Penguins/Flames Recap: Pens continue recent winning ways, easily outdistance Flames

The Pens open up a can and treat the Calgary Flames to a 6-2 beatdown in Pittsburgh

Pregame

Owen Pickering is back following a two-game illness absence and Alex Nedeljkovic is in net for the Penguins tonight on the back-to-back.

First period

Standard looking game in the early going, Ryan Shea takes a penalty but the Pens kill it off.

The game kicks up a notch with a few minutes to go in the first. Nedeljkovic makes a beautiful glove save to rob Rasmus Andersson of a goal.

As often seems to happen in the sport of hockey, a big save at one end leads to a chance at the other. And Pittsburgh converts, Anthony Beauvillier with a nice backhander that went top shelf. Kinda iffy for Dan Vladar to let sneak by him after a strong first period to that point for the Calgary goalie but the Pens will gladly take it.

When you’ve won only nine out of the first 25 games of the season like the Pens have, too often this first period has gone the other way where the opposition scores on their great chance and they don’t finish their own. The script seems to have flipped in the past couple of days in that department with timely goaltending and then some converting on the offensive end. Shots are 13-10 PIT

Second period

Pittsburgh got their first power play of the game early in the second and cashed in quickly. Matt Grzlecyk fired from the point, Vladar gave up a rebound directly to Michael Bunting. Easy finish from in close. 2-0 Pens.

The Pens get another power play for puck over glass delay of game, the star players spin their wheels and the second group gets another PPG! Vladar loses his net and Bunting gets the puck to Kris Letang behind the net. Letang sends it out the other side for Philip Tomasino to score for the second game in a row.

All systems go for the Pens, they’re the better of the two teams out there. Maybe it’s Calgary being on the road and playing last night but the Flames haven’t been very sharp. (And, hey, Pittsburgh played and traveled in the last 24 hours too!)

Third period

Pittsburgh keeps it going. Sidney Crosby does standard Sidney Crosby things with a backhand pass with his back to the goal to put it right on Rickard Rakell’s stick down low. Rakell makes a nice move to his backhand for another Penguin goal. 4-0 now.

The Pens get another power play and their top group again is poor, to the point where Nedeljkovic has to make a few saves to keep them on track. The second group picks them up and does it again! Letang scores on a long range shot. Poor Vladar has to wish this game was over by now. 5-0.

The Flames ruin Nedeljkovic’s shutout effort with 5:33 to play. Nazem Kadri slips in between Grzelyck and Letang and makes a nice pass to a wide open Jonathan Huberdeau. Huberdeau buries it to at least get the Flames on the board.

Huberdeau scores again with 4:55 to play. 5-2. Erik Karlsson slams his stick against the goal in frustration and it splits his own lip.

Lizotte scores one more for the Pens for good measure with 1:37 left to go. 6-2 game. And that takes care of that.

Some thoughts

• The Pens blocked nine shots in the first period alone. Lately they have done a good job of stabilizing defensively and finding ways to get in front of pucks instead of letting the opponents have quality rushes against.
• It’s interesting how at times Pittsburgh has had a hot third line, if only for little flashes. First it was Eller and O’Connor very early in the season, then O’Connor with Puljujarvi and Poulin not too long ago and now it’s the current third line trio of Lizotte, Bunting and Beauvillier that have got some good stuff cooking.
• In the team’s 26th game of the year Bunting improved his season point total by 42.8% with a three-point night. That takes him from 7 to 10 on the year, which doesn’t say much but it’s nice to see the streaky scorer starting to heat up and make his presence known a lot more than the icy cold first 20ish games of the year.
• Letang bumped his assist total on the season up by 50% today as well (going from 4 to 6). Not reason to plan a parade but Letang has looked miles better the last two games after sitting a couple out with an undisclosed illness. The reset has seemed to do him a world of good, he looks noticeably better to the eye this weekend compared to the level he was playing at to this point.
• We can debate the correlation/causation effects but it’s at least worth pointing out that Pittsburgh has a 6-2-2 record in games that Lizotte has played this season compared to being 4-10-2 when he’s been injured. We’ll see if he stays healthy for the next 20-30 games as to whether or not that’s a happy coincidence or not, but it stands out a little that the team has been at their best when Lizotte has been available..Like the current three game winning streak that has happened to coincide with Lizotte coming back from injury three games ago.
• A lot of attention gets paid to the frustration and frequency of the Pens blowing leads during games (which, hey is not for nothin’) but how about this telling stat updated from Bob Grove. The last seven times the Pens have given up the first goal and trailed 1-0 in games they have ended up with a 1-5-1 record (with last night’s game in Boston being the lone win). On the other end, the last seven times Pittsburgh has scored the first goal of a game to take a 1-0 lead they have ended up going 5-0-2 (including tonight). Lots can obviously transpire after that first goal of the contest, but who scores the first goal has been a very telling indicator of how the game is likely to go for a team like the Pens.
• Not one, not two but THREE power play goals from the second group tonight. Those guys had it going on and rightfully got the opportunity to start the power play late in the third. Letang was right in the middle of the good stuff there, wonder how long it will be before he’s playing with the top guys.
• It’s a shame the team couldn’t keep things buttoned up enough for Nedeljkovic to get the shutout. He earned it, particularly early on in the game. Moneypuck had CGY with 3.6 expected goals through 40 minutes, they scored 0 actual ones. Nedeljkovic’s stop of Andersson helped the game stay on track to unfold for an easy win.
• And how ‘bout that Tomasino? He hasn’t flashed with tremendous individual skill or game-breaking talent to a huge degree, but it’s obvious he is more than capable of scoring goals in this league. The Pens must be thrilled to have him and seeing some instant returns from grabbing him.

Big win and suddenly the Pens are on a three-game winning streak and looking pretty darn good. It might not last forever but the team pulled off a very successful holiday weekend.