The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Florida Panthers for the second time in just as many days after their 5-2 victory Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena.
"We felt the energy here this weekend,” Captain Sidney Crosby said. “We had two big ones here (Saturday and Sunday) to finish off the week. You can tell that there’s a lot of energy in the building. We fed off of that at different points. We got some goals and we got them in bunches. You can tell that’s a big factor.”
After Saturday’s thrilling 9-4 win against the Panthers, where Evgeni Malkin notched a hat trick and eclipsed 1,400 career points, there were even more milestones to go around on Sunday.
Thirty-five seconds after Florida tied the game 1-1, Egor Chinakhov found Crosby in the neutral zone, gaining speed. All in stride, Crosby unloaded a wrist shot from the right circle and beat Daniil Tarasov on the blocker side for his 29th goal of the season.
With his 70th point, Sidney Crosby, who can play in a maximum of 70 games this season, has clinched his NHL-record 21st-consecutive point-per-game season.
“It speaks to the teams that we’ve had, the players that I’ve had the opportunity to play with,” Crosby said. “That’s a big part of it. It’s a stat. You try to be consistent. I’ve played on some great teams and played with some good players.”
Bryan Rust, who recorded the secondary assist on Crosby’s goal, notched the 500th point of his NHL career. His third-period tally would move him to 10th all-time in the franchise’s scoring history.
“I’ve played with some really good players who have helped me along the way, both at the beginning, middle and now in my career,” Rust said. “Especially guys like Sid and Geno, who I've played a lot with, Tanger – guys who have gotten a lot of assists or goals on my points. I can honestly tell you that I didn't think this would ever happen. So, it's definitely something that’s been fun.”
The Penguins would continue to carry that momentum throughout the rest of the period. After going a perfect three-for-three on the man advantage yesterday, Pittsburgh’s top unit stayed red hot after Rickard Rakell scored his 23rd goal of the season from the high slot.
“I feel like at the start of the year, I had a lot of opportunities that didn't go in,” Rakell said. “I've learned that's how it goes sometimes, but I'm happy with how it's going right now.”
Rakell, who has been on an absolute terror since the beginning of March, would score again after Malkin fed him from behind the net to make it 4-1. With two more goals on Sunday, Rakell has extended his goal-scoring streak to five games (7G), and league-leading eight-game point streak (10G-3A).
“He's a machine right now,” Rust said. “You can see that he's playing with so much confidence. He's making incredible plays. He's also working really hard. I think the combination of the skill, the effort and the confidence, you can see – he's got a gajillion goals recently, so needless to say, it's been a lot of fun.”
After his four-point performance on Saturday, Malkin recorded the secondary assist on Rakell’s goal to be the 4th player in NHL history with 16 point per game seasons. Only longtime teammate Sidney Crosby (21), Wayne Gretzky (19) and Gordie Howe (17) have averaged a point per game in more seasons than Malkin.
“Still getting the opportunity to play in big roles, that doesn’t always happen as you get older,” Crosby said about himself and Malkin’s production. “There’s responsibility that comes with that and trust and belief. Then, just having passion for the game. We still love it after all these years and want to contribute and want to win.”
Another Penguin who has been a huge catalyst for the team’s recent success is Elmer Soderblom, who scored the game’s first goal on Sunday. In his last six games, the six-foot-eight forward has six points (3G-3A) and has played a noticeable role on the team’s fourth line.
“So far, it's been really fun,” Soderblom said on his time as a Penguin. “It feels good. Feels like I'm playing better and better and improving as well. So it's a fun time of year, also, to play like this. So yeah, I'm looking forward to even more.”
Before puck drop, the Penguins announced that Stuart Skinner would not dress for the game as he is dealing with an upper-body injury, and that they have recalled Taylor Gauthier from Wheeling (ECHL), who served as the backup.
After earning his 18th win of the season on Saturday, Arturs Silovs got the start in net for the second time in just as many games. While it is uncharacteristic for a goalie to play two days in a row, Silovs grew more comfortable.
“I thought the timing of some of his saves were really important,” Head Coach Dan Muse said. “You never know when these types of situations are going to come up when something unexpected happens, and now you’re playing a back-to-back. It was great by him.”
Come the third period, the Penguins got back to their game that had worked all weekend long. Less than four minutes into the final frame, Rust notched his 501st point when he powered to the net and wedged the puck past Tarasov for his 28thgoal of the season.
With five more goals added to the totals on Sunday, the Penguins now rank second in the entire NHL in goals for (280). In the past five games, the Penguins have scored 30 goals, a testament as to how deep their offensive depth is.
“I think on any given night, there's guys who are scoring goals and guys who are stepping up and bringing the offense,” Rust said. “It's not just one line or the top six. You see all four lines doing it, and a lot of the defensemen have been doing it too. I think it's been a group effort this year.”
After Sunday’s win, Dan Muse became just the sixth head coach in Penguins history to win 40 or more games in their first season with the team. With four games remaining in the regular season, the Penguins find themselves sitting at second place in the division, and six points ahead of the third-place Philadelphia Flyers.
“We all believed in it,” Rakell said. “Everybody felt in training camp that we felt really good, and we knew it was gonna take all of us to get here. And that's exactly what happened. It's just not one line or two lines, it's everybody. And everybody knows they have a very important job to do every night.”
