Twenty-three seconds. Poof.
That's all the time it took in overtime between the Penguins and Hurricanes here at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night for the visitors to emerge victorious, 4-3, snatching an ever-important point from a Metropolitan Division rival.
To start overtime, Mike Sullivan sent out Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and Kris Letang. That deviated from the usual plan of attack in which Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel would start the extra period.
The decision, while curious considering the roll that Crosby's been on for most of the season, had some merit even if it didn't end up being the right call.
Sure, Crosby is Crosby. It's hard to bet against him with extra time and space to take advantage of. That said, a power-play goal from Crosby masked an otherwise quiet night from the captain and his line with Guentzel and Rickard Rakell at 5-on-5. They were out-attempted by a margin greater than two-to-one and failed to generate a high-danger chance.
Malkin's line didn't beat the brakes off the Hurricanes, but they managed to keep their heads above water in shot attempts and quality offense while the other three lines spent much of the game in the defensive zone. They also scored the Penguins' only goal at 5-on-5, a vintage drive to the net from Rust.
Crosby attempted only two shots during 5-on-5 play, Guentzel none. Malkin and Rust combined for seven. It's not a stretch to say the latter duo had the juices flowing more than the former duo. Thus, Sullivan took the shot with them at the start of overtime.
Malkin lost the opening faceoff and the Penguins didn't possess the puck for a second before it ended up in the back of the net past a sprawling Tristan Jarry.
The first seconds of overtime actually went about as well as the Penguins could have hoped having lost an important faceoff.
Take a look:
Rust, establishing himself as F1 on the forecheck, applied just the right amount of pressure as the Hurricanes trailed into their zone. Enough pressure that he forced the Hurricanes into making a play a little sooner than they would have liked, but also not too much to the point that he'd get burned with a quick deke.
The angle Rust came in at prevented the initial puck carrier from taking the middle of the ice. Jaccob Slavin either had to try and beat Rust wide, or attempt a pass through Rust's stick to Brent Burns. Slavin forced the pass and Rust was able to get lumber on it, but the bounce played in favor of the Hurricanes as Burns pounced on the puck.
With Rust quickly switching off Slavin to pressure, Burns rimmed the puck behind the net and along the boards back to Slavin, who was heading up ice, but Malkin tracked him well and would have been able to seal the play off at the boards had Slavin not chosen to retreat.
Slavin's decision to retreat ended up winning the game for the Hurricanes.
Here's what immediately followed:
Malkin hounded Slavin as he retreated behind the Hurricanes net, but Malkin got too aggressive with it and tried to make a play on the puck in the most dangerous spot of the ice for a defending player during 3-on-3 action.
The ill-advised pressure didn't pan out and Slavin was off to the races with all the open ice he could dream of.
Just a moment later: Bing, bang, boom. It's over.
"It’s my mistake. 100%. I tried catching him behind the net and lose my edge a little bit and it’s a 3-on-2," a visibly displeased Malkin would say following the game. "They played great. Just need to stay focused. Don’t go behind the net, stay at the front of the net. Learn. It’s a lesson for me. Next time, play better, but it’s my mistake. 100%. I accept that."
That outside-the-box thinking from Malkin is what has made him one of the greatest players of his generation. It's led to creating something out of nothing countless times. But even within that, there's a time and a place for it. And this particular sequence wasn't the time or place.
"You just can’t chase behind the net," Sullivan said. "If you chase behind the net, it’s an automatic 3-on-2 the other way. It’s an important detail, and we need more discipline in that area."
It's not exactly a newsflash that 3-on-3 hockey differs significantly from 5-on-5 hockey in both style and approach, but as Sullivan pointed out, it's an important detail that can bite you if ignored for even a split-second.
The Penguins are now 1-5 in games decided during overtime this season. Sullivan knows that trend must be bucked. Not because there'll be 3-on-3 hockey during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but because the Penguins still need to make the playoffs. They aren't really at risk of missing the playoffs, but they are letting precious standings points slip away with each dud in overtime.
"I think we can be better in overtime. That’s an important element," Sullivan said. "I don’t think our overtime performance to this point in the season has been nearly what it needs to be. And we’re leaving points on the table because of it. We’ve got to get better there."
Each of the Penguins' overtime losses this season have a commonality that they didn't possess the puck enough at even-strength:
• Oct. 17 in Montreal: Out-attempted, 4-1
• Nov. 1 vs. Boston: Out-attempted, 3-2
• Nov. 12 in Montreal: Out-attempted, 2-1
• Nov. 29 vs. Carolina: Out-attempted, 2-0
• Dec. 22 vs. Carolina: Out-attempted, 1-0
Shot attempts aren't a perfect indicator of possession, but it remains true that the Penguins have spent far more time without the puck than with during overtime this season. Even if that weren't the case, they're still not putting themselves in position to shoot or create chances.
Funnily, the Penguins' only overtime win this season, Dec. 9 in Buffalo, featured an overtime in which they started on the power play and out-attempted the Sabres 4-0, the fourth of which won the game.
3-on-3 hockey isn't going to make or break this team -- and it will be a non-factor come mid-April -- but there's no question it could be helping their case in the standings right now instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.
"Just one mistake in overtime and they score," Malkin said. "It’s a little bit tough."
As we've seen time and time again in this chaotic sport, sometimes one mistake is all it takes.
