Back in the confines of PPG Paints Arena's home locker room, Patric Hornqvist threw on one of those grey giveaway hats late Tuesday night. Yep, just like the few thousand or so that fans had hurled down onto the ice about a half-hour earlier.
At last, the man could crack a smile.
"Obviously," he'd say, "it's a good night to get a hat trick."
This, of course, came after, in a 2:47 span of the third period, Hornqvist recorded the fastest hat trick in franchise history, not to mention the final three goals of a 6-3 victory over the Avalanche.
But this also stood in stark contrast to the scene following the previous home game Saturday, that ugly loss to the Flyers. That night, Hornqvist was going on and on about something within earshot of the locker room. It seemed to have something to do with a puck, or at least something that rhymed with puck.
There was none of that Tuesday.
After blowing a three-goal lead in spectacularly awful fashion in the second period, we figured to learn a lot about these Penguins and their character over the final 20 minutes.
Boy, did we. We were reminded about Hornqvist and about what "compete" and "sense of urgency," two of Mike Sullivan's phrases, are all about. How they're supposed to look and feel.
Hornqvist is the NHL's equivalent of the Hulk's alter-ego: You won't like him when he's angry. Unless he's on your team. And Hornqvist looked plenty ticked off -- even more than usual -- to start the fateful third period.
"We needed to step up. And he can find that level," Olli Maatta was telling DKPittsburghSports.com of his teammate. "Today was just another example. He can do it. And it is impressive to watch."
How impressive?
Note: This is not in real time. It just seemed that way:
Let that sink in for a moment. Neither Mario Lemieux nor Jaromir Jagr did it quicker. Neither did contemporaries Sidney Crosby nor Evgeni Malkin. To boot, Hornqvist did it all on three shots, and every last one of them mattered for the Penguins, who had blown a three-goal lead and had already lost two in a row, including to this opponent six nights ago in Denver.
"I think this is the turning point of our season," Hornqvist was saying. "That was a great third period. We have to keep building every single day from this day on and we'll be fine."
That, however, remains to be seen. Whether it's been a win over the Stars, Blue Jackets or Jets, these Penguins have had an uncanny knack for failing to build on past impressive victories. Much the same could be said of their second-period performance Tuesday.
The Penguins jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals by Jake Guentzel, Malkin, and Derick Brassard. It was Malkin's first even strength goal since Oct. 30. It was Brassard's first goal in a half-dozen games. Everything was looking rosy ...
And then the Penguins, as they've been known to do, gave it all away in the second period three different ways: Power play, even strength and shorthanded goals against. Granted, Colorado had been unbeaten in their last 10 and possess one of the the NHL's most lethal offenses with the league's top two leading scorers but, still ...
"Just flush out that second period," is how Hornqvist put it.
And had the Penguins lost after blowing a 3-nil lead, one had the feeling that their season might have gone down the toilet with it. At minimum, Jim Rutherford would have been entertaining even more trade calls.
However, Sullivan's message during the intermission was simple: You won the first period. They won the second. Now go out and win the third.
"We got some big goals but, certainly, I think it's an indication of the leadership we have," the coach said. "I think our leaders really stepped up. In those type of circumstances where you're up 3-0 that early in the game and there's so much hockey left, a lot can happen. It's never a good feeling when you give up that lead. That could go one or two ways. But I give the leadership group in that room a lot of credit. They held it together for us. And they led by example."
Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang and Phil Kessel certainly did their fair share but no one -- no one -- led by example more than Hornqvist. Though he does not wear a letter on his sweater, Hornqvist is the team's heart and soul.
"That's it," Maatta was telling me. "He's always battling. He's never giving up. Seems like every time he's out there, something's happening. He's always working. Always working his ass off."
That's basically what happened on Hornqvist's first goal, a power play marker from just eight feet in front of Semyon Varlamov at 6:11. The second was a slap shot -- of all things -- that knuckled off the blade of Ian Cole and bounced under the Avalanche goalie's right arm at 7:32. The third was simply the product of driving to the net and collecting a loose puck and firing from the slot at 8:58.
Next thing you know, gray hats were flying everywhere:
• GOAL • Hornqvist with natty hatty in three-minute span in third period on hat night. It’s 6-3 at 8:58. #dkps #penguins pic.twitter.com/pEem9eK5MZ
— Chris Bradford (@PghBradford) December 5, 2018
"The last two were lucky ones," Hornqvist said of his third career HT and first in two years, seven months and 21 days. "You have one of those days, sometimes when the puck comes right to your stick. You don't think, you shoot. If you don't know where it's going, I don't think the goalie does either."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Patric Hornqvist
Penguins right winger
Need I say more?
2. Casey DeSmith
Penguins goalie
Stopped a career-high 42 shots, including a Nathan MacKinnon breakaway in the second to preserve a tie score, for his seventh win of the season, also a career high.
3. Kris Letang
Penguins defenseman
Two primary assists. The first was a thing of beauty.
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Dominik Simon, left winger, sustained a lower-body injury in the first period and didn't return. ... Matt Murray, goalie, is out longer term with a lower body injury. … Matt Cullen, center, is out longer term with a lower-body injury. ... Both Cullen and Murray skated on their own Tuesday and would appear close to returning. ... Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.
• Avalanche: Mark Barberio, defenseman, missed his third straight game with a lower body injury.
THE GOOD
Monday's trade for Marcus Pettersson was meant to provide the Penguins with youth and some depth to their blueline. And, if they're being honest, some competition for lineup spots, too.
The Penguins now have eight healthy NHL-level defensemen on the roster. Against the Avalanche, it was Juuso Riikola's and Chad Ruhwedel's turn to sit. That hardly came as a shock as those two have spent more nights in press boxes than anyone else on the defense corps.
Pettersson was paired with Jack Johnson and made a good first impression. Whether that duo remains together remains to be seen.
But Rutherford's latest trade seemed to have struck a chord with Olli Maatta, who has endured a fairly tough season. The older-than-his-24-years defenseman responded with perhaps his finest game to date. Maatta's no-look slap pass set up Brassard's redirection at 7:27 of the first:
Both Maatta and Brassard, whose futures in Pittsburgh remain unclear, needed that one.
But Maatta's best play came on the PK. After the Avalanche pulled to within 3-2 midway through the second period on Carl Soderberg's goal, Colorado went right back on the power play after Crosby -- of all people -- was called for tripping Samuel Girard.
Mikko Rantanen appeared to have the tying goal lined up at the right dot when Maatta snuffed out the NHL's leading scorer's one-timer with his stick:
Four seconds later, Maatta drew an interference penalty that negated the Avalanche power play.
THE BAD
When Matt Nieto scored at 13:17 of the second, it marked the fourth time that the Penguins have allowed a short-handed goal in their last nine games. That's not only the league-worst through those games, by two, it's the same number of power-play goals that they had scored over that same span.
Bob Berry's 1984-85 Penguins are tied for the record for most short-handed goals allowed in a season, with 22. Mike Sullivan's current team is on pace to match that mark. That ain't good.
THE PLAY
After suffering through his worst game of this season -- and probably many others -- on Saturday, Kris Letang rebounded with a pair of assists, including a beauty where he undressed former teammate Ian Cole to set up Jake Guentzel's first-period goal, and again on the first of Hornqvist's three goals. DK has more to say about Letang's performance here.
THE CALL
It seemed the only way to beat the Penguins' penalty kill lately was to cheat.
J.T. Compher appeared to have pulled the Avalanche to within 3-1 with a power play goal at the 14:24 mark of the first period. Compher put in a loose puck past DeSmith from the slot but Sullivan quickly challenged for goalie interference.
Indeed, the on-ice call was overturned as it was ruled that Soderberg had made contact with DeSmith, putting an elbow into the side of the goalie's head.
Sullivan is now 2-for-4 this season when challenging. Last season, he was 3-for-5.
That overturned call made it 16 consecutive kills for the Penguins' sixth-ranked PK unit. But the Avalanche and their top-ranked power play -- clicking at a historic 32.3 percent entering the night -- couldn't be held down for long.
At 8:16 of the second period, Tyson Barrie blasted a one-timer from the top of the point past DeSmith to definitively put the Avalanche on the board.
It was the first power-play goal the Penguins allowed since the Lightning's Yanni Gourde scored Nov. 16. In all, the PK went 1 for 3.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Avalanche did manage to overcome a three-goal deficit only to lose it -- and a six-game road winning streak -- in the third. That was the same script that was followed last week at Pepsi Center with the Avalanche coming out on top.
"That was a slow start, we spotted them three. We fought all the way back and erased that deficit," head coach Jared Bednar told reporters. "Its 3-3 and we had a bunch of chances to go up in the game, I felt like. We traded some, but I felt like we were still playing real well. They got their power-play goal and ended up bagging two more right after that on plays that we probably could have been better with on the puck."
It was the Avalanche's first regulation loss since Nov. 9 at Winnipeg, despite putting up a season-high 45 shots.
It was a particularly tough first period for Cole and defense partner Barrie, who returned from injury after missing the previous four games. Colorado's top pair was a minus-2 less than seven minutes into the game.
And that was before Cole, who helped the Penguins to back-to-back championships, could acknowledge the fans during his video tribute at the first TV timeout in the first period. Cole did pick up an assist on Soderberg's goal, while adding two hits and a blocked shot.
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins practice Wednesday at noon in Cranberry. They will host the Islanders at 7:08 p.m. on Thursday.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Avalanche, PPG Paints Arena, Dec. 4, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
