Pittsburgh Penguins Overcome Colorado Avalanche 4-2

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Pepsi Center after a flurry of goals in the third period, including two by winger Beau Bennett.

103. 4. 92. Final. 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins traveled to Denver to take on the Avalanche on Wednesday night with rumors swirling that a loss could mean the end of their head coach’s tenure with the team.

Mike Johnston has been under siege since the Pens 0-3 start, and recent comments by general manager Jim Rutherford only ratcheted up the scrutiny.

With a solid start, the Pens were threatening to score early when a 2-on-2 Avalanche rush into the Penguins’ defensive zone saw a Nathan MacKinnon shot carom off of Kris Letang‘s pad and onto the waiting stick of Matt Duchene. Duchene shot low and beat Marc-Andre Fleury five-hole for the 1-0 Avalanche lead.

The Pittsburgh Penguins responded less than five minutes later as an Olli Maatta point shot was redirected by both Patric Hornqvist and Matt Cullen past Avs goalie Reto Berra. Cullen’s goal tied the game at 1-1.

At 15:00 in the first period, an odd man rush for the Avalanche turned into a no-win situation for Kris Letang. Carl Soderberg caught Letang between a rock and a hard place and was able to hit defender Erik Johnson in front of the net for an easy redirection past Fleury.

The Avs regained the lead 2-1 and would hold it until midway through the 3rd period.

Finally, 7:19 into the third period a nice zone entry pass by Sidney Crosby to Chris Kunitz allowed Kunitz the opportunity to hit a wide open Beau Bennett in front of the net.

Despite an Avalanche defender deflecting the pass, Beau was able to corral the puck and patiently wait for an opening. The backhand snipe he put past Reto Berra was nothing short of wonderful. 2-2.

Two minutes later, an Olli Maatta shot to the net pinballed into the air and somehow landed in the Avalanche net. Despite a review from Toronto and a challenge by Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy, the goal stood. It was originally credited to Maatta but has since been changed to Patric Hornqvist’s 5th of the season.

Beau Bennett scored again less than two minutes after Hornqvist’s goal, connecting on the end of a long Brian Dumoulin pass and rifling a shot into the net.

Penguins win 4-2.

Player Performance

Brian Dumoulin was looking particularly spry tonight. Between #8 and David Warsofsky, I almost forgot that Rob Scuderi still gets a jersey with the team.

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To quote the oft repeated joke, tonight was Rob Scuderi‘s best night for the Pens this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was on the ice for all three goals in the third period. The first Avs goal was not his fault. It was a bad bounce off his pad and Fleury probably should’ve saved it. He’s a little more culpable on the Erik Johnson goal.

Olli Maatta goes out with an injury and comes back to be one of the few sparks on the Penguins offensive attack. He has two goals and and two assists in three games. Most of all his return gives Mike Johnston zero excuse to dress Scuderi again with Letang now healthy as well.

Sergei Plotnikov is never lucky. Never. I’ve read a few Pens fans on Twitter saying that Plotnikov is Russian for snakebitten. I don’t speak Russian but I’m starting to become a believer. The kid deserves a goal something fierce.

Sidney Crosby being wrenched off his feet by Nick Holden’s stick getting stuck in his skates basically summarizes his season, and the season of the Penguins. He did get an assist tonight on the Pittsburgh Penguins second goal.

Why is Marc-Andre Fleury the only player who consistently performs for Mike Johnston? The Matt Duchene goal should’ve been stopped, but beyond that (which, to be fair, was also a terribly bad bounce for the Pens) he was solid.

Daniel Sprong had just 6:06 of time on the ice in Colorado and did not take a shift in the third period. I don’t think Johnston thought too much of Rutherford’s media foray. The kid did seem to make things happen while he was out there. I’m not sure what Johnston is expecting him to do with that little bit of time that he’s not already doing.

Pittsburgh Penguins Player of the Game

Beau Bennett has been a positive on the top line with Crosby and Chris Kunitz.

The filthy backhand he put past Reto Berra to tie the game in the 3rd was magic, and then he netted again just a few minutes later. When he went down after the knee-to-knee contact late in the 3rd everyone held their breath, but it looks like he’s okay.

He’s much maligned and occasionally over celebrated. It just depends on the day.

Whatever their stance on Beau, Pens fans should be pretty happy with #19 tonight.

The Big Picture

Tonight the Pittsburgh Penguins offense looked like a real NHL caliber unit.

Sidney Crosby’s line generated two goals, while Evgeni Malkin’s unit put good pressure on the Avalanche throughout the entire night. The dump and chase hockey that was so persistent over the weekend largely gave way to sound zone entries and the improvement in the offensive zone speaks for itself.

After the helter skelter first period, the Pens defense tightened up. The third period kill of the abbreviated 5-on-3 and subsequent 5-on-4 Avs power play shifted the momentum of the game. Marc-Andre Fleury was superb during that stretch of penalty killing, and from there the Penguins kicked it into overdrive.

Next: Is Years Of Wear And Tear Taking Its Toll On Sidney Crosby?

The entire game felt like a race against time for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The pressure was there throughout, but would they break through Reto Berra and tie the game or take the lead before 60 minutes was up? Tonight they did so and they truly deserved to win. The effort was far better all the way around, though part of me wonders if you can’t chalk some of how well the Pens looked up to the Avalanche being a bad team.

The looming threat of termination that hangs over head coach Mike Johnston will recede for a few days it seems. To be continued.

The Pens will be back on the ice Friday night at CONSOL Energy Center against the Los Angeles Kings.

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