will need to start with layers in the neutral zone. Tampa used the area between the blue lines as an on-ramp to hit the offensive zone at full throttle.
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Tampa didn't need to chip the puck in and retrieve it. They simply breezed by the Penguins' defensemen at the red or blue lines. Tampa didn't just play on the rush; they dominated the offensive zone, beginning with the rush.
Conversely, the Penguins were extremely opportunistic. Evgeni Malkin looked in vintage form when he made a defensive stop at the blue line, then converted that into a breakaway goal in the second period. A couple of power play goals and Malkin again creating a turnover for the winner was enough.
As a matter of process, the Penguins' forwards were chasing, and the defensemen were little more than speed bumps.
Otherwise, it was Jarry's heroics that stole two points.
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"I mean, if he doesn't play the way he does, this game probably looks a lot different," Karlsson said. "We're not gonna say anything about that–They're a good team. I mean, I think they were firing all cylinders today, and the only thing that stopped them was Jarrs."
However, when Jarry was asked to comment on his teammates' praise, he showed the maturity of someone who has been through the worst, too.
"It can go both ways," Jarry said. "They score the goals, and they do a lot in front of me. It's a team effort at the end of the day, and I think that's what we take out of it."
Penguins Report Card
Team: C-
It was a relatively terrible game. Loose. Frustrated. A step behind. Even after they stopped giving odd-man rushes away like free candy in the first period, Tampa still outplayed them.
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Tristan Jarry : Yep.
It's his net right now.
Sure, he was fooled on Brandon Hagel's first goal that made it 3-2 early in the third. Jarry was expecting a pass to the back post, and Hagel held the puck an extra moment and ripped it into the vacated net. But Jarry also took away no less than a half-dozen would-be goals.
In his dressing stall after the game, Jarry did not have the fresh, relaxed look he wore after the win in Philadelphia. No, he looked a little weary, kind of like a guy who just put in a full shift at the mill and was worn out by the end.
Kids Line: B
They had only a pair of scoring chances in the game (according to NaturalStatTrick.com ), but they also greatly limited chances against and a couple of strong shifts in the third period helped the Penguins catch their breath.
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Ben Kindel had five shots on goal. Koivuen had a goal and two shots. McGroarty "only" had one shot and three hits, tying defenseman Connor Clifton for the team lead.
Evgeni Malkin : A
A little treat for those who remember "I am score." Malkin's defensive work and forecheck earned him a pair of goals. They were 200-foot goals for which he looked like a guy much younger than 39.
Sidney Crosby : Not His Best
We rarely grade Crosby because you see when he's unstoppable (often), and you see the mistakes (rare). Thursday, Tampa Bay frustrated him. He took a frustration penalty at the end of the first period and didn't factor into the game like he typically does. Crosby had no points and only one shot on goal.
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Up and Down
Erik Karlsson : He had some absolutely brilliant moments, but more than a couple rough ones, too.
Ryan Shea : Burned on the second shift of the game for a breakaway, and early in the second period, he bolted forward when he should have gone backward.
The post Penguins Grades: 'That Was F***ing Crazy', Jarry Steals Win appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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