PITTSBURGH — When the Penguins embarked upon this unprecedented season staged in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coaching staff preached to expect the unexpected and roll with the punches.
Well, they probably didn’t anticipate this.
A general manager resigned. The entire left side of the blue line was decimated by injury at one point. Later in the season, five of the top eight forwards were missing, including Evgeni Malkin. Games got changed, moved and postponed due to the virus. Yet, the Penguins weathered all those storms to enter the final game of the regular season atop the parity-packed East Division standings.
Saturday in the 56th and final game, they had to roll with one more big punch. Both of the regular goalies — Tristan Jarry (upper body) and Casey DeSmith (lower body) — were unable to play due to injury. While they are expected back for Game 1 of the playoffs, that thrust third goalie Maxime Lagace into a starting role for his first start as a Penguin and his first NHL action since Feb. 1, 2019.
During the Penguins' 1-0 win over the Sabres at PPG Paints Arena, Lagace was up to the task.
In a performance that epitomized the Penguins’ next-man-up season, he stopped all 29 shots he faced to shut out Buffalo. After the game, he stepped onto the ice and saluted the crowd as the game's No. 1 star.
“Tonight is going to be a night I’ll remember for sure,” Lagace said. “Probably the thing I’ll remember the most is when the buzzer sounded at the end there. I don’t even know how to describe it. It was such a relief.
“Within the last four minutes, I started to think about the shutout. It was creeping into my head a little bit. I wanted it so bad.”
With the win in regulation, the Penguins finished the regular season with a record of 37-16-3 and 77 points. They clinched home-ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs. They can finish no worse than No. 2 in the East Division standings.
Who the Penguins will play in the first round of the playoffs and when remains in flux.
Elsewhere in the East Division, the Capitals have 73 points with two games remaining — one on Saturday against the Flyers and another one Tuesday against the Bruins. The first tiebreaker is regulation wins. Therefore, Washington needs to win both games in regulation in order to win the division. If the Capitals lose or are forced to play past regulation in either of the two games, the Penguins will capture the division crown.
Boston, meanwhile, cannot catch the Penguins. After falling to the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon, the Bruins have two games remaining and 71 points.
“We did everything we could to put ourselves in the best possible spot,” forward Jared McCann said. “We can’t control the other stuff now. We’re going to look ahead to who we’re going to play and stay focused.”
While the Penguins got the critical two points in regulation to keep their hopes of winning the division alive, their performance was far from their best game. Playing against a Buffalo team with the league's worst record, the Penguins were outshot, 29-23, and outchanced 18-17, according to Natural Stat Trick.
However, they got just enough offense from what’s become an emerging weapon. After a four-goal game on Thursday, Penguins deadline addition Jeff Carter kept the hot streak rolling in the second period on Saturday.
Freddy Gaudreau dished a pass from below the goal line. The puck hit Carter’s stick and then his chest. He got just enough of it to put it past Buffalo’s Michael Houser for his 399th career goal.
“He’s a very skilled player, obviously,” his linemate McCann said. “He plays the right way. He’s an easy guy for me to play with. It doesn’t take too much chemistry when you have a guy that skilled.”
Carter, who was acquired from Los Angeles in exchange for a pair of mid-round picks, has not only flashed his own scoring potential. His addition could have a major ripple effect through the entire lineup. The Penguins entered Saturday as the NHL’s highest-scoring team, averaging 3.49 goals per game. They rose up the leaderboard while playing a considerable chunk of the season without Malkin or Carter.
Now, with those two centers in the fold, the Penguins appear to have three legitimate scoring lines to go along with a shut-down Teddy Blueger line that can be trusted against any opposing line.
That firepower wasn’t necessarily on display on Saturday. Instead, the Penguins needed their netminder to bail them out on several instances. Lagace spent most of the season on the taxi squad, only going to Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton for nine games to keep his game sharp. He was ready when it mattered.
“I give [the players on the taxi squad] a lot of credit,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “They work so hard at just controlling what they can to keep their game sharp and stay ready. You just don’t know when you’re going to get tapped on the shoulder to get in the lineup. Today was a perfect example of that.”
Midway through the first period, the 6-foot-2 Lagace made a nice left pad save on Riley Sheahan. Then in the second period, Lagace kicked out his right leg to deny Drake Caggiula on a breakaway.
Perhaps the biggest save came in the third. With just under 10 minutes, Lagace squared up to shut down Victor Olofsson’s Grade-A chance from the slot.
“I was telling the boys, when he shot it, I literally just put my glove up and it hit it,” Lagace said. “Sometime you’ve got to be lucky. I’ll take it, obviously.”
On the other side of the ice, Buffalo goalie Houser, who moved to Wexford as a kid, bounced back. After allowing eight goals on Thursday, he stood tall on several instances to keep Buffalo in a tight game.
But ultimately, the Penguins got the timely saves and just enough offense to claim a regulation win on their last game of the regular season. Now they wait for an opponent and a game date.
“We like the group that’s assembled here,” Sullivan said. “We think we have become a team. Now our challenge is in front of us. We’re excited about it. We understand right now it’s just an opportunity. We’ve got to go out and earn it.”
