Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Flyers 3

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-3 win against the Flyers:

A son of Boston, Mike Sullivan grew up as a fan of the Red Sox.

So he can appreciate one of the tried and true cliches of that sport in the value of winning two of three against an opponent in a regular season series.

And with the NHL’s schedule this season limited to division-only games due to the pandemic, the Penguins only face seven different opponents in 2020-21.

With Saturday’s win, they were able to take two of three straight games against the Flyers. So even as awful as Thursday’s come-from-ahead 4-3 home loss to the Flyers was, the Penguins were able to get four of six points against their cross-state rivals out of this series while the Flyers were limited to two points.

Some seven hours to the northeast, the New York Islanders smacked the wretched Buffalo Sabres, 5-2, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

It was the Islanders’ second consecutive win against the Sabres by that score and they will get a chance to gather another two points against that awful team on Sunday.

The Islanders, who have played the Sabres five times already this season — and have five wins — are now in first place of the East Division with 32 points.

Meanwhile, the Penguins, for all their malfunctions and inconsistency, sit five points back in fifth place with 27 points.

And they still have yet to play a game against those lousy Sabres.

Having played nothing but five of the top six teams in the division, the Penguins have a chance to really clean up as they approach the midway point of the season with 16 games against the Sabres — a team they have historically dominated during captain Sidney Crosby’s career — and the not-quite-as-terrible New Jersey Devils.

Of the 35 games the Penguins have remaining on their schedule, almost 50% of them (45.7%) will come against the Sabres and Devils.

(Note: The Bruins have yet to play a game against the Sabres as well.)

Here’s how the rest of the division stacks up in terms of games left against the Sabres and Devils:

Now given how disjointed the Penguins have been this season on a game-to-game basis, they can easily play down to lesser competition, even the sad-sack Sabres. And the Devils always give the Penguins troubles, no matter where either team is in the standings. Plus, as has been the case all season, just about anything can happen with regards to the schedule or roster given the pandemic.

But the Penguins (with a boost from the schedule makers) have given themselves a chance to secure a firm grip on a playoff berth with how they’ve played in the first seven weeks of the season against the best teams in the division. Like an invading army, they’re sitting on the outside of the castle waiting for the right time to charge.

Starting next week, with two road games against the Sabres, they have to handle their business against two of the worst teams in the entire NHL.

“We beat a pretty good hockey team,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, we would have liked to have won all three. But the fact that we won two of the three I think is positive from our standpoint. Now, we’ve got to look to the next task at hand.”

What happened

The Flyers scored first at 6:08 of the first period. Off a poor offensive zone turnover by Penguins forward Sam Lafferty, Flyers forward Scott Laughton tapped a puck to the neutral zone past Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson to create a two-on-none rush with Flyers forward Travis Konecny. After a handful of passes between the two, Konecny leaned down and chopped a one-timer from below the left circle past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker on the near side for his sixth goal of the season. Laughton had the lone assist.

A power-play goal at 7:54 of the first period tied the game, 1-1. From the left wall of the offensive zone, Crosby snapped a cross-ice pass to the right circle, hitting forward Evgeni Malkin in stride. Taking the pass on his forehand, Malkin went behind the net. As Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim collided with goaltender Brian Elliott, preventing him from maintaining position in the crease, Malkin was able to tuck in a backhand wraparound for his fifth goal. Crosby and forward Jake Guentzel collected assists.

The Penguins took a 2-1 lead at 18:01 of the first with another power-play goal thanks to some precision passing that julienned the Flyers’ penalty killers. From the right point, Malkin fed a cross-ice pass to Crosby on the left circle. Allowing for the play to develop, Crosby dealt a pass to the right circle for Guentzel who one-touched the puck to the left of the crease where forward Bryan Rust swept in a forehand shot past Elliott’s right skate for his eighth goal. Assists went to Guentzel and Crosby.

Another power-play goal, this time by the Flyers, tied the game, 2-2, 1:20 into the second period. Taking a pass at the left half wall of the offensive zone, Flyers forward Kevin Hayes moved into the near circle and lifted a wrister that beat Jarry over his right shoulder on the near side for his eighth goal. An effective screen by Flyers forward Nolan Patrick prevented Jarry from seeing the shot. Assists were credited to defenseman Ivan Provorov and Konecny.

The Flyers reclaimed a lead, 3-2, at 12:04 of the second. After some strong work on the right wing boards of the offensive zone by Flyers forwards Jakub Voracek and Laughton, Flyers defenseman Shane Gostisbhere settled the puck at the right point and uncorked a cannon blast of a slapper that blew past Jarry’s glove hand on the near side, thanks in part to a moving screen by Voracek. It was Gostisbehere’s third goal off assists from Laughton and Voracek.

Things were tied again late in the second period at the 18:10 mark. After Sanheim fumbled a puck in his own right corner, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev settled it on the right half wall and fed it back to the corner for forward Zach Aston-Reese. From there, Aston-Reese whipped a bad-angle shot that squeezed under Elliott’s left leg and into the cage for his fourth goal. The lone assist went to Tanev.

Penguins forward Jared McCann’s fifth goal of the season gave the Penguins another lead, 4-3, at 10:41 of the third period. After gaining the offensive zone at center point, Malkin left a drop pass on a crisscross sequence with McCann who then fed a forehand pass to Tanev racing off the bench up the left wing. Avoiding a poke check from Flyers defenseman Justin Braun, Tanev lifted a wrister on net from the left circle. Elliott made the initial save but allowed a rebound above the crease that McCann swatted in with a forehand shot. Tanev and Malkin collected assists.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 27-22.

• Gostisbehere led the game with five shots.

• McCann, Rust and defenseman Cody Ceci each led the game with four shots.

• Sanheim led the game with 24:48 of ice time on 29 shifts.

• Letang led the Penguins with 24:27 of ice time on 30 shifts.

• The Flyers dominated faceoffs, 44-24 (65%).

• Flyers forward Sean Couturier was 13 for 18 (64%).

• Malkin was 8 for 15 (53%).

• Guentzel led the game with four blocked shots.

• Couturier led the Flyers with three blocked shots.

Randomly speaking

• This game was kind of a sloppy affair. That’s to say it was entertaining. It wasn’t a technically proficient contest by either team. There were plenty of errors on both sides and it resulted in some fun back-and-forth action. This author has always felt a 4-3 game was the perfect type of game from an entertainment standpoint. That’s what this game offered.

• The Penguins’ power play had a multi-goal output for only the second time this season. Each of the goals they scored came off some strong seam passing that really stretched out the Flyers’ penalty killers and opened up scoring opportunities.

• With a one-goal lead for the last nine-plus minutes of regulation, the Penguins really leaned on the top defensive pairing of Brian Dumoulin and Letang as well as the duo of Ceci and Mike Matheson down the stretch. Letang, Dumoulin and Matheson each had four shifts in the final 9:11 of play after McCann’s go-ahead goal. Meanwhile, Ceci enjoyed three shifts.

Pettersson and defenseman John Marino? Only two shifts each after McCann’s goal.

• McCann continues to step up when the team needs him to. He now has four points (three goals, one assist) in five games since he’s come back into the lineup and replaced the injured Jason Zucker on the left wing of the second line (primarily). And it’s not like his goals have been some dazzling dangle off the wing or some sweet snipe. He’s just going to the net and creating offense.

McCann and the team each need him to keep riding this heater.

• This past Sunday, Malkin said his game was coming. Six days later, it’s still in transit. But it’s on the right route. He had a hand in three of the team’s goals, including making a strong zone entry that led to McCann’s goal. Game-to-game consistency has been an issue for him, so let’s see how he does against the Rangers on Sunday before putting his name on the Hart Memorial Trophy ballot, but he’s starting to warm up.

• Dumoulin returned to the lineup after missing 15 games due to an undisclosed injury. And he wasn’t exactly eased back as he logged 23:46 of ice time on 31 shifts, including 5:45 on the penalty kill. He looked as he typically does. That’s to say he was just a stabilizing entity who rarely seemed out of position.

• Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues was back as well. Skating primarily on the fourth line, he logged 10:39 of ice time on 16 shifts and was 2 for 4 on faceoffs (50%). It would be a stretch to say he made an impact on this game, but he offers a bit of an upgrade over most of the players they’ve used on the fourth line.

• Pettersson had a rough game as he took three penalties. (He entered the game with only two penalty minutes all season). And while the first goal wasn’t exactly his fault, he was out of position on the sequence that led to the two-on-none rush.

• The officials seemed to use a pretty strict standard in the early portions of this game. There were 11 penalties total leading to seven power plays. By the time the third period rolled around, the officials put their whistles away and let a few more things go.

• One notable exception to that observation came late in the first period at 18:58 of the first period when Gostisbehere appeared to strike McCann in the head with his left shoulder:

McCann appeared to be fine after the sequence so don’t hold your breath over any potential supplemental discipline.

• Despite officials sending people to the penalty box pretty liberally in the first two periods, this game was pretty heated throughout. There were plenty of post-whistle activities such as scrums and facewashes. Given this was the third straight game between these rivals, that was to be expected.

• Jarry looked like he could use a day off, and presumably, he’ll get one on Sunday given the Penguins play games on consecutive days. This was easily his least impressive game over the past three weeks.

Historically speaking

• Jarry (43 wins) surpassed Michel Dion and Wendell Young (42 each) for 12th place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• Guentzel (221 points) surpassed forward Aleksey Morozov (219) for 39th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Voracek recorded his 500th career assist.

Publicly speaking

• McCann is feeling it right now. Tanev spoke of McCann’s success as of late:

“He’s got a knack for the net, he’s got a tremendous shot and I think he’s got great confidence right now. He’s feeling the puck, he’s shooting the puck well. When you have one or two go in, you understand. Right now, he’s playing the right way, he’s playing a full 200-foot game and he’s being a great teammate. It’s showing out there. He’s getting rewarded.”

• Rust on McCann:

“He’s feeling confident. You can see it in his game. He’s using his skating ability to his advantage, whether it’s getting to loose pucks, getting on the forecheck, trying to find that open space. You saw it on his goal there, he just kind of used his skating to get to that rebound and put it in.”

• Sullivan on McCann:

“Jared’s playing a solid game right now. We’ve always known he’s had the ability to finish. He’s got a good shot, he can find the back of the net. It’s more about just playing the game a certain way that gives him the opportunities to get the looks. And usually, if he can get the looks, then he’s going to score. He’s trying to do the little things out there, he brings good speed. I think his wall play has improved, I think he’s getting himself into the areas of the rink where he needs to to get the looks. And as a result, I think he’s starting to score goals. Like every player, when the puck starts to go into the net for you, it certainly helps your confidence. That’s given Jared a big boost. “

• Sullivan on Malkin:

“(Malkin) had a good game. He’s competing out there, he commanded the puck an awful lot. He felt like he was a threat every time he went over the boards. That’s when he’s at his best. He was a difference maker in the game (today). The goal was dynamic. It was a good play all around by the all the people involved. But certainly, it’s a goal-scorer’s type goal. But (Malkin) had an impact on the game, on both sides of the puck. That’s what we’ve grown accustomed to expect from him because he’s such a generational talent. I hope this is something that he can build on and continue to get better for us.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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