Kris Letang was mysteriously sporting a mustache at practice on Wednesday, which generated a lot of buzz, as it's the first time in recent memory (or maybe ever) that he's shaved one.
It's not like he had lost the Mustache Boy shootout competition earlier in the month (that honor went to Bryan Rust) or the one they held at the end of practice (that honor went to Brian Dumoulin).
So it remained a mystery until after the Penguins' 4-1 win over the Bruins on Thursday at TD Garden, when the reason was finally divulged.
Powered by a Mustache, the Pens Keep Marching
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The defenseman was trying to do his part to help his team snap their winless streak in Boston, as the Penguins had gone 0-8-2 in Beantown dating back to Dec. 16, 2015.
"It's been a long time, and it was definitely something we talked about," forward Zach Aston-Reese said after the game. "I know Tanger went with a mustache, and I guess he wore a pretty flashy suit. I know a lot of guys changed things up and got coffees at different spots and things like that. So definitely, we were trying to do everything we could to snap that streak."
Especially since, as winger Jason Zucker pointed out, they had at least two more games in the building heading into tonight with the realignment and intradivisional play.
"We were joking around a little bit about how many guys we have on the team that played some college hockey in this building, and trying to recapture some of that success that we had in college and bring it to tonight's game," defenseman Mike Matheson said.
While we appreciate the superstitious nature of hockey players, with the way the Penguins have been playing as of late, in all honesty - they probably didn't need to do any of that.
It may be April, but the Penguins keep marching, as the team continued their ascent in the standings by winning their fifth straight game and extending their unbeaten streak to 6-0-1. Pittsburgh has also collected points in 12 of its last 14 games (11-2-1).
The Penguins (37 games played) are now tied with the Capitals (36 games played) and the Islanders (37 games played) for first place in the East, as all three teams have 50 points.
"It was nice to get the win, obviously against a big opponent and big rival in our division," Matheson said. "It was an important game."
It was a textbook team effort from top to bottom, as twelve different players got on the scoresheet across all four lines and three defense pairs. Aston-Reese, Matheson, Zucker and forward Jake Guentzel all found the back of the net.
"The guys are playing hard," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "They're trying to play the game the right way. We're trying to manage the puck the right way. And when we do that, we're a lot more difficult to play against. But once again, I thought it was a team effort. Throughout the lineup, we were getting contributions from everyone. And when that happens, certainly it increases our chances to win."
In goal, Casey DeSmith - who is just on another level right now - came close to pitching his third shutout in his last six appearances until the Bruins broke his bid at the 11:14 mark of the third. He has now allowed just two goals against in his last 212:14 of play.
"It was too bad that we gave up that goal in the third period and weren't able to get him the shutout, because he really deserved it and made a lot of nice saves," Matheson said. "He's been fantastic."
As a team, the Penguins have now allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of their last 13 games. And if you ask anyone in the locker room, that's probably the stat they're most proud of from this recent run.
"The boys are playing really good hockey right now," Aston-Reese said. "We're playing defense first, and it's all the cliches you talk about - defending hard, playing in front of your net, blocking shots and things like that. But we're doing all the little things and that's just making it fun, because it's leading to offense for us and generating a lot of scoring chances off of our defense.
"It's been a lot of fun."
