Pittsburgh Penguins Complete Comeback to Defeat Florida Panthers
Sidney Crosby got his 900th career point as the Penguins came from behind to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2.
Sidney Crosby became the 10th fastest player in NHL history to reach 900 points as he grabbed one goal and two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins completed their comeback to beat the resurgent Florida Panthers.
Despite the lackluster play of the first two stanzas, the Penguins impressed in the third and overtime periods as their captain led by example.
The second in a back-to-back weekend, tonight’s game was bound to be interesting from the start. Losing 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, there’s no doubt the Penguins wanted redemption tonight. However, the Panthers are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, and questions in net abound for the Pens.
Starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was coming off two abhorrent performances in net and was even pulled last night in favor of Jeff Zatkoff. Voicing his frustration, Fleury said that he wanted to get another chance tonight. Sticking to his schedule, head coach Mike Sullivan gave Zatkoff the start anyway.
Given how explosive the Panthers have been offensively and how shaky Zatkoff has also been in net this season, this could have been a recipe for disaster. Luckily for the Penguins and their fans, Crosby wasn’t about to let that happen.
The first period was not particularly pretty for the players in white sweaters. Carl Hagelin and Olli Maatta both took penalties, and though neither amounted to anything it prevented the team from getting in a good rhythm.
Somehow, the period ended in a 0-0 tie despite the Penguins allowing 20 shots on goal to their own 9. Perhaps carrying some of his momentum from last night over, Zatkoff kept the Penguins in the game early on.
The penalties kept piling up in the second period. Trevor Daley took one almost immediately, but it was negated only five seconds in as Nick Bjugstad was called for hooking. Later, Ben Lovejoy tried to decapitate Panthers rookie Quinton Howden and was called for high-sticking; former Penguin Jussi Jokinen capitalized on the ensuing powerplay from a nearly-impossible angle.
This marked the sixth straight game that Jokinen has notched a point. Pittsburgh native Vincent Trocheck provided the primary assist while veteran defenseman Brian Campbell had the secondary.
Aaron Ekblad took one final penalty to wrap up the period. Before tonight, the Panthers had won 17 straight games with the former first overall draft pick in their lineup.
The third period started off with tempers flaring. Two of the greatest names in hockey, Crosby and Jaromir Jagr, apparently have some on-ice animosity toward each other – the two scuffled briefly after Jagr roughed up Chris Kunitz. The last time these teams met, Crosby and Jagr exchanged similar pleasantries.
Perhaps still a little riled up, both players took penalties shortly thereafter. Derek MacKenzie was the next to go to the sin bin, but Aleksander Barkov – recently signed to a big contract extension – took advantage of a comedy of errors and scored a short-handed goal.
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Matt Cullen turned the puck over in the Panthers’ zone, where Jokinen immediately snatched it up to launch up-ice to his fellow Finn, Barkov, whom Daley failed to cover while Zatkoff botched his poke-check.
It’s no secret that the Penguins struggle mightily to come back in games, but hey – miracles do happen. Kris Letang tapped in his own rebound around Roberto Luongo. Crosby got the assist, which gave him his 900th NHL point in his 677th game.
Neither player was satisfied with that, though. With Zatkoff pulled for the extra man, Crosby scored the tying goal with assists from Letang and Daley.
In overtime, Letang had a beautiful opportunity right off the bat but was impeded by Jokinen, who was sent to the penalty box. On the ensuing powerplay, Letang made good on his earlier effort and scored his second of the night to win it for Pittsburgh.
And who got the assist? Sidney Crosby, of course.
The way the game ended probably gave the Panthers horrible déjà vu to the last time these two teams met. Back in October, the Penguins took them into overtime tied 2-2, when Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal on Luongo.
Interestingly enough, these two teams have a fair amount of ties to each other. Jagr, of course, was a key factor in the Penguins’ Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and 1992. Jokinen donned a Penguins uniform much more recently, and was a penalty-killing, shootout-winning machine.
Trocheck is from Pittsburgh, and actually lived in Jagr’s neighborhood back in the early nineties. This cute picture of him as a kid with Mario Lemieux recently surfaced, and he’s said that he chose the jersey number 21 in part because of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente.
(I’m not saying that I want him to become a Penguin ASAP… but I want him to become a Penguin ASAP.)
Finally – though they were never teammates – Zatkoff and Panthers forward Reilly Smith both played at Miami University within seasons of each other. Though Zatkoff started his pro career a couple seasons before Smith came in as a freshman, it’s an interesting connection of alum-vs-alum.
In Penguins notes, centers #2, 3, and 4 are all still out of the lineup. Malkin, Nick Bonino, and Eric Fehr are all recovering from injuries. The bottom six forwards are all players who began the season with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
One of those players, Kevin Porter, had a great game. He had a few shorthanded opportunities, demonstrated bursts of great speed, and had instant chemistry with Phil Kessel.
On the other hand, defenseman Derrick Pouliot is still having something of a rough year. Though he managed to draw a penalty, he was not otherwise very noticeable out on the ice, and when he was, it wasn’t for good reasons.
The final shot count was a staggering 42-39 in Florida’s favor, but in the end, the Penguins managed to snap the Cats’ five-game win streak and (hopefully) start a new streak of their own.
The Pens look for their next win against the Anaheim Ducks at home on February 8.