As the Penguins and Flyers were gathering at center ice ahead of the opening faceoff on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center for the NHL's first regular-season game in over 300 days, it was an emotional moment. So much so that referee Kelly Sutherland told actually turned on his mic and said a few words before dropping the puck.
Pens Feel They Have a Lot to Build On After Season Opener
The score wasn't indicative of how the game went
"We've all waited with excitement for this day," Sutherland said. "Welcome to the start of the NHL 2020-21 season. Best wishes to all of you, stay safe and healthy and let's have a great battle."
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said it was a great way to kick off the game, which did turn out to be an entertaining battle - as is always the case with the Battle of Pennsylvania. But the Penguins didn't get the end result they wanted, suffering a 6-3 setback to the Flyers. However, the feeling amongst the players and head coach Mike Sullivan was that the score wasn't indicative of how the game went.
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They actually carried play, particularly at 5-on-5, for much of the night as the teams traded goals. The Penguins tied the score 3-3 a few minutes into the third before the Flyers capitalized on some defensive breakdowns to score three unanswered goals - including two in a 20-second span - to take a lead they would not relinquish.
"Guys are going to be upset about a loss, but at the end of the day, it's the first game of the season," defenseman John Marino said. "We don't want to take it too heavy. We want to learn from this and get better, but at the end of the day you don't want to dwell on it for too long."
It's nothing that they can't iron out as they continue along, especially considering it was their first real game action following a shortened training camp. The Penguins knew they would need to have some patience when it came to parts of their team game, and while they understand they can't taketoo long to find their game, they aren't too concerned.
"We just got to get the chemistry down," Marino said. "I don't think anyone in the locker room is too worried about it. We have a lot to build off of."
Here's the three biggest takeaways from the game.
1. THIRD LINE A BRIGHT SPOT
The trio of Jared McCann, Mark Jankowski and Brandon Tanev was by far Pittsburgh's best. Sullivan had put them together ahead of Sunday's Black and Gold scrimmage, and the chemistry was immediately apparent that night.
Jankowski scored twice in that game and said afterward he felt like the Penguins are putting him in a position to succeed, which gives him confidence. He's clearly playing with a ton of it, opening the scoring on Wednesday and setting up Tanev for another.
While Jankowski had a down year offensively in 2019-20, he looks like he has a real chance of returning to the 15-17 goal range he's proven capable of. Especially centering Tanev, his best buddy and former college teammate at Providence, and McCann, who's been skating around with plenty of swagger.
"They're two good, fast players," Jankowski said. "They can make plays. They're smart. They always have their heads up looking for something. I think the biggest thing is that we're all hard on pucks in the O-zone. That led to some chances for us. If we can continue doing that, I think we can be a good line."
2. PK, DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWNS NEED CLEANING UP
Pittsburgh's penalty kill had a tough debut, as the Flyers converted their first two power plays of the game in the first period. Both goals were scored through screens off point shots from defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who signed with Philadelphia as a free agent.
Jankowski said they'll get to work on the ice and in the video room ahead of Friday to figure out how they can improve and do a better job of neutralizing the Flyers.
"Obviously we weren't happy with how the penalty kill was today, but that's on us, the guys who penalty kill," Tanev said. "I think the next game we'll push the pace and do better in that situation. But I think we need to have the onus on specialty teams in the shortened season and really bear down in situations."
Then later, the reason the game got away from the Penguins is because of some defensive breakdowns. The Penguins didn't give up a ton throughout the night, but the ones they did were 'catastrophic,' as Sullivan put it.
"I think as the group grows and we get better day by day, you try to eliminate those things from our game," Tanev said. "And we're looking forward to the next one and hoping to learn from this one."
Through it all, Tristan Jarry had his ups and downs. I actually thought he was really good early, especially as the Penguins were getting their legs, and made some quietly strong saves. He did have some miscues as the game went on, but the blame doesn't fall squarely on his shoulders. Especially getting thrown right into his new role as the Penguins' starter after no preseason games.
"There were a few that Tristan could have been sharper on, but we can say that about all of us," Sullivan said. "I'm not going to over-assess any one player. We all need to be better if we're going to have the success we need to have."
3. NEW YEAR, SAME SID
It's truly remarkable how Sidney Crosby still finds new ways to amaze us, even now in his 16th NHL season.
The Penguins captain displayed some ridiculous hand-eye coordination to score his first goal of the year. Pittsburgh was on the power play in the second period when Flyers goalie Carter Hart went to play the puck behind his own net.
Not only did Crosby manage to knock it out of mid-air - he was able to turn and knock it into the open net with one hand in one fluid motion.
Just another day at the office for the greatest player in the world, who always comes to play in Philadelphia.
