PITTSBURGH — The Penguins’ pickups early in NHL free agency were mostly met with shrugs.
When the market opened in July, they had only a little more than $7 million in cap space to spend. They split it up among a few unheralded forwards, notably Brock McGinn, Danton Heinen and Evan Rodrigues. Certainly not the caliber of signings that showed up on the ticker at the bottom of your television screen.
“It means you’ve got to shop at Kmart and not at Nordstrom,” president of hockey operations Brian Burke, asked about their frugal free agency, told the Post-Gazette then. “We’re really happy with the guys we brought in. We really are.”
The blue-light specials they scooped up then helped them again on Friday.
Rodrigues and McGinn both scored again to help the Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, at PPG Paints Arena. Jeff Carter won it for the home team in overtime, scoring with 2:07 left on the clock to extend their winning streak to six.
The Penguins lost, 2-1, to the perpetually rebuilding Sabres on Nov. 16. Since then, they have the NHL’s top record, reeling off 11 wins in their last 14 games.
On Friday, Rodrigues got the scoring started for the Penguins, one of the league’s best first-period teams. They have now outscored their opponents, 24-12.
After Drew O’Connor drew a penalty with some solid work below the goal line in the offensive zone, Rodrigues scored the game’s first goal. The Penguins fired six shots in 32 seconds on that power play. Rodrigues’ shot from the right circle was the one that got behind Subban, hitting the goalie then trickling through.
It was the 10th goal of the season for Rodrigues, already a new career high.
He was in and out of the lineup during his first two seasons in Pittsburgh after the Penguins acquired him from the Sabres in February of 2020. This fall, with their myriad health issues, he seized his latest opportunity to play in the top six.
Rodrigues continues to be on their top playmakers two months into the season. And making just $1 million, he has been one of the NHL’s best bargains.
The 28-year-old has improved his shot, too, giving the Penguins another weapon for their power play. Rodrigues nearly got another one on the man advantage later in the first. His rebound try from just off the left post got past Subban’s blocker, but it clipped the lunging goalie’s glove at the goal line and stayed out.
The Sabres, as they have been wont to do over the past several years, have had a revolving door in goal this season. Friday night, it was the journeyman Subban between the pipes, making his second start since Buffalo got him from Chicago. He stopped 20 of 21 first-period shots to keep the Sabres in the game.
In the second period, after another threatening power play put the Sabres back on their heels, McGinn buried a rebound to push the Penguins lead to 2-0.
It was the eighth goal of the season for McGinn, who like Rodrigues signed with the Penguins the first day of free agency. The winger, who accepted a four-year deal worth $11 million total, has added an offensive dimension to Teddy Blueger’s line without sacrificing much of the other stuff Brandon Tanev provided.
Heinen didn’t score against the Sabres. But the winger, elevated into the top six with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust still sidelined, scored twice during this winning streak. With eight goals, he’s tied with McGinn for fourth on the Penguins.
But the Sabres would somehow tie it up despite being drastically outplayed. In the second period, Zemgus Girgensons whacked a pin-balling puck past Tristan Jarry to get them on the scoreboard. Then with 5:18 left in the third, Rasmus Dahlin dipped in from the point and snapped a shot over Jarry’s blocker to tie it up.
Subban stopped 44 shots during regulation to get the Sabres into overtime.
To open OT, the Penguins had to kill a minor penalty assessed to Carter. He repaid the favor by redirecting Kris Letang's pass past Subban for the winner.
The Penguins killed off three more penalties against the Sabres, making it 35 in a row dating back to Nov. 16. They have not allowed a power-play goal in 15 games, the NHL’s longest streak since the New York Islanders did that in 2015-16.
The Penguins have three more games on the schedule prior to the Christmas break. Up next for them is a road tilt against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
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