Sully Says: "I Couldn't Be More Proud Of This Group"
The Penguins rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn a 5-4 victory over Vancouver after an emotional couple of days
Evgeni Malkin scored twice, while Sidney Crosby, Jason Zucker and Rickard Rakell also got in the goal column.
"On the bench, we believe we can come back," said Malkin, who added two assists for a four-point night. "Guys support each other. It was a live bench tonight. Everything works. Power play worked; PK worked. It's a huge win for us, for sure."
After Casey DeSmith allowed three goals on the first five shots, Dustin Tokarski - who signed with the Penguins organization as a free agent this summer - entered the game at the 7:05 mark of the opening frame.
"I was a little nervous, but they were good nerves. It's fun to get in a game and help out," said the veteran netminder, called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after Tristan Jarry suffered a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2. "I heard my name, and I just wanted to go in and compete and give the guys a chance."
The Penguins felt that the scoreboard didn't reflect their play, and at that point, they were able to start chipping away. Pittsburgh's third line had a great shift immediately after the goalie change, drawing a penalty, and then another one, giving them a 5-on-3 power play.
It took Malkin just seconds to capitalize, blasting home a one-timer off a feed from Ty Smith, quarterbacking the first unit in Kris Letang's absence. Tokarski came up with one of his best saves of the night shortly after on star forward Elias Pettersson, and from there, it was all Penguins.
Brian Dumoulin put the puck on a silver platter for Crosby, who brought his team within one. Then Zucker converted a setup from Malkin to even the score with 3:30 left in the opening frame. Malkin returned the favor in the second, with that goal coming at 4-on-4.
Tokarski made yet another timely stop, again on Pettersson, who had a shorthanded breakaway. He kept the Canucks from tying the game, allowing Rickard Rakell to give Pittsburgh a 5-3 lead 29 seconds into their man-advantage.
The Canucks did cut the deficit to 5-4 with just over seven minutes remaining, but the Penguins held on for their second win in a row after ending a six-game winless streak on Sunday in Arizona. Mike Sullivan said he couldn't be more proud of the group, especially after an emotional couple of days.
Instead of flying directly from Tempe to Pittsburgh following their three-game road trip that started on New Year's Eve, the Penguins went to Montreal on Monday to attend the funeral of Letang's father, Claude Fouquet.
After landing at 4 AM that morning, they arrived back home last night at 7 PM before coming to the rink today. "I mean, even traveling overnight, I don't think any of us blinked for one second to go there and show our support," defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. "We are a family, really, in here. I think we wanted to show that."
Here's what the Penguins head coach had to say following the game.
On Dustin Tokarski's performance and what that did for the rest of the group:"I thought he was really solid. He made some big saves. I thought it I thought it had a huge impact on our ability to win the game. It was a great first win for him as a Penguin. I give our team a lot of credit. I'm proud of the group. It's not easy to dig yourself out of a three-goal deficit, especially under some of the circumstances. We've had a couple of real emotional days from a team standpoint. I couldn't be more proud of this group."
On Jason Zucker's ability to bring the Penguins into the fight, and how much it helps the team when he's bringing that along with goal scoring: "Well, he's a really good player. When he plays the game the way he did tonight - he did it in Arizona as well - when he plays with a bit of reckless abandon, he's just as a north south guy. He gets in on the forecheck. He's good in the battle areas. He's physical. He goes to the net. I think he creates so much for Geno's line because he drags those guys into it, and he creates a lot of stalled pucks and loose pucks in the offensive zone that give Geno and Raks an opportunity to do what they do best. But for me, I think Zuck in a lot of ways, is the catalyst there because of the straight-ahead game that he plays and the edge that he plays with. And he has scoring touch. The goal he scored in Arizona was a perfect example. That's a goal scorer's goal. So he's bringing a lot to us right now."
On what led to the comeback: "I just think a lot of it, for me, starts with our leadership. Those guys, they were pretty vocal on the bench. They played an inspired game. Even though we were down a few goals, we felt like we were carrying a lot of the play. We just tried to stay with it. The special teams were good on both sides tonight. That was a big part of it. But I think the character of our leadership steps up in those types of occasions, and they did it again for us tonight."
On where Ty Smith is at after tonight's game, and if there's opportunity for him to win a regular spot after guys come back: "Yeah, there is. We're trying to put the best team on the ice that gives us the best chance to win. I think Ty is making a strong case for himself right now. He's done an admirable job on the power play. He's competing hard 5-on-5. I think he's trying to defend hard. He's helping us with breakout passes. I think one of the strengths of his game is along the offensive blue line, both 5-on-5 and on the power play. He sees the ice really well. He's deceptive. He can scale the blue line. He goes east west really well, and he gets pucks through. I think an important skill for defensemen in today's game. I think he's bringing that for us right now.
On how four goals against never looks great, but at the same time, is he starting to see a return to some better defensive habits: "I thought for most of the night, we were pretty solid defensively. I think they scored three goals on the first six or seven shots. It's a little bit deceptive on what the whole game looks like. From a scoring chance and quality looks standpoint, for the most part, we did a pretty good job. We had the puck an awful lot, and I think that's an indication of when our team is at its best. We control territory, we spent a lot of time in the offensive zone, we can suffocate teams with our pursuit game and just putting defenseman under pressure. We forced a lot of loose puck turnovers, and that's part of defense. So, I've always been a big believer that defense can start 170 feet from your net. It doesn't just mean defending in our own end. But when we were in our own end, I thought we did a pretty good job protecting the good ice. They get that goal late in the game. But for the most part, I thought our guys competed hard."
