The rollercoaster of a season for the Penguins seems to perhaps be hitting an upswing.
Kris Letang scored on a power play in overtime, as Pittsburgh picked up a key two points in the Eastern Conference playoff chase with a 3-2 win over the Rangers Sunday evening at PPG Paints Arena.
“It had a playoff feel,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Hopefully that’s something that brings out the best in us, and I thought it did today.”
The Penguins hopped out to an early lead thanks in part to three consecutive penalties taken by New York within a three minute stretch in the first five minutes of the game.
Rickard Rakell hit the net on one of two 5-on-3 power plays.
The Rangers answered five minutes later, as Barclay Goodrow banged home a rebound goal.
Early in the second, Jason Zucker put the Penguins up, 2-1, scoring his ninth goal in the last eight games.
“(New York) is somebody we’re looking to catch in the standings, so that’s a big two points,” Zucker said.
The Penguins, which have struggled in the third periods of games this year, appeared to be in for another letdown.
New York took control of the game, and tied it up on a Chris Kreider goal 9:09 into the period.
The goal, however, came with some controversy, as Evgeni Malkin appeared to take a hard hit in the back of the head by Vincent Trocheck, who fed the puck to Kreider for the transition goal.
Malkin remained down on the ice as the play continued, but remained in the game, and set up Letang for the winning goal.
“That’s what we’ve got to do,” Crosby said. “We understand what’s at stake. Geno did a great job just continuing to battle. He fought through it, didn’t get rattled by it. It was a physical game, some big hits both ways.”
The Penguins took a massive swing from New York, but managed to get the game to overtime, and win for the seventh time in their last nine games, extending their lead over the Islanders to two points for the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot, and adding a five-point buffer between them and the outside of the playoff race.
“It doesn’t matter where teams are in the standings,” said Letang, who set a new franchise record for overtime goals by a defenseman in a season with his third this year. “We need to climb and we need to rack points up.”
“In the third period, we got on our heels a little bit,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan added. “Then we got some offensive zone time and gave up the goals. But it didn’t rattle the group. We just kept playing the game.”
Jarry stands up
Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry made 27 saves, including 13 between the third period and overtime.
The performance wasn’t perfect, as he nearly committed a divesting turnover eerily similar to his giveaway in the Penguins’ postseason loss to the Islanders two years ago.
But small steps — according to Sullivan — are a good sign for his goalie, who has been injured multiple times this season and had allowed 12 goals over his last three starts.
“I thought he was real solid,” Sullivan said. “It was a one-goal game all night long. He made some key saves for us. It should give him a big boost of confidence.
“When he’s on his game, for my money, I think he’s as good as there is in the league.”
Jarry was seemingly encouraged with not only his game, but with the play of his team, which has gone 7-1-1 since a 7-2 beatdown at the hands of Edmonton on February 23.
“We’re just playing more of a complete game, playing harder in the (defensive) zone, putting pucks on net. And I think we’re just playing more of a team game.”
"Getting those couple of guys (at the trade deadline) really sparked our team. It showed us and the organization that we want to win."
That Trocheck hit
The Penguins — and their fans — clearly felt that the hit by Trocheck on Malkin warranted a penalty. Count Mike Sullivan in that group.
“I thought it was a penalty,” he said. “But obviously the referees didn't. The encouraging thing from my standpoint was how the guys reacted."
Trocheck was not asked about the hit after the game.
Following Tuesday’s game against Montreal, the Penguins will play the Rangers two more times this week, Thursday and Saturday.
Injury note
Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov left the game early in the second period and did not return.
Sullivan noted that, while he didn’t have details, Kulikov — who was among the players acquired at the trade deadline last week — was being evaluated for a lower-body injury.