* This was a great game for goaltender Matt Murray. It wasn't just the shots he faced and saves he made. The Coyotes seemed to take liberties with him all night, running through his crease and knocking him down several times.
Goaltenders always have to battle for their position, but don't typically take a beating in the process. Murray was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty in the first period after Niklas Hjalmarsson ran over him as he covered a puck. He had a right to be upset.
On another sequence Murray had his blocker and stick knocked out of his hands. And the Coyotes had a goal taken off the board because Oliver Ekman-Larsson tripped Murray as a shot was coming to the net. It's a challenge to stay focus and calm whenever teams are that aggressive in the paint, and Murray thrived off of it.
* 2019 may be the year of Jake Guentzel. He has 8 goals since the turn of the calendar, which includes a hat trick. Overall, he has 11 points (8G-3A) in January (7 games).
* Guentzel added to his goal total with a sick score in the second period. He took a pass in the slot and went forehand-backhand. His shot was stopped by a great arm extension by goalie Darcy Kuemper. But Guentzel got his own rebound at the goal line, and patiently from a ridiculous angle lifted it over Kuemper for the goal.
* The Pens made a roster change heading into the game, playing defenseman Juuso Riikola (a healthy scratch in the last 3 games) in place of Jamie Oleksiak. The move paid off as Riikola scored his second goal of the year with a heavy slap shot from the point that ticketed the top corner.
* Riikola's shot was nice. But it wouldn't have gone in without a nice screen by Tanner Pearson. He didn't get a point on the play, but he gets an honorable mention in this recap.
* It was a wild day for the Pens, and it threw off their typical routines.
The afternoon buses to the arena for the game were delayed due to heavy traffic and an accident on the freeway. Thus, the Pens arrived later than usual to the arena for the game - even though they moved the bus times up a half hour to account for the situation.
Upon arrive the Pens pushed back all their team meetings, while many players scrambled to get into their typical game day routines. It was a little disjointed and it seemed to carry over into the start of the game as the Pens struggled to find their legs.
Pittsburgh got stronger as the game went on and started to take over in the second period, but it was a rocky start.
