Penguins Use Puck Luck to Pluck Ducks, 2-1
Well, our Penguins finally did it! They played a reasonably complete 60-minute game (62:35 actually) last night in the friendly confines of PPG Paints Arena and were rewarded with a snappy 2-1 overtime victory over the creamsicle-orange Ducks. In the process, snapping an ugly 0-5-1 slide.
Almost as important as garnering the two points? The way we played. Disciplined. Forceful, as evidenced by our whopping 46-23 edge in shots on goal, but under control.
“It was one of our more complete games,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we controlled territory. We played more of a north-south, straight-ahead game. We put pucks behind their defensemen when there wasn’t any ice to play on the entries. We managed the puck better in those critical areas of the rink, I thought for the most part, all night long. As a result, we got a significant amount of offensive zone time. We got a significant amount of scoring chances without compromising our offense by playing a more calculated game.”
Indeed, there were very few glaring defensive lapses and breakdowns, at least until the closing minutes of regulation when we began swapping chances with the Ducks.