Penguins/Senators Recap: Crosby scores game’s only goal in OT

The Pens’ captain takes the last shot and Pittsburgh gets the first and last goal Sunday against Ottawa

Pregame

It’s time for some fresh faces for the Penguins! Rutger McGroarty is back for his fourth NHL game of the season on his 21st birthday (with the gift of playing on Sidney Crosby’s line) and Ville Koivunen makes his NHL debut. Vlad Kolyachonok takes a night off as a healthy scratch. The coaches decide to stick with Tristan Jarry in the net, despite his getting pulled early in the last two games.

The Ottawa Senators roll into town with the following lines.

First period

Ottawa takes the first penalty 6:24 into the game, Koivunen is on the top power play and gets a couple looks in front of the net for his first stand out moment in the NHL. Crosby sets Rickard Rakell up for a glorious chance but the puck rolls off his stick before he can pull the trigger on the shot.

The Penguins give Sidney Crosby a video for his recent achievement of being the first NHL player to record at least a point per game in 20 seasons. Always a good time with names like Armstrong, Malone and Kunitz involved to share some memories and praise for their former teammate.

Lots of good goaltending at both ends takes us to the end of the period. No goals in the opening frame, but it’s not for a lack of chances. Moneypuck has both Ottawa and Pittsburgh at slightly over 1.5 expected goals in the first 20. But it’s 0-0 courtesy of Jarry and Anton Forsberg’s strong play.

Second period

Rakell hits a post just about as square and hard as possible. So close to the game’s first goal but no dice.

Unlike the first period that was entertaining, the second bogs down more. Crosby steals a puck away from Nick Jensen and nearly sets up a goal but Forsberg is ready.

Ryan Graves takes a penalty with 6 seconds go. His crime? Brady Tkachuk skating directly into Graves and getting shaken up over a collision of two players not looking where they were going.

We’re still looking for an icebreaker on the scoreboard after 40 minutes, surprisingly enough.

Third period

6’5” Ottawa defender Tyler Kleven punishes Philip Tomasino with a pair of hits down low. Tomasino took exception and went after the much bigger player after the whistle and Kleven just kinda stood there. Reminiscent of a little dog getting mad a a big dog who doesn’t even bother to react, makes it that much worse.

Late in the third period Crosby and Artem Zub are both shown the penalty box for exchanging hacks and punches after the whistle. Crosby serves his two minutes, gets on the ice and draws a Pittsburgh power play with three second left in regulation.

Overtime

We’ve waited this long for a goal so it’s only fitting that the Penguin power play gets pretty deep 1:16 into OT before who else but Crosby wins the game. Erik Karlsson makes a one-timable pass over for the captain and he hammers a shot hard to the short-side that finally beats a goalie. 1-0, game is over, Pens win.

Some thoughts

• Kudos to Sportsnet Pittsburgh for not cutting away during the first TV timeout and showing the Crosby 20th season point-per-game video instead. Nice touch and reward from the network to those dedicated enough to tune into a late-season game.
• Add in Hailey Hunter doing an interview with Koivunen’s parents right in the stands and getting it on air before the start of the second period it was a really nice game for the broadcast team. Well done to all involved.
• Now onto the key topic, impressions of the youngsters. McGroarty definitely has progressed from the fall with his acceleration and first steps, nice to see the work paying off and experience gained turn him into a more confident and noticeable player, showing up on the backcheck in one instance in the second period. Pretty good return with an official stat line of 3 SOG (5 attempts), 4 hits and a blocked shot in 16:57 worth of work.
• Similarly, Koivunen was impressive. He didn’t look out of place on the top power play and had no problems going down low. Koivunen was effective all over the ice, at one point he lifted a stick of an opponent to take the puck back. Nice first impression, Koivunen’s marks from the scorekeeper were 2 SOG (7 attempts), 1 giveaway, 1 takeaway in 17:28 of ice-time.
• Rakell seamlessly sliding into center when necessary is another reminder for just how good NHL players are at hockey, especially that top echelon of player. He was great today in the middle.
• After giving up 13 total goals in the last two games, at least the Pens were able to shut things down defensively to not lose in a blow out, which in turn means Jarry got his last few games out of his system and performed really well. Every decision in goal is an interesting one with the way things have gone so it was with Jarry getting a nod yet again despite the last two games going poorly. On the other hand even without starting those games Alex Nedeljkovic has played way more minutes than Jarry (78-41) in the last two and given up five total goals himself so it’s not like the other option has been a great one lately either. Perhaps that’s close to all that went into the decision but Jarry’s performance down the stretch and what that might mean for where it leaves him for next season is one of the more interesting Penguin storylines going on. Stopping all 31 shots and earning his first shutout of the season makes for the latest unpredictable twist of Jarry’s season. What happens next is anyone’s guess!
• Crosby amped up the dramatics to wait until OT to extend his point streak to now 10 games. This is what Kyle Dubas meant when he said that players like Crosby were too good to ensure that Pittsburgh would get an elite draft position (outside some lottery luck, anyways). Crosby was the best player on the ice in this game, as he still often is. He’s going to play hard and more often than not he’s going to find individual success that helps raise his team.

The Pens get a few days off to rest and regroup for their last extended road trip that starts Thursday night in St. Louis.