NEWARK, N.J. – The Penguins' thin forward corps was already prepared to reshuffle lines and call in reserves on Saturday, as three key pieces of the top-nine were sidelined in Evgeni Malkin, Teddy Blueger and Jason Zucker.
Then, they were dealt another last-minute curveball — or maybe knuckle puck — to test their forward depth.
During warmups, Brandon Tanev burst onto the ice with his typical hair-on-fire approach and began his usual pregame routine in the right faceoff circle. But at some point, he left warmups and didn’t return.
Short-handed even more than expected, the Penguins survived thanks to a possessed Sidney Crosby, some critical bottom-six production, a special teams goal and more solid goaltending from backup goalie Casey DeSmith.
The 3-1 victory improves the Penguins’ record to 19-11-1 (39 points), maintaining their position as third place in the East Division and avoiding what could have been their first three-game losing streak of the season.
In the first period, the Penguins out-shot and out-chanced the home team. However, the Devils took a 1-0 lead on a scoring chance off the rush. Jesper Bratt feathered a seam pass through two Penguins defenders to create an initial chance for Sami Vatanen. DeSmith made the pad save, but his momentum carried him out of the net. The juicy rebound was laying in front and Kyle Palmieri capitalized.
The Penguins had been held scoreless at 5-on-5 play for six consecutive periods, all without Malkin, by the time they came out of the first intermission. They found some offense from critical areas during the frame: the bottom-six and special teams.
Zach Aston-Reese tried to work a little give-and-go with center Mark Jankowski, who has been playing a third-line role in Blueger’s absence. The puck was fumbled and somehow ended up on Aston-Reese’s stick in the slot — and then in the back of the net. The goal was Aston-Reese’s sixth of the season since returning from offseason shoulder surgery. In 20 games, he’s now matched his goal-scoring total in 57 games last season.
The Penguins had been building momentum all period. Earlier, Crosby had set up Bryan Rust for a Grade-A chance that clanged off the post. Rust would get his redemption on the power play. And it was a beauty.
After the Penguins won a puck battle along the boards, Rust emerged with the puck. Using his speed, he curled toward the net. As defenseman Damon Severson attempted to reach in, Rust made a cheeky move to lift the defender's stick. He went forehand-to-backhand to beat goalie Scott Wedgewood top shelf. The goal marked Rust’s third power-play goal of the season and his 11th overall.
In addition to missing some offensive firepower, playing without Tanev and Blueger meant Pittsburgh was also missing two of its best penalty killers. That became critical midway through the third period with Anthony Angello in the box. Then, just as the Penguins killed that penalty, Brian Dumoulin handed the Devils another power play.
Yet with two of the best PK players out, the Penguins turned in two impressive kills back-to-back. During that critical four-minute stretch, Jankowski and Aston-Reese did a lot of the heavy lifting from a forward perspective. The Penguins limited the chances so successfully, the very nice people of New Jersey, known for their welcoming nature and hospitality, booed their own team at the end of the second power play.
Of course, playing the NHL’s fourth-worst power play also helps.
For two consecutive games, Crosby looked like a man on a mission with the other star center sidelined. He was buzzing all over the ice and playing in a variety of roles, sometimes on different lines and also on the penalty kill in spurts.
The captain finally got rewarded for the effort late in the third period to seal the game. From the blue line, Crosby shot a puck intended for Guentzel’s stick. The degree of difficulty on the shot was insane. Crosby put the puck exactly where it needed to be and Guentzel, from all the way on the left faceoff dot, redirected it into the net, showing great hand-eye and chemistry.
DeSmith survived one last scramble. He stopped 23 of 24 shots for another solid performance.
The Penguins will be back in action again Sunday at PPG Paints Arena in the final game of a three-game series against the Devils.
