The home opener of the 60th season. How would the Pens respond following their 7-0 drubbing of the Flyers to open the season? I had no intention of recapping this game, but my daughter (turns 4 in two weeks) saw the Pens on right before bed-time and shouted “I’ve waited all year for this!” She didn’t get to watch, so I decided to do this recap for her. And now you are all my daughter.
Following the home team introduction, a beautiful 60th anniversary video homage and a Mario Lemieux ceremonial puck drop, we were underway. It didn’t take long for the Habs to get on the board when Cole Caufield absolutely sniped one 3:49 in. For the next ten minutes, it was all Montreal. At the mid-point of the period shots were 7-1 Habs and Silovs had made 3 high-quality saves to keep the game close. It wasn’t until Mike Matheson interfered with Sidney Crosby at the 13:38 mark that the Penguins finally got some momentum. Entering the power play with just 2 shots on the period, Egor Chinakhov made one of the most impressive moves you will see, protecting the puck at the blue line while fending off two defenders. He then gets it over to Jimi Hendrix Lapierre, who finds Letang. Letang puts it on net and Evgeni Malkin was one hungry man.
EVGENI MALKIN (2) Assisted by Letang (2) & Lapierre (2) PPG @ 14:07
How can you not love seeing this type of effort by a 40-year-old? Unfortunately, Chinakhov’s play isn’t in this clip, I highly advise you to watch the full highlight, it was special.
There wouldn’t be much else in the first.
Puck drop, 32 seconds, goal.
DECLAN CARLILE (1) Assisted by Rakell (2) & Karlsson (2) @ 00:32
Carlile with an absolute wicked shot here that would set the tone for the rest of the period. This guys comment is great.
Seven minutes later the Pens were buzzing around the net, a scramble breaks out and Crosby gets the puck behind the cage with his edges turned out and the puck on his backhand, you know what that means,
SAMUEL GIRARD (1) Assisted by Crosby (2) & Korczak (3) @ 7:59
Good, hard-nosed hockey. This goal along with Malkins are the types of goals you love to see. The Habs wanted goaltender interference but the goalie stick was removed by a teammate, rare correct no-call.
The Penguins didn’t let off the gas, and seven minutes later they were lighting the lamp again. Similar to the first goal, this time Evgeni Malkin does the gritty work to set up Chinakhov along the boards. Chinakhov and Novak enter on a 2-on-1, Dobes respects Chinakhovs wrist shot and he plays the no-look pass perfectly
TOMMY NOVAK (1) Assisted by Chinakhov (1) & Malkin (1) @ 14:01
It’s the little bits of effort. Malkin fighting for this puck along the walls results in this breakout. These are things I love to see in a team, and to see it this early in the season is a sign, in my opinion, of team buy-in. Chinakhov looks really good this year.
Less than a minute later the Habs tried to sneak a 6th man out there to help slow down the scoring. The Zebras got this call right and sent the Pens on the Powerplay. Having already scored once, the power play remains a game of roulette. They teeter on that edge of looking for the perfect play for too long versus looking down right lethal, you don’t know which one you are going to get. Powerplay Roulette? This round held the bullet.
BEN KINDEL (1) Assisted by Karlsson (3) & Novak (3) PPG @ 15:32
Another goal because of a puck battle won along the boards, this time by Novak. This positioning of Karlsson at the point with a collapsed low triangle of Rakell, Kindel, Crosby is a very good look.
Typically a 5-1 lead is a lethal injection, but those seem to fail these days. Nick Suzuki scored a filthy little goal at 18:46 after a defensive miscue and the period would end 5-2.
The Penguins came out a smidge flat to start the third, very similar to the first, except this time the Habs potent offense found the twine. Caulfied registered his 2nd of the night at 3:31. The Pens got a power play at 9:05 but there was no bullet in the chamber this round. Egor Chinakhov scored a ridiculous goal after an absolute power move to the net following an even better move by Erik Karlsson to gain entry. The Habs challenged for offsides so the refs had to rewind the play about 15 minutes, and I still do not understand the call. It seems possession is not 9/10ths of the law but is now up to the video replay team to decide. Either way, the goal was waived off. Chinakhov was then called for holding Mike Matheson, a call that makes you want to check some referees Draft Kings accounts.
The Habs pulled their goalie on the power play, and though they didn’t score with the 2 man advantage they used that momentum to wear the Pens down. Chris Kreider scored his 1,993rd goal against the Pens to make it 5-4. 24 seconds later Ivan Demidov received a perfect Suzuki pass and tied it up. We would head to overtime after a third period that felt like NFL level of officiating manipulation concluded in a tie.
After watching a third period blown lead, we all felt the Habs would score early in OT. I nearly went to bed assuming this was over. Bad Rad. The Habs had the first few looks but nothing overly threatening. Finally it was the Penguins turn, Letang to Malkin, a two on one with Novak, and Geno Machino used that noggin’
TOMMY NOVAK (2) Assisted by Malkin (2) & Letang (3) @ 1:33
Great hands by Novak here to bury this thing. Look how the Habs play this, they were begging Malkin to shoot the puck, taking away the pass as much as they could. The only issue is, Evgeni Malkin is a legend.
- Winning this game after that third period is impressive. Yes, it is October 3rd. But that type of poise to collect yourselves and keep pressing in overtime is something previous renditions of this team with the same big three wouldn’t have done. Kudos to Muse for this character change
- The Karlsson offsides thing is mind boggling. The call is he didn’t have possession, but what is possession? Had no defender been near him, would that have counted as possession? It was clearly an offensive move and the puck was within stick length. Had he needed to use one hand on and outstretched stick to get the puck back I wold agree with the call. As it stands, if this is not possession, in my opinion, you are now turning something that should be very objective into something subjective.
- The score may fool you, but Silovs played a fantastic game and his .800 save percentage is misleading. This should’ve been a at least 2-1 if not 3-1 after the first. The Pens earned this point and Silovs is the reason why.
- Speaking of Silovs looking like mid-season form, the whole team looks like they did when they entered the playoffs last year. I am very impressed with the buy-in that this team has so far. 7 goals scored in multiple ways. 40-year-olds laying out in the crease to bang one home. Scrums around the net. 2-on-1s where the pass was made perfectly. Snipes. A variety of scoring from a. variety of players.
- Another game where Letang and Karlsson are at the 19 minute TOI mark. This is obviously the plan and one I really like. Carlile (20:32) and Girard (21:11) were the TOI leaders.
- Girard and Korczak a -3 though
- Ben Kindel was sharp in his first game of the year, his 5 shots registered lead the team.
- I am not going to do daily recaps, I am not going to do daily recaps, I am not going to do daily recaps. I am trying to work out a weekly recap though.
- Pens take on the Jets tomorrow
LGP