PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pens fell behind a couple of times, but continue to fight back. This one ended in regulation, 3-2 the final over the Rangers on a goal by Jake Guentzel with 1:31 to play in the game.
Guentzel GW was 100th in NHL
The 26-year-old reached the milestone in 249 games. He’s the 10th fastest to do it in Pens history and just 17th to reach 100 in club history. Guentzel scored his first two goals of his career against the Rangers in his first game November 21, 2016.
“Obviously it’s a cool honor for it to be the game-winner there,” Guentzel said. “It’s a big goal for us in a big homestand. Any chance of getting the two points. Its definitely big. Just a big win for us all around.”
‘Stopping the puck’
That is what goalie Tristan Jarry said dryly when asked what has improved for him. Jarry stopped 24 of 26 shots including some tough ones in the third and one save without a stick, which broke during continuing play.
“Tristan was really solid,” Sullivan said. “He’s had two solid games here, back-to-back. He’s tracking the puck really well. He’s seeing the puck really well. He plays the puck extremely well, which helps us. I thought the last two games were really encouraging. He played two solid games for us.”
“I’m seeing the puck well,” Jarry said. “Working with Buck (goalie coach Mike Buckley) and the coaching staff watching video, that has helped me a lot. That week to reset and get my mind straight. I think that was a big help in these last two games and our home stand. It helped a lot being able to work that week with Buck.”
Regulation win
Pens end a perfect opening home stand beating Washington twice and now the Rangers twice. This one was different, it was in regulation and bumps them up to second place in the MassMutual East Division.
“It’s nice to just get points,” Sullivan said. “When you can win in regulation, you aren’t giving up points to your opponents. We are in a divisional race here. There is a lot of parity in the division. There’s a lot of really good teams.”
“It was good to get a win in regulation,” Jarry said. “It helps us move up in the standings. It’s a good two points for us and they don’t walk away with any.”
Line changes-Rodrigues hurt
Pens changed up three of their four lines to start the game before Evan Rodrigues’ lower body injury (Rust moved to the top line). No update yet to Rodrigues’ status. Here were the changes.
Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
McCann-Malkin-Rust
Zucker-Blueger-Kapanen
Tanev-Jankowski-Sceviour
“We're trying to find line combinations that help us have success and give us the balance that we need,” Sullivan said. “There are a number of things we’ve discussed. We've kept certain ones together here for a little while. We feel at this particular point in time, a little bit of change might be good for the group."
“When you look at a player like Jared McCann. He has shown an ability to shown goals. He has a great shot. He brings a certain element of speed to any line that he plays on.”
McCann would score in a second straight game grabbing a loose puck created by Brandon Tanev and floating it into the back of the net.
“We have a number of options that we can go to, to try and create the balance and the chemistry that we are looking for on each of our respective lines,” Sullivan said.
“My sense is we we’ll probably tweak some of these lines until we get what we look for.”
The defensive pairings remained the same as Friday as Mike Sullivan praised the job PO Joseph did in his NHL debut.
Kapanen remains on lower lines
The Pens traded for Kasperi Kapanen to be on the top line, why does he remain a part of the bottom six?
“He’s making progress,” Sullivan said. “Kappy is trying to get up to speed from a conditioning standpoint. He’s trying to acclimate himself in 5-on-5 play, which he hasn’t played in a long time. He’s trying to learn the style of play that the Penguins play, which my sense is very different from where he’s come from. We are throwing a lot at him in a short period of time.”
“It’s no secret in the big picture we’d like to get him with Sid and Jake because we think his speed dimension and some of the attributes that he brings to the table will help that line and be complimentary to that line. But it’s going to take a little time here to put him in a position to be successful and for that line to be successful.”