Pittsburgh Penguins Top Detroit Red Wings 5-2

The Pittsburgh Penguins overcome a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Eve behind strong efforts from Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby.

2. 72. 5. 92. Final

The Pittsburgh Penguins front office and coaching staff had been waiting for a night like tonight. The Penguins’ fans were too.

All of the Pens offensive superstars sans Phil Kessel found the net, Jeff Zatkoff was solid after a willy-nilly first period, and it felt like for one night the team finally couldn’t miss the net.

Down 2-0 after the first to the Red Wings due to goals by Justin Abdelkader and Brendan Smith, the comeback started with Patric Hornqvist digging out a goal in the way Patric Hornqvist does. Right in the goaltenders face, scratching and clawing for every inch.

Kris Letang got in on the act after a timely pass from Evgeni Malkin. He threw Petr Mrazek off with a beautiful fake, then gently lifted the puck into the net to tie the game for the Penguins. He scored the goal after having already taken three penalties and shortly after escaping the box from the third infraction.

The second period ended 2-2 and whether it was the two power play goals, the resurgence of Letang, or a fiery talk from Mike Sullivan, the Pittsburgh Penguins found the twine in the third period.

7:48 into the third frame, the captain Sidney Crosby scored a highlight reel goal from his knees. David Perron hit Crosby in the slot and Sid lost the puck, fell to his knees, recovered and sniped it past Mrazek for a well-earned 3-2 Pens lead.

Persistent forechecking by Hornqvist and Kessel after losing control of the puck shifted it to the center of the zone where Evgeni Malkin picked it up and fired it past Mrazek to increase the lead to two. 4-2 Pens.

Kris Letang salted the game away with an empty-netter at 18:20 to secure the victory.

Pittsburgh Penguins win 5-2!

Player Performance

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After scoring that beauty in the third period, Sidney Crosby now has 12 points in his last 12 games. Dare we say there has been an awakening in the force? He’s up to 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points this season.

His counterpart, Evgeni Malkin, managed a goal and two assists in the Pens comeback and now sits tied for 6th in the NHL in goals scored with 18. He has 34 points in 37 games which puts him just shy of a point per game pace.

Public enemy number one Jeff Zatkoff gave up two goals in the first period, but settled in as the game progressed like he often seems to do. There were a lot of cries for Matt Murray to start on the back-to-back, but that’s a very hit or miss proposition. Zatkoff did enough to get the win and that’s what a backup is supposed to do. Beyond that, it seems clear he’s lost the “interim starting goaltender” tag for the Pens going forward thanks to Murray’s stellar play.

David Perron has not scored in 13 games. The top line of Perron, Crosby, and Chris Kunitz got good pressure and out attempted their opposition, but at some point Perron has to justify that first round pick he was traded for…right? Hopefully?

Ian Cole only played 5:22 and Seth Rorabaugh tweeted out that his status for Saturday is up in the air. He also mentioned that Cole said he was going through a protocol. Concussion protocol?

Pittsburgh Penguins Player of the Game

You take the good with the bad with Kris Letang. Those six minutes worth of penalties early were brutal, no doubt, but this is also a guy who gets targeted in every game he plays. I’d be in ill humor as well. The way he responded by scoring and twice, however? Love it. The Pens need Letang on the ice by any means necessary and this is why.

The Big Picture

From the wonderful Bob Grove on Twitter on Thursday night – “Pens now 57-4-1 all-time in 62 games when Crosby & Malkin both score. Have won 22 straight when that happens.” That sounds like a recipe for success.

How have Malkin and Crosby only scored in the same game 62 times? They both have more than 600 regular season games played and over 100 postseason games played together. Seems pretty low, no?

Beyond that, the Pens overcame an early two goal deficit in a fashion that would never have happened under Mike Johnston. The results still aren’t there like the team wants, but the effort is more consistent and Sullivan’s style just makes more sense when paired with the Pittsburgh Penguins current talent.

I have to admit to being a fan of his approach thus far.

Next: Which Pens Player Should We Hate In 2016?

With Marc-Andre Fleury already back on the ice and presumably (hopefully) ready to go in the near future, the time is now for the Pens to make a run on the back end of the season and secure a playoff berth.

The underlying stats (both offensively and defensively) look better under Mike Sullivan, and the superstar quartet is showing signs of erupting. They just need to capitalize on the momentum.

The Pittsburgh Penguins play the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

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