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Scratching and clawing for standings points |
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After dropping a disappointing result to the Red Wings the Penguins were going to be up against it when they took on the defending Stanley Cup champs. For the most part the Penguins held their own. They started strong in the first and went dormant for a bit, but they battled and kept things within striking distance.
Sidney Crosby continued to find the scoresheet on a really nice set piece off of a power play faceoff. It was a tremendous feed from Bryan Rust and one that is only made when two players have played games upon games and years upon years with one another. Florida actually did a nice job picking their pressure points. It took a special feed and finish to get burnt and they did. It was Bryan Rust’s 400th career point in what has been a strong NHL career
This wasn’t the only power play goal of the game for the Penguins. In what would seem like a completely foreign concept in 2023-24 this year’s Penguins actually score on the power play, and have done so in five consecutive games. With the Penguins trailing late and an assist from Sam Bennett’s selfish penalty Pittsburgh was able to tie the game late and snag a point. One of the biggest reasons the power play is working this year versus last year is they use the entire zone. Last year they absolutely refused, REFUSED, to use the goal line area and get the puck low. They predictably kept trying to make it work exclusively up top. It was stagnant, predictable, and frustrating. They are now using down low and using a bumper as a trigger man and it is going way better.
This is a wonderful job of taking what the killers are giving and while they did have an extra skater to help tactically speaking it wouldn’t change too much on where their point of attack should have been.
This was Rickard Rakell’s 18th goal of the season and he is on pace for a career high of 36 goals. He has had a great bounce back season which is both great and frustrating because it feels like it is wasted on a season going nowhere. There’s a timeline where Dubas doesn’t waste all the Penguins cap space with bottom six offensively challenged players and Guentzel is still here where this season has some serious intrigue. Alas, we are not in that timeline.
The Penguins had a good back and forth with Florida in the overtime session. If you would have told me the Penguins would be decent in 3v3 overtime before the season I wouldn’t have believed the assertion. They’ve done a nice job in the extra session despite their elevated age. Shootouts are another thing entirely. Tristan Jarry, who had a strong game, is just not good at them despite having athletic tendencies. It just doesn’t feel good when the Penguins reach the shootout these days. From Jarry’s history in the event and Sidney Crosby’s uninspired (in my opinion) attempts it just feels dead on arrival.
Penguins will have today before they head to Carolina for a 6PM game tomorrow night. If they can somehow scrounge a point out of this game taking two out of four from Florida and Carolina seems like a pretty decent result.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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