Coming into Monday night, the Penguins had won just one of their seven games decided in overtime this season. What was it about Monday's overtime against the Ducks here at PPG Paints Arena that Mike Sullivan liked compared to the others?
"The result."
Jeff Carter's power-play marker in overtime on Dec. 9 against the Sabres served as the Penguins' only overtime victory until Monday. Their inability to come out on top during even-strength play in overtime had quite a bit to do with a lack of puck possession.
And while the Penguins certainly weren't doing themselves any favors, there is the factor of 3-on-3 overtime being heavily luck-induced. The overtime luck finally fell in their favor against the Ducks.
Not even 30 seconds into overtime, Trevor Zegras raced in on Casey DeSmith with no one to beat, but instead of using his wizard-like hands to make a move on DeSmith and bury it on his own, he opted to ... well, take a look for yourself:
Even though Zegras chose to dish the puck, his subtle moves left DeSmith out of position for the pass headed out front to Cam Fowler. It should have been game right there. But Fowler wasn't ready for the pass.
"I know he’s the shootout master," DeSmith said of what was going through his head when he saw Zegras entering the zone all alone. "I saw Strome there backdoor, I didn’t think he was gonna give it to him, and then he tried. I don’t think Strome thought he was gonna give it to him either. Got lucky there."
It was, in fact, Fowler that was there backdoor, not Ryan Strome, but DeSmith is absolutely right about getting lucky there.
Swooping in on the errant pass near the corner while turning up ice, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel were off to the races with a 2-on-1.
It ended the same way countless other 2-on-1s between those two ended: With the puck in the back of the net.
The rush and gorgeous finish from Guentzel:
"Overtime, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to coach," Sullivan would say. "There are some things that we’re trying to coach with our guys so that we’re somewhat predictable, and there are some things that we think we can give our guys to try to help their competitive advantage."
Competitive advantage or not, Sullivan, too, is well aware of luck's involvement in overtime.
"But at the end of the day, it seems like when a shot is taken or a play is made, there’s a domino effect to the chances," he said. "Anaheim had an opportunity there, they don’t execute. We go down, we execute, it’s in the net. My experience has been, sometimes that’s the case."
As for being able to capitalize on the opportunity that presented itself, Sullivan thought Crosby and Guentzel played the rush perfectly. He made note of the positive impact it had on the sequence for Crosby to pass early after crossing the blue line instead of waiting to make a bang-bang play.
"It was a terrific play by Sid and Jake," Sullivan said. "Great finish by Jake. I thought the early pass by Sid on the entry was a really good decision. It puts that defenseman that’s defending the 2-on-1 in a reactive mode as opposed to a proactive mode. The execution on that was great."
The goal busted the Penguins out of a two-game losing streak, giving them just their third win in the last 11 games.
"Those are two big points for us and we need to get going," Guentzel said.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Guentzel's overtime goal came after a hectic conclusion to regulation. The Penguins carried a 2-1 lead into the third period, but found themselves trailing by a goal in the last five minutes. Bryan Rust snapped his nine-game goal drought in the final minute with DeSmith pulled to tie the game and send it to overtime. Taylor Haase has more on that here.
• The second line of Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell was easily the Penguins' best line for most of the game. All three of them teamed up for the Penguins' first two goals, both coming during 5-on-5 action. During their 11:45 together, the Penguins out-attempted the Ducks, 21-6, with an 11-1 advantage in high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick. Zucker and Malkin have displayed some serious chemistry all season. Now, they really seem to be finding their footing with Rakell on the right flank.
• Here's Zucker's 11th goal of the season to open the scoring in the first period:
That's really impressive body control from Zucker to tuck that on the wraparound, but how about the work from Malkin in the neutral zone to completely dissect the Ducks' coverage and open a lane up the left side for Zucker to fly down? 36-year-old Malkin's still doing things many players only dream of doing. It's OK to recognize that while also recognizing he's not quite what he once was.
• Over a full season, Zucker's pacing for 23 goals. That, quite frankly, is a big bonus on top of all the work he does to drive play on the second line.
• Here's Malkin's second-period goal to put the Penguins back on top, followed by a classic Malkin celebration:
Are there two players on this team who love to score more than Malkin and Zucker? I don't think so.
The goal was Malkin's 15th of the season.
• Rakell didn't have a goal to show for his efforts like his linemates, but he still had a really strong showing against his former team. In addition to assisting on both Zucker and Malkin's goals, he picked up the secondary assist on Rust's game-tying goal at the end of regulation. He'll take the three-assist game, but it was evident he wanted to put one past John Gibson, as he attempted eight shots, five of which were scoring chances.
"I was really excited to play," Rakell said. "I think so was our whole line. We’ve been playing better and better lately, so it’s really nice for us to get rewarded as well."
• For as near-dominant as the second line was all game, their one blemish is whatever the heck happened with their defensive-zone coverage on Zegras' go-ahead goal in the third:
The mess is highlighted by P.O Joseph toppling over, but all five skaters contributed to it.
• The Brian Dumoulin - Ty Smith defense pairing took a step back in the two games following my analysis of their encouraging start together, but the Penguins pulverized the Ducks in their 16:19 together at 5-on-5. During that time, the Penguins had a 1-0 advantage in goals and a 26-5 edge in shot attempts while out-chancing the Ducks, 9-1.
• DeSmith stopped 26 of 29 shots en route to picking up his second win in his last seven starts. His best save of the night came with next to no time on the clock in the second period. I've got a Freeze Frame breaking it down.
• Carter found himself back on the right wing of the third line after a very brief experiment there earlier this season. His line with Drew O'Connor and Teddy Blueger didn't blow the doors off the Ducks, but their results were a heck of a lot better than the status quo for that line. No goals were scored on either side in their 9:01 together while the Penguins commanded shot attempts (15-8) and scoring chances (10-6). I have my doubts that trio will be a long-term solution on the third line, but it's a start.
• Marcus Pettersson returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games due to illness. He definitely wasn't at his best and seemed to struggle at various points of the game. That said, he was out there at the end of regulation with DeSmith pulled and made a couple of really nice plays leading up to Rust's goal.
• Jonathan Gruden made his NHL debut, centering the Penguins' fourth line. He played a team-low 7:01, though Sullivan admitted he would have liked to get him a bit more ice time. Gruden attempted one shot, threw two hits, had a takeaway, and went 1-for-5 on faceoffs.
His one shot attempt rang off the post after he gained the offensive zone through the middle of the ice:
It's tough to make any judgments off seven minutes of ice time, but it was pretty apparent why Gruden's playing style is appealing to Sullivan in the Penguins' bottom six. He skated hard, embraced contact, and was very engaged defensively. We'll see if it translates into positive results over time.
• Thanks for reading!
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Jake Guentzel, Penguins LW
2. Bryan Rust, Penguins RW
3. Trevor Zegras, Ducks C
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jan Rutta was a surprise absence from the lineup. He took part in Monday's morning skate, but Sullivan announced he is day-to-day with an upper-body injury
• Defenseman Jeff Petry remains on long-term injured reserve with an injury to his left arm/wrist. He skated in non-contact fashion with the team for the first time on Monday morning and is feeling better each day. Sullivan is hopeful his return to the lineup will be timely.
• Defenseman Kris Letang is still dealing with a lower-body injury that he sustained on Dec. 28. He also remains away from the team right now following the death of his father, but is expected to return to the team within a day or two.
• Goalie Tristan Jarry is progressing through his rehab from a lower-body injury and remains on injured reserve.
• Forward Josh Archibald is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He is skating on his own.
• Forward Ryan Poehling is on injured reserve with a nagging upper-body injury. He skated in non-contact fashion with the team Monday morning.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan's lines and defense pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Drew O'Connor - Teddy Blueger - Jeff Carter
Brock McGinn - Jonathan Gruden - Kasperi Kapanen
Brian Dumoulin - Ty Smith
Marcus Pettersson - Mark Friedman
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
And for Dallas Eakins' Ducks:
Adam Henrique - Mason McTavish - Troy Terry
Maxime Comtois - Trevor Zegras - Ryan Strome
Frank Vatrano - Sam Carrick - Jakob Silfverberg
Max Jones - Jayson Megna - Brett Leason
Cam Fowler - Dmitry Kulikov
Simon Benoit - John Klingberg
Urho Vaakanainen - Kevin Shattenkirk
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins are right back at it for practice on Tuesday, 12 p.m., at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. Their next game is Wednesday night, 7:08 p.m., against the Senators at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa.
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