Pens Sweep Four-Game Homestand
They defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday
By
Michelle Crechiolo
Penguins Team Reporter
OVERALL ASSESSMENT:
The Penguins did have to put together yet another third-period comeback, as they trailed 2-1 going into the second intermission. But overall, it was a much more consistent performance, and they have a lot to build on moving forward into their next series with Boston.
The Penguins have been talking about wanting to improve their starts, and I thought they did just that. As Sullivan pointed out after the game, Sidney Crosby's line had a scoring chance on the first shift. From there, the Penguins' compete level was high, their attention to detail was there and they were much tighter defensively, which is what Sullivan liked the most about his team's play.
"I thought the encouraging part about tonight - and it wasn't by any stretch a perfect game - is that we cut down on the quality of chances versus some of the previous games," Sullivan said. "When we broke down, we gave up such high-quality chances that the conversion rates on them tend to be pretty high. I thought we were more conscious of being on the right side of the puck and the right side of people and defending hard in our own end when we needed to. We did a much better job at managing the puck."
OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS:
* Congratulations to Guentzel on becoming the 10th-fastest player in Penguins history to score his 100th career goal, which couldn't have been timelier.
"It's obviously a cool honor and fortunate to be the game-winner there," Guentzel said. "It's a big goal for us on this big homestand. Any chance you can get two points, it's definitely big. Just a big win for us all around."
Jake Guentzel's late third-period goal marked his 100th in the NHL. He became the 10th-fastest player to record his first 100 goals with the @penguins. pic.twitter.com/Am7sjwl8IH
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) January 25, 2021
* Rust had himself quite the series against the Rangers. He extended his point streak to five games (2G-4A-6PTS) after scoring for a second straight contest.
Rust said this morning that he wasn't happy with the way he was playing to start the season, so he focused on moving his feet in Friday's 4-3 shootout win and ended up with a ton of opportunities to shoot - recording a career-high 11 shots on goal.
Rust carried that momentum into tonight, as he was a big factor offensively throughout the entire game. His goal came after he forced a turnover in his own zone right to Crosby and sprinted up the ice.
Crosby sprung him with a perfect pass, where he went in alone and beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin five-hole. It was Rust's second breakaway of the game after getting stopped on a backhand deke attempt earlier in the period.
"I just saw the puck kind of wobbling off the D-man's stick, so I just tried to take off behind their D," Rust said. "I didn't really need to yell to Sid, Sid is going to make those plays. On my first breakaway, the goalie was really patient, so I just tried to beat him quickly."
* Rust's goal came on his first shift playing with Crosby and Guentzel. The coaching staff slotted him in there after Evan Rodrigues was injured following a collision with Filip Chytil in the second period and did not return to the game. Sullivan said Rodrigues was being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
"When we made that change and we put Rusty up there, they had instant success," Sullivan said. "Those guys are familiar with one another. There aren't too many guys on our team that Rusty hasn't played with, so he's a pretty versatile guy that can play up and down the lineup. I thought his last two games have been his best two games."
The line combinations had already been switched heading into the game
, and Sullivan was forced to tinker with them even more after Rodrigues left. Kasperi Kapanen moved up with Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker, while Teddy Blueger centered Brandon Tanev and McCann.
* McCann also got his second goal in as many games when he fooled Shesterkin with a floater from the halfwall to even the score and help ensure the Penguins would get a point.
We've been seeing some of the 24-year-old forward's best assets on display to start the season - his goal-scoring ability, speed and shot. And I like what we're seeing from him not just with his play, but with his mindset as well.
He's flying around out there and playing with a lot of confidence and swagger, but he's also making sure not to get too high or too low. That's something he's struggled with in the past and has contributed to his past slumps, so he's talked with Sullivan a lot about not being too hard on himself, learning to let things go and realize that as long as the team is winning, everything is good.
* Jarry played great for a second straight game to earn his second straight win. When asked what he has done better in this series compared to his performance in the season-opening series against Philadelphia, Jarry paused before replying with a dry laugh, "Stopping the puck."
He definitely deserves more credit than that, as Jarry came up with some big and timely saves tonight. I think what stood out the most was just how calm and poised he was. Even when his stick broke for a second time already this season and he had to play without it for a decent period of time, he never looked frantic or rattled.
"Tristan was really solid," Sullivan said. "He's had two solid games here back-to-back. He's tracking the puck really well and seeing the puck really well. He plays the puck extremely well when they dump it in, which helps us. I thought the last two games were really encouraging."
