NEWARK, N.J. -- A hockey team isn't going to win many games by scoring just once, that's for sure.
The Penguins and Devils were deadlocked at a goal apiece for much of Sunday's matinee matchup here at the Prudential Center before Dougie Hamilton's eventual overtime goal, handing the Penguins a 2-1 loss.
Ryan Poehling, playing in his first game since being sidelined with an upper-body injury on Dec. 30, came inches away from a go-ahead goal in the third period. Those few inches could have been a difference-maker.
It was early in the third period, and Drew O'Connor made a play below the goal line to set up Poehling for a shot. When Poehling got another crack at the puck, New Jersey goaltender Vitek Vanecek got a piece of it with his blocker and sent it into the crossbar. It landed inches in front of the goal line:
"(O'Connor) made a good play," Poehling told me of the moment after the game. "I just put it on net, and then (Bryan Rust) kept the play alive. I pulled it back, and (Vanecek) ended up getting a blocker on it. I still thought it was going to go in, but it just ended up hitting the crossbar and falling down. It felt like we were creating a lot of chances tonight. They just weren't going in."
Beyond just the near-goal, Poehling and his line with O'Connor and Danton Heinen had a strong game. When Poehling was on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins controlled 64% of the shot attempts (16 to 9), the best differential of any Penguin in this game. The fourth line also had the best ratio of shots on goal for vs. against when they were on the ice, and limited the Devils to just one high-danger chance against.
That line's results are all the more impressive given that they didn't have a single shift start in the offensive zone. Poehling, though, was out there for three faceoffs in the defensive zone at five-on-five.
"I think we played well," Poehling said. "I think we created energy and got some chances, but we just couldn't put it in at the end of the day. It can be frustrating, but it's a good sign moving forward."
Poehling also drew the Penguins' first power play of the game, a high-sticking call on New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. Poehling has one of the best rates of drawn penalties on the team this season, averaging 1.52 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of ice time. That ranks fourth on the team, behind Josh Archibald (2.73), Brock McGinn (1.89), and Mark Friedman (1.74).
A fully healthy Poehling is a huge boost to the bottom six. He's been dealing with the same upper-body injury off and on throughout much of December and January, being sidelined for two brief stints in December and then this three-week stretch to start January. I spoke one-on-one with Poehling before the Penguins' trip to Ottawa, and he said at the start he and the team really didn't know what the injury was, and that they finally "had direction" with it during this last stint of his on the sideline.
Poehling said that he thought his game "went well, for the first time back."
"It takes some getting used to," he said. "It's something to grow on. But it was good."
