5 specifics to love about the Penguins' big-picture romp through Tampa Bay
Before their trip to Tampa Bay, there was a lot of talk about whether or not the Pittsburgh Penguins were about to face a “measuring stick” run of games over the next few weeks.
If that’s true, the Penguins measured up quite nicely in their first test. Certainly, they measured up better than Kenny Pickett’s hands.
Thursday’s 5-1 Penguins road win over the Lightning may have been their most impressive since … well … the last time they were in Tampa. That was the club’s 6-2 victory over the Bolts in the season opener on Oct. 12.
If that’s an exaggeration, it’s not by much. The Pens just dusted the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions while they were red hot. Tampa had won five in a row and 12 of 15. Before last night’s defeat, the Lightning had just one loss by more than one goal since Jan. 21.
And the Penguins won it even more decisively than what the final score indicated. They outshot Tampa 40-21. The shot attempts were 61-39. The scoring chances were 33-24 according to NaturalStatTrick. They won the faceoff battle 50.8% to 49.2%. They only allowed one power play opportunity.
The “Let’s go, Pens” chants were filling up Amalie Arena by the end of the night, and rightfully so.
Here are five highlight elements from the Penguins on a night that was full of them.
1. The start: The Penguins were recently very critical of their own starts in the first periods of games.
That certainly wasn’t the case Thursday. A looping, galloping zone entry from Evgeni Malkin set up Danton Heinen for the first goal at 3:46 as the Penguins established early control from the jump.
Ten of Heinen's 12 goals this season have been scored on the road. pic.twitter.com/a9bRLttHs3
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2022
The Penguins also drew the first penalty and cashed it in with a beautiful power play. It featured crisp puck movement, decisive passing, skill, oppressive zone time and a Sidney Crosby goal to pay off the efforts.
He's scoring power-play goals.
He's recording top-notch Audible Original content.
Sidney Crosby cannot be stopped. pic.twitter.com/akHo7VxfGB— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2022
The Penguins shot attempts totaled 26 to just 14 for the Lightning in the first period.
2. Secondary scoring: Depth scoring was a strength early in the season for the Penguins as they were beset with injuries and coronavirus issues.
Those contributions have cooled lately, as the team has been much more reliant on their superstars and the power play.
But Heinen got the first goal and Brock McGinn scored his 11th on a breakaway as well.
IT'S A BIRD.
IT'S A PLANE.
IT'S BROCK MCGINN! pic.twitter.com/3Kzw3t1hWe— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2022
That was McGinn’s first goal in 13 games. Heinen’s was his first in eight contests.
Meanwhile, the Lightning star players were kept very quiet. Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point were all held without a point and were each a minus-2. Stamkos didn’t even have a shot on goal.
3. Geno goes wild: Malkin was fantastic. After the game, coach Mike Sullivan said that he was in “beast mode” and claimed the win against the Lightning was Malkin’s best of the year.
Malkin had a goal and two assists. What he did before his goal may have been as impressive as anything.
Early in the third period, Malkin decked Corey Perry. Tampa teammate Pierre-Edouard Bellemare went after Malkin along the boards, and Malkin put Bellemare on his wallet.
As the shift continued, Bellemare had the puck and ran into traffic at the Penguins blue line. Malkin forced a turnover by Bellemare, got a good pass from Heinen and took it to beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on a breakaway.
IT'S A THREE-POINT NIGHT FOR EVGENI MALKIN! pic.twitter.com/qwAjWf3l6t
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2022
It was vintage, 2009-era “you wouldn’t like Geno when he’s angry” stuff. And the many Penguins fans in attendance on the road appreciated the goal as “Geno, Geno” chants could be heard throughout the arena.
4. Frisky Friedman: Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman agitated the Lightning all night.
At one point, he kicked Pat Maroon’s stick out his hands after the whistle which resulted in Maroon going out of his way to look for trouble and retaliate.
Later in the game, Perry swatted the stick out of Friedman’s hands. So he wrapped up Perry around his neck and tackled him to the ice causing a huge scrum.
By the time everything was settled, the Penguins walked away with a power play, and Lightning coach John Cooper had been ejected for arguing with the officials.
5. Puck control: The Penguins were much better at avoiding mistakes than the Lightning were. Tampa committed 17 giveaways. Meanwhile, the Pens had only four.
Both of the breakaway goals against Vasilevskiy were the result of turnovers.
Credit the Pens for harassing Tampa into many of those mistakes with some active sticks and tenacious pursuit of Tampa skaters. Also, credit them for being opportunistic and converting those gifts into goals against a team (and a goalie) that rarely opens the door to be exploited.
Now we’ll see if the Pens (76 points) “measure up” again in another road game against the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes (79 points) on Friday night.
TribLIVE Penguins beat writer Seth Rorabaugh joins Tim Benz for their weekly hockey podcast. They talk about the Penguins’ Thursday night beat down of Tampa Bay, Friday night’s Metro showdown with Carolina, and some potential trade strategy.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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