Penguins/Predators Recap: Pens make comeback, win 3-2 in OT

Pregame

Evgeni Malkin’s illness leads to his first missed game of the season, Avery Hayes gets called up from the AHL and hops right into Malkin’s spot in the lineup. Arturs Silovs gets his third game in a row in net.

Nashville comes to town with this lineup for the night.

First period

Nashville scores first 9:24 into the game, unfortunate bounce for the Pens when the puck goes off Steven Stamkos’ skate and in. 1-0.

Elmer Soderblom draws a penalty, power play doesn’t cash in.

Pretty decent period for the Penguins, a bad bounce has them down on the scoreboard but they’re only one shot away after 20 minutes.

Second period

It takes 18 seconds to tie the game. Connor Dewar fights through to the middle of the ice and smacks a puck by Juuse Saros. 1-1.

The Pens get a lot of pressure but it’s Nashville that scores next. Spencer Stastney doesn’t play a puck cleanly behind his net, it makes its way out to Jayden Struble and the defender takes a quick shot to the top of the net. 2-1 NSH.

The Predators try to build on it, Silovs makes a big save on Ross Colton then has to deny Ryan O’Rielly on a 2-on-1.

More Pittsburgh pressure leads to Ville Koivunen setting up Hayes for a nice chance in tight. Saros is playing well and makes the save.

The Pens keep pushing, in the very dying seconds the Preds get on the counter-attack. Silovs comes way out of the crease to make a save, he does but leaves a rebound. Jack Drury finds it and jabs the puck into the open net, luckily for Pittsburgh it goes in just tenths of a second after the clock hits 0.0

Again, mostly not bad from the Pens. The difference in the game has been Saros playing really well. He’s stopped 24 of 25 Pittsburgh shots through 40 minutes.

Third period

A frenetic third period sees chances at both ends. Dewar takes a penalty to send Nashville to their first power play of the night. It’s Rickard Rakell who gets the best chance during it, though Saros stops him on a breakaway.

The Pens pull Silovs with a little over two minutes to play. It pays off with a 6v5 goal. Sidney Crosby wires a pass through the zone, Rakell is there to one-time it off Saros’ shoulder and into the net. Tie game with 1:06 remaining.

Overtime

The Pens hold onto the puck for almost all of overtime, until Koivunen ends it. He finds the extra space to wheel around in the o-zone, get to the middle of the ice and fire a wrister past Saros. 3-2 OT win.

Some thoughts

• Down three top-six forwards (Malkin, Chinakhov, Rust) and two defensemen from the opening night lineup (Girard, van Riemsdyk), not to mention Kindel, it was always going to be an uphill climb for the home team tonight. Didn’t help that Saros can be one of the top goalies in the league when he’s on his game and he was certainly on his game tonight. Saros was the reason this wasn’t a Pittsburgh regulation win, it’s a shame for him to give up two late goals and end up taking the L as a result. He didn’t truly deserve that.
• Had a note written up here about the struggles for Rakell, highlighted by his denial on a breakaway in the third period. Luckily he was able to tie the game late and shake that off. Captain obvious statement, but that ended up being a really, really big goal. Without it the Pens might have lost in regulation at home to a team that isn’t exactly a powerhouse and fall to a 4-7-1 record on the season. Rising up to 5-6-1 might not sound THAT much better on the surface but the difference is a swing from a .375 points% to a .458% and is pretty sizeable.
• That nice play aside, the first line is in shambles. Crosby didn’t have a shot on goal for the second game in a row. Rakell was able to come through when it mattered most in a 6v5 situation, brings little elsewise. Novak, for his talents, hasn’t given a boost there. Great to see Crosby create the game-tying goal late in the third period, it was a frustratingly quiet game for him up to that point. About the only notable moment for him was the linesman accidentally judo chopping the captain in the face.
• It’s a minor note, yet still something to point out that the Lapierre-Koivunen pairing has been impressing. Lapierre is good at holding pucks and rotating all over the ice in the offensive zone. Koivunen does about the same. It looks like the two of them operate on the same level, mentally. Nice little connection there. The Pens didn’t have a lot of options for a 3v3, but credit the coaches for throwing that pair out there in OT. It ended up winning them the game.
• Similarly, it can be hit or miss but liked the flashes at times from Soderblom. He drew the only Pittsburgh power play of the night. He got an assist, his first point on the season. He made a couple of dekes and power moves to use his size and reach in the offensive zone. That all happened in the first half of the game and then Soderblom wasn’t standing out much in the latter part. As close as it seems sometimes for him to fully break out and start to make progress then sometimes it seems like he recedes into the background too much.
• Avery Hayes has the gift in making you want to see more of him. That always seems like the case and surely was tonight in his NHL season debut. Five shots on goal, three hits and a takeaway in under 13 minutes of action. His game is simple, yet he’s going to be a factor with the high energy level he brings. As we’ve said before and will say again, there’s a lot of Tyler Kennedy in his game for an up-tempo player that never passed up an opportunity to put the puck on target when the chance pops up. A lot happens in Hayes’ minutes. Most of it is good for his team.
• It’s been rare for a goalie for the Penguins to start three in a row like Silovs did tonight. Based on his efforts, wouldn’t be surprised or against him getting a fourth on Monday. Silovs made a couple of the important saves that he needed to make to hold his team in the game. It ended up paying off in the end. Another strong effort for him and nice way to build off the last game.

This was a gutsy effort by a depleted team, and now they get a respite from the schedule with four days off before Utah comes to town on Thursday. That’s coming up at the right time and hopefully the Pens can get some bodies back by the next time they have to play. Tonight, it wasn’t the prettiest, but taking two points at the end of the night is the most you can ask for.