WHAT HAPPENED
The Penguins earned their season-high sixth straight win with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.
Evan Rodrigues, Brock McGinn and Jeff Carter scored for Pittsburgh, while Tristan Jarry made 19 saves.
Carter's OT Winner Extends Win Streak to Six Games
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
The Penguins are at their best when they start fast. Entering tonight, they held a 14-1 record when scoring first. And tonight was a great example of this. In fact, it might have been their best start to a game this season.
They controlled territory and put several threatening shots on Sabres netminder Malcolm Subban, who was making just his second start of the season and first since Dec. 4. This culminated in an early power play, which the Penguins took full advantage of. Just 32 seconds in, Rodrigues fired a wrist shot past Subban for his 10th goal of the season, a new career high.
Although the team's top-ranked PK unit gets all the love (deservedly so - more on that below), the team's PP unit is starting to heat up. While they only netted one power-play goal tonight, the opportunities were certainly there.
"We only scored once, but shortly after the power play on the 5-on-5 goal, I thought Teddy Blueger's line generated a lot of momentum for our team," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "The very first power play was dynamite. We must have had a half a dozen scoring chances that the puck didn't go in the net for us, but I thought the power play tonight was a difference-maker for us.
"Not only did they score, but they generated a lot of momentum for us. Some nights you can do all the right things and not score, but as long as it's helping us generate momentum and not frustration, that's a circumstance where the power play can help you win. I thought that was the case tonight."
Rodrigues had another great chance later in the frame, but Subban made an acrobatic save to keep the Sabres within striking distance. The Penguins continued to apply pressure, and held a 21-5 advantage in shots after 20 minutes of play.
While the Penguins didn't record quite as many shots in the second period, it didn't take them very long to break through. McGinn extended Pittsburgh's lead to 2-0 at the 6:45 mark of the middle frame after capitalizing off a Mike Matheson rebound.
However, Sullivan felt that in the second half of the period, the Penguins were trying to force things a bit after only being able to convert one of their many high-quality chances. That resulted in them giving up some high-quality chances of their own, and Buffalo took advantage with 7:25 left in the frame.
"We just tried to hit the reset button in between periods, and say hey, we just got to stay with it here," Sullivan said. "We've got to stay resilient. Let's play the right way. Let's not force things that aren't there so we just take what the game gives us and play the game the right way that gives us the best chance to win. … I thought the players did a real good job at that between periods. I thought our third period was much better."
The PK unit was called upon to begin overtime after Jeff Carter went to the box for tripping. They'd killed off two penalties earlier in the game, but now had to kill a 4-on-3. Just as they've done all season, they killed off their 35th-straight penalty, extending their penalty kill streak to 15 games.
"Not the ideal way to start it (overtime) off," he said. "That's a tough one. It's a penalty. I'm reaching for a puck and I get it in his feet. The guys did a heck of a job killing it off. I don't really think they had one clean look. Hats off to them to give us a chance to get that extra point."
Carter would redeem himself moments later, scoring off a beautiful feed from Kris Letang. He hopes that the Penguins, who are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games, can keep the good times rolling.
"It's been going well for us. I think for the most part, we're playing the right way," Carter said. "We're hard on pucks. We're making smart decisions with pucks when we have them. And our team defense has been, for the most part, very good during this run. We got a lot of games left, so we got to keep building on it."
OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS
SURREAL DEBUT
Sabres defenseman Casey Fitzgerald made his NHL debut with his dad Tom, who was a Penguins assistant coach when the team won the Stanley Cup in 2009 and also served as a member of management - in attendance. Now GM of the New Jersey Devils, Tom was able to watch with his team having the night off from game action, joining his wife Kerry in the stands.
"It was great having them both out here," Casey said of his parents. "My dad's pretty busy, but he wouldn't have missed this for the world. He got on a quick flight out here. Just awesome. So grateful for the two of them and everything they've done for me my whole life, leading up to this part of my career. It's very special.
After doing his solo rookie lap, the 24-year-old was part of the starting lineup and got to take his first-ever shift against Sidney Crosby.
"I was trying my best not to crack a smile there, but it was surreal," Casey said. "I grew up watching the Pens. They were my team growing up. Just having the opportunity to be up here is awesome, and I'm grateful for that."
Fitzgerald was named the Third Star of the game after recording his first NHL point, the primary assist on Zemgus Girgensons' goal, and dropping the gloves with Sam Lafferty.
