Bryan Rust didn't want to share his thoughts on the play that led to the Hurricanes game-winning goal in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss at PPG Paints Arena.
He certainly had a lot he would have liked to say, judging by his clear frustration. He just didn't get want to get fined for any potential comments.
"The whole play was fairly bizarre," was all Rust had to say. "The whole game was bizarre with some of the things that were not called."
After a second period in which the Hurricanes dominated, the Penguins trailed 2-1 entering the final frame of regulation. A third-period rally culminated in a tying goal from Jake Guentzel to force overtime. The frustration over what happened next in overtime overshadowed any positive feelings the Penguins might have had from that point gained in the standings.
It was nearing the midway point of the extra frame when Rust was carrying the puck through the neutral zone close to the boards along the benches. Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis hit Rust from behind, sending Rust flying into the boards. Nearly every player on the Penguins bench jumped to their feet and raised an arm, anticipating a penalty call.
Rust and Jeff Petry anticipated that call from their position on the ice, too. Both players got tangled up with Jarvis while Jeff Carter hesitated for a moment, seemingly anticipating a stoppage himself.
No call came from the officials.
The ensuing confusion after the hit and non-call left Rust, Petry and Carter all behind the play, giving Andrei Svechnikov and Brett Pesce a 2-on-0 for the Hurricanes. Svechnikov faked a shot then set up Pesce for a tap-in that went just over the left pad of Tristan Jarry:
Mike Sullivan was as mad as I've ever seen him on the bench afterward, staying on the bench long enough to watch the replay and directing a, "Are you f---ing kidding me?!" at the officials, among other words that can't be printed here.
Sullivan was careful with his words when asked about the play in his postgame press conference.
"When you saw it from the bench, up close, at that speed it was at, that was the reaction," Sullivan said. "That reaction was real, because it was a dangerous hit. So I disagree with the call."
It's easy to say that the players on the ice should have simply played until they heard a whistle instead of reacting the way they did. But the hit on Rust was so clearly boarding that Sullivan didn't sound like he really faulted his players for reacting the way they did, either.
Petry called the deciding goal a "tough one to swallow."
"I mean, I thought when I was jumping in the pile there that it was going to be a penalty," he said. "To me, it looked like it was. I don't know, obviously (the officials) saw it differently."
It's a call that could have been the difference-maker in the game.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Kris Letang missed this game with an illness, ending a six-game streak in which the Penguins were totally healthy. That's the longest such streak in the regular season for the Penguins since the 2000-01 season. Chad Ruhwedel got into the lineup in his place.
• Kasperi Kapanen got into the game on the third-line right wing after being a healthy scratch for nine of the Penguins' last 10 games. He played 12:55 and recorded three shots on goal and three hits.
Sullivan was asked about the performances of both Kapanen and Ruhwedel after the game.
"I thought they played solid games," he said. "I thought Kappy was trying to use his speed. I thought Chad brings the game that he always brings. He's just a steady, solid defenseman that plays within himself. So I thought both of them had decent games for us."
• Sidney Crosby opened the scoring in the first period. Danny Shirey has more on that goal in his Freeze Frame.
The goal was Crosby's 101st career game-opening goal, surpassing Mario Lemieux for the most in franchise history.
• The Penguins were dominated in the second period. The Hurricanes had nearly twice as many shot attempts that period, leading by a 23-12 margin. As far as actual shots on goal, they outshot the Penguins 17-10. The Hurricanes took the lead that period off of goals from Martin Necas and Svechnikov.
• Guentzel's tying goal was the Penguins' second 6-on-5 goal this season:
"It's good we were able to get one 6-on-5," Jarry said. "I think that's a positive thing. We've been working on that quite a bit. To get a point out of that, I think is big."
• Jarry made 36 saves on 39 shots in the loss.
"I think he's building his game," Sullivan said of Jarry. "You know, we have such high expectations of Jars. I think he's building his game, I think he's making progress. He made some good saves for us tonight, it was a low-scoring game. Carolina is a team that shoots the puck from everywhere, there's a lot of point shots, shots from the boards. Trying to create that next play, that is hard to defend. I thought he did a pretty good job controlling those rebounds, which I think is an important aspect when you play a team like Carolina that's trying to utilize that strategy to manufacture offense, controlling those rebounds so they don't go in dangerous areas. I thought Jars did a good job at that tonight."
• Rickard Rakell attempted a lacrosse-style Michigan goal in the first period. The puck fell off his stick before he was able to put it in, but you have to appreciate the confidence level necessary to even try that in a game:
• The Penguins went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, and they remain perfect on the penalty kill since Teddy Blueger's return on Nov. 15. From the start of the season through Nov. 14, the Penguins went 40-for-53 on the penalty kill for a 75.5% success rate that ranked 24th in the league. From Nov. 15 on, the Penguins are 19-for-19, the only team with a perfect record while shorthanded in that span.
• The power play went 0-for-2. They went 4-for-39 on the power play through the month of November for a 10.3% success rate. The only team with a worse record on the power play in November was the Flyers. Danny Shirey has more on the power play here.
• The Penguins are now 1-2-1 in the robo-Penguin jerseys this season.
• Attendance for this game was 15,942, a season-low. That's a count of total tickets sold -- not a turnstile count -- so the actual number of fans in the building was certainly lower.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Brett Pesce, Hurricanes D
2. Jake Guentzel, Penguins LW
3. Andrei Svechnikov, Hurricanes LW
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Kris Letang missed this game with an undisclosed illness.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin - Jeff Petry
Marcus Pettersson - Jan Rutta
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
And for Rod Brind'Amour's Hurricanes:
Seth Jarvis - Sebastian Aho - Martin Necas
Andrei Svechnikov - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Sefan Noesen
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Jack Drury - Paul Stastny - Derek Stepan
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan - Jalen Chatfield
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins practice in Cranberry on Wednesday at noon, and I'll again be there for that. Next game is at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday against the Golden Knights, which is the team's 2000s decade theme night.
THE CONTENT
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