Pittsburgh Penguins Game Recap: Paying the Price for a Playoff Spot

The Pittsburgh Penguins successfully clinched a playoff spot after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres had a good, hard fought battle with each other. Buffalo was able to hold Pittsburgh in close for the first 40 minutes, but they eventually were unable to defeat our Penguins.

The big story here of course is the fact that the Penguins clinched a playoff spot, but this match also was highlighted by positives and negatives, including another bite from the injury bug.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from last night’s game.

First Period

Both teams played very strong to start things off. It was an entertaining and fast-paced period that definitely kept us viewers on the edge of our seats.

This fast-paced game was soon broken up however with a huge hit by Sabres defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen on Jake Guentzel. Ristolainen was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit, while Guentzel was down on the ice for some time. Gunetzel did not return to the game. Brutal.

On a later power play, the Penguins found some offence in none other than Sidney Crosby. With just a few seconds left in the period, Crosby dazzled the crowd with a highlight reel goal. Wow.

Second Period

The second period was quick and fast-paced, but nothing major.

The Penguins led the Sabres in shots and also had Robin Lehner standing on his head at times.

Other than that though, nothing significant happened and we were all waiting to see what the third would bring.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Third Period and the Pittsburgh Penguins Take Control

Now this is where the game really got interesting.

Sabres forward Sam Reinhart got Buffalo on the board fairly quickly to tie the game. But we all knew the Penguins wouldn’t let their lead be blown just like that.

Buffalo had some good opportunities to score after this as well, but Matt Murray played tremendously to shut them down. He just gets better and better.

Nick Bonino was luckily able to find the back of the net as he sniped one past Lehner to put the Pens up 2-1.

The Penguins definitely held in there defensively as well, and just a few minutes later, the Sabres basically iced the game for us.

Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons scored an own goal off a rebound by Conor Sheary. Must suck for Buffalo. Oh well, we’ll gladly take it.

The game ended 3-1 with the Penguins taking the W and clinching a playoff spot. An amazing day for the boys right? Wrong.

Paying the Price

Remember that hit by Rasmus Ristolainen on Jake Guentzel in the first period?

Well it turns out it was pretty bad. The Penguins announced that Guentzel has been diagnosed with a concussion and will be out indefinitely on Tuesday evening.

Things just keep getting worse for the Penguins. I’ve already wrote so much about injuries this past week that I thought it would finally stop. Unfortunately, the Pens keep getting pegged with more and more injured.

I know i’ve said that the Penguins are such a great team that injuries haven’t stopped us yet, but honestly, why must we be tested so much? A major hole in our first line has now been created with Guentzel gone. Crosby has been playing great with him and Sheary, and now some more lineup mixing has to take place.

Clinching a playoff spot is great, but it really sucks that something always has to go wrong for us Penguins. The Penguins had to pay a price I guess. But no, unfortunately it had to be one of our most promising players who took the sacrifice. This season has been brutal on the injury front, just brutal. Let’s just hope things look brighter for the playoffs.