Since we still have a few more days until the first playoff game, and since the Penguins did win the division and all, I believe it is okay to reflect on some of the more memorable moments of the regular season. If you will allow me, I am also going to give myself the leeway to include a couple of entire games.
We'll go into some depth with my top 3 but, first, here are a few other key moments/games – in chronological order – that receive my honorable mention.
February 11 Uniondale, NY Evgeni Malkin scores with 18 seconds left in regulation to avoid a third straight loss that would have put the Pens under .500. They went on to win, 4-3, in a shootout and would go 31-11-2 the rest of the way.
March 2 PPG Paints Arena First game in front of fans. "Capacity" was only 2,800 but the lucky folks who were there had the enthusiasm of a much larger crowd and the players responded from the time they came out for the warm-up. Kasperi Kapanen scored twice and Tristan Jarry made 40 saves in a 5-2 win over the Flyers who, at the time, were still very much a threat.
May 6 PPG Paints Arena Jeff Carter scored 4 goals in a fairly wild 8-4 win over Buffalo. He had never scored 4 goals in the and said he didn't remember having a 4-goal game in Junior Hockey.
Now for my Top 3
3. May 8 PPG Paints Arena With Jarry and Casey DeSmith both out, 28-yearold Maxime Legace got the call off the Taxi Squad for his first NHL start since 2019 and only his 18th NHL start overall.
Maxime Legace earns the shutout as the Penguins beat the Sabres in Pittsburgh 💪 pic.twitter.com/SUvrZbrwdr
— UNB! Sports NHL (@unbsportsnhl) May 8, 2021
All Legace did was stop all 29 shots he faced in a 1-0 win that clinched the top spot in the East Division. Carter scored the goal.
2. March 25 PPG Paints Arena Without the injured Malkin, Kapanen, Tanev and Blueger – and before Carter's arrival – 6-6 Radim Zohorna made his Pens debut and scored the game's first goal in a 4-0 win over the Sabres. The outpouring of joy from his teammates was genuine.
Jared McCann scored 2 power play goals and Jake Guentzel hit the empty net while DeSmith made 36 saves, his second shutout of the season, both against Buffalo.
1. April 15 PPG Paints Arena Tags with the assist! In the second period of a scoreless tie against the Flyers Brian Dumoulin lost his stick in the defensive zone so Sidney Crosby gave his up. When Dumoulin started a rush the other way with Crosby's stick, long-time equipment manager Jon Taglianetti saw what was up and reached out over the bench with another stick for the streaking Crosby. Sid followed Kris Letang into the crease and shoved a rebound into the goal. You've seen the play before but enjoy another ten or so times!
The reaction from Crosby and especially the guys on the bench is priceless. Unfortunately, the Penguins failed to hang on and lost in a shootout. "If we'd have won, Tags might have gotten the (victory) helmet," Mike Sullivan smiled after the game.
Incidentally, in his 11 NHL seasons, including playoffs, Peter Taglianetti assisted on 82 goals, 7 of them in the playoffs and 2 of those in Game 6 of the Final when the Pens clinched their first Stanley Cup.
Still, the most spectacular Taglianetti assist came from Peter's son, Jon. Dad would be the first to say so!
