Here come the Penguins.
The NHL’s most improbable team ended things in Columbus in the most typical fashion imaginable, with Sidney Crosby burying the Blue Jackets like he always does.
In a first half of memorable moments, unimaginable meltdowns and scintillating finishes, the Penguins outdid themselves on Sunday at Nationwide Arena. Down three goals at one point, they roared back, evening the game with 14 seconds left on Rickard Rakell’s goal before Crosby gave them a 5-4 victory with a breakaway goal in overtime.
The Penguins, with their season precisely halfway through, sit in the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Washington Capitals. They also have pulled even with the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division, though the Flyers have played only 40 games.
Dan Muse’s team is on pace for 98 points while its ageless captain is on pace for 94 points of his own.
What makes the Penguins’ current position in the standings all the more remarkable is the skid they found themselves on less than a month ago. The Penguins lost nine of 10 games during a 17-day stretch in December. They blew three-goal leads in two of those games, and gave up a shorthanded, game-tying goal with 0.1 seconds left in another. It was the kind of disaster that surely would have ruined the season for most teams.
Clearly resuscitated by the Christmas break, the Penguins have now won five straight, looking dominant in most of those performances. They fell behind 4-1 against the Blue Jackets in the second period and, having played 24 hours earlier, didn’t figure to have the energy to make a real push.
But they did.
The Penguins started taking control of the game in the second period and never looked back, outshooting the Blue Jackets 43-25. Ville Koivunen, Noel Acciari and Tommy Novak scored for the Penguins to set the stage for Rakell and Crosby’s heroics. It was Acciari’s goal late in the second period that jump-started the Penguins.
The Penguins have three days off before resuming at home on Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils.
“I thought there was a lot to like,” Muse said. “We were in the offensive zone a lot.”
10 postgame observations
• It’s very fair to question certain things about the Penguins. As I often write in this space, this is a flawed hockey team. But then again, every team in the Eastern Conference has its flaws, and one thing the Penguins have in their favor is the amount of guts they have.
That was on display against the Blue Jackets. Logistically speaking, teams that have traveled and played 24 hours earlier don’t come back from three goals down very often, especially while playing on the road. The most challenging aspect of coming back from a big deficit is producing the energy it takes to catch a team from that far behind.
Well, the Penguins played with a noticeable amount of energy against Columbus. They overwhelmed the Blue Jackets during the final 30 minutes and only a sensational performance from Columbus goaltender Jet Greaves prevented them from completing the comeback earlier.
• It’s no coincidence that the Penguins’ fourth line triggered the comeback. Down 4-1 in the second period, a Blake Lizotte forecheck led to a turnover onto the blade of Connor Dewar. He found Acciari, who beat Greaves to the stick side to give the Penguins a healthy amount of life.
“I feel like everyone kind of fed off of (that),” Crosby said.
There was a time, not long ago, when previous coach Mike Sullivan justifiably wouldn’t have considered using his fourth line when the Penguins were down in the third period. But Muse is happy to deploy this trio, and for good reason. The Penguins wouldn’t be where they are in the standings without the line. It’s not debatable.
“It’s a huge goal,” Muse said. “It totally changes the feel of the game, the feel coming into the locker room.”
• The most impressive aspect of the game-tying goal was that the Penguins’ big guns — Crosby, Rakell, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang and Anthony Mantha — had all been on the ice for in the neighborhood of two minutes when they scored. They were exhausted but pressed on.
There was much to like about the goal. Letang showed some serious poise with the puck in those final seconds, Karlsson made a couple of strong plays to keep the puck inside of the blue line, and the duo of Crosby and Mantha executed a perfect set-up to Rakell, whose shot was perfect.
But I couldn’t help but notice Rust taking a beating in front of the net and then celebrating with a fist pump while laying on the ice.
• Much has been made about Crosby’s line change in overtime with Tommy Novak.
I didn’t find it overly sneaky, to be honest. Charlie Coyle simply didn’t show much in the way of awareness on the play. Novak was very clearly going to the bench for a change, and Coyle basically escorted him there and then took another stride toward Columbus’ bench. His lack of awareness basically gave Crosby a breakaway.
Also, what a move by Crosby on the breakaway. Given his struggles in shootouts this season and his peculiar insistence on always shooting glove side in those moments, I’d love to see him use the greatest backhand in hockey history more often.
The Blue Jackets, by the way, thought the play was offside, which is why they didn’t leave the bench for quite some time after the game. But it was clearly onside.
• Karlsson was sensational in the third period. He nearly had a highlight-reel goal, only to hit the crossbar. He was a consistent offensive presence during the Penguins’ comeback and his skating was simply marvelous.
Sometimes, with him, you have to take the good with the bad. The good has been far more noticeable than the bad this season, and that was certainly the case in this game. He was incredible, right down to the pass he made to Crosby on the game-winner.
Erik Karlsson had an excellent performance in 25:46 of ice time against the Blue Jackets. (Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
• Rutger McGroarty was one of the only Penguins who didn’t enjoy a strong game on Saturday in Detroit. He was replaced in the lineup by Ville Koivunen in Columbus. Koivunen responded with his second goal of the season on his first shift.
The Penguins haven’t had this much depth at forward in years, and remember, Evgeni Malkin remains out of the lineup. The plan is for him to practice with the Penguins on Tuesday, potentially returning to the lineup as early as Thursday’s game against New Jersey.
• Ben Kindel produced a pair of helpers in this game, getting primary assists on goals scored by Koivunen and Novak.
I love the cleverness in Kindel’s game. He has a deceptive way with the puck and sees the ice at a very high level. His feed to Novak was right on the money. Kindel is in a goal-scoring drought, but his performance is actually getting better.
• It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch. The Penguins allowed four goals in a 12-minute span, their defensive work suddenly shoddy after the clinic they produced the day before in Detroit. Their net-front defense was especially poor during that stretch and something that needs to improve.
• I can’t say those goals were Arturs Silovs’ fault. No, he didn’t play great, but he had to deal with nasty screens and odd-man rushes throughout that stretch.
To his credit, Silovs made a couple of massive saves late in the third when the Penguins were still trailing by a goal. He was there when the Penguins needed him. All in all, not a bad performance from him at all.
• At the season’s halfway point, the Penguins are in a dogfight for a playoff spot with all of their biggest rivals, including the Flyers, Capitals and New York Islanders. The second half of the season figures to be fascinating, if nothing else.
Suddenly, halfway through the season, the Penguins feel very fresh and very dangerous. What a story they are.
