Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Islanders 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-1 win against the New York Islanders:

Mike Matheson will never make anyone forget Patric Hornqvist.

Between Hornqvist’s relentlessness, rambunctious and results, he was an easy player to root for during his six seasons with the Penguins.

He won the Stanley Cup twice and his nickname was “Horny.” How could he not be popular?

Chances are, whenever fans are allowed back into PPG Paints Arena, you’ll always see many more No 72 Hornqvist jerseys than you’ll ever see No. 5 Matheson jerseys.

(Heck, you’ll probably see more Derek Engelland or Ulf Samuelsson No. 5 jerseys than the current bearer of that digit.)

Mike Matheson will always be fighting a losing battle when he’s compared to the man he was traded for.

But he’s starting to help the Penguins win.

That was evident Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.

Three strong plays by him led to important goals in a key victory.

First, he made a strong pinch to keep a puck in the offensive zone during a sequence leading to the game’s first score.

Then with the game-winning goal by forward Teddy Blueger late in the second period, Matheson made a clever play by banking a puck off the end boards to himself to generate a scoring chance, ultimately leading to a rebound goal by Blueger.

Finally, on an insurance score in the third period, Matheson skated a puck out of his own zone (from behind his own net, specifically), fending off Islanders forward Oliver Walstrom, then gained the offensive zone. The ensuing possession led to the Penguins’ third goal.

(Each play is highlighted below.)

Given the disjointed nature of training camps this season, a newcomer like Matheson, who is trying to rebuild his game after an underwhelming existence with the Florida Panthers, was bound to get off to a slow start this season. And considering he was injured in the second game of the season, his development was stunted early on.

But a month-plus into the season, he’s starting to look like the player the Penguins hoped they could rehabilitate.

“Mike had a real strong game on both sides of the puck,” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference. “You can see his skating ability and how effective it is, in both defending and taking time and space from our opponents and closing on people. Then offensively, his ability to join the rush. The play he made on Teddy Blueger’s goal … he shoots off the backboard on purpose because he doesn’t have a lane to the net, jumps by his check and keeps that play alive. You can see his mobility off that offensive blue line in how effective it can be. And joining the rush the same way. He can make an outlet pass then he takes three or four hard strides. He creates separation from our opponents to be that fourth man or that second wave on the attack off the rush.

“He’s getting more comfortable in his surroundings. That’s helping him. And he’s playing a confident game right now.”

What happened

The Penguins’ claimed the game’s first goal 4:15 into regulation. After Matheson pinched in on the Islanders’ left half wall to keep a puck in the offensive zone, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel claimed possession on the end boards and shielded the puck from Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock. Guentzel then forced a backhand pass to the left circle that was intercepted by Islanders forward Brock Nelson. Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen, promoted to the first line, hounded Nelson into a turnover and quickly chipped a wrister at the cage while falling. Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was skating above the crease and had the puck deflect off his stick, past the blocker of goaltender Semyon Varlamov on the near side for his sixth goal of the season. Kapanen had the lone assist.

It became a 2-0 game late in the second period at the 18:01 mark. Out of the Islanders’ right corner, Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese fed a pass to the left point for Matheson who chopped a slapper — intentionally — wide on the near side. The puck deflected off the end boards to the left circle where Matheson reclaimed it and fired a wrister that Varlamov kicked out. The rebound slid to the right of the crease where Blueger cleaned up the garbage with a forehand shot for his third goal. Assists went to Matheson and Aston-Reese.

An insurance goal was added at 9:11 of the third period. After Matheson skated a puck out of danger from his own zone and gained the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin won a puck battle against Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau on New York’s left half wall and moved the puck to the near corner, tapping a forehand feed to Penguins forward Bryan Rust behind the net. Rust settled the puck then shoved a forehand pass above the blue paint where onrushing Penguins forward Jason Zucker jabbed in a quick wrister past Varlamov’s glove for his fourth goal. Assists were credited to Rust and Malkin.

The Islanders broke up the shutout bid at 15:39 of the third period with a power-play goal. Settling a puck in the Penguins’ high slot, Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy fed a pass in the right circle for forward Josh Bailey. Leaning down, Bailey slapped a pass across the front of the crease. Nelson won a battle for positioning with Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and easily tapped in his fourth goal behind sprawling Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry. Bailey and Leddy collected assists.

An empty net goal by Rust at 16:54 of the third capped the scoring. Zucker and Malkin netted assists.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 37-32.

• Crosby led the game with six shots.

• Forward Mathew Barzal led the Islanders with five shots.

• Letang led the game with 24:27 of ice time on 26 shifts.

• Defenseman Adam Pelech led the Islanders with 22:37 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• The Penguins had a 28-26 edge in faceoffs (52%).

• Blueger was 7 for 6 (54%).

• Islanders forward Casey Cizikas was 6 for 10 (60%).

• Guentzel led the game with four blocked shots.

• Defenseman Scott Mayfield led the Islanders with three blocked shots.

Randomly speaking

• This game was perhaps the most contentious of the season for the Penguins. That’s to say there were a number of post-whistle confrontations.

First, at 2:18 of the first period, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev and Casey Cizikas got into a fight:

Things really picked up at 15:27 of the third period when Matheson was called for boarding Barzal:

After the Islanders scored, they spent the remainder of the game trying to even things up with Matheson. At one point, Islanders forward Matt Martin, one of the NHL’s few remaining enforcers, tried to fight Matheson, who wanted absolutely none of that smoke:

Apparently, there are lingering feelings by the Islanders with Matheson from the playoffs in August when Matheson, then a member of the Panthers, injured ex-Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk with an ugly hit:

After the game, the Islanders were asked if they’re still mad with Matheson from that hit in August and they didn’t exactly deny the notion (see below in the quotes).

After that dustup with Matheson, Malkin and Mayfield got into a scuffle near the Penguins’ bench that resulted in 10-minute misconducts for each party at the 18:33 mark.

It’ll be interesting to see if any of this friction carries over to the rematch on Saturday.

• Jarry was pretty good once again. He has strung together three really strong games this past week.

During these three contests, Jarry has stopped 98 of 105 shots equating to a save percentage of .933.

In contrast, over his first seven games of the season, he stopped 150 of 175 shots, good for an ugly save percentage of .857.

• Jarry (and Malkin, really) did catch a pretty big break 31 seconds into the third period. With the Penguins on the power play, Malkin made a poor pass at the offensive blue line that was intercepted by Pageau who created a two-on-one rush with Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck. As Malkin chased down Pageau, he left Clutterbuck unguarded. That allowed Pageau to set up Clutterbuck who lifted a wrister off the crossbar.

A goal there would have made it a 2-1 game and given the Islanders a huge boost.

• The Penguins switched up their top two lines, specifically flipping the right wingers. Kapanen skated with Crosby and Guentzel while Rust was reunited with Malkin and Zucker. Clearly, it paid dividends.

• Another change involved rookie forward Drew O’Connor returning to the lineup in place of veteran forward Colton Sceviour on the fourth line. It would be a stretch to say that alteration made any notable difference.

• The biggest wart on this game for the Penguins came with the power play. It went 0 for 5, including a five-on-three sequence that lasted 1:13. The Penguins weren’t exactly terrible by any means with the man advantage as they managed to generate 11 shots. But failing to cash in on an extended two-man advantage and nearly giving up a short-handed goal can be viewed as a failure.

• Aston-Reese continues to produce. He now has four points (three goals, one assist) in four games this season.

Historically speaking

• Rust (185 points) surpassed forward James Neal (184) for 45th place on the franchise career scoring list.

Publicly speaking

• Matheson on his bank off the end boards:

“It was just kind of an instinctual play. It wasn’t really something that I was looking to do before the game or anything like that. They’re so good at blocking shots so I was just trying to get a lane by them. I felt I could step in there and get behind their winger.”

• Sullivan on changing up the lines:

“We’re trying to find some balance through our lineup. We think it’s important to have that competitive balance to win consistently. We were trying to make some adjustments so that we could get more effective balances through the four forward lines. We swapped (Rust and Kapanen) on that right side. I thought tonight it was effective. We had, for the most part, four lines going pretty well. That’s what it’s going to take to win consistently. It’s hard to rely on just one line each and every night just to win consistently. You’ve got to get contributions throughout your lineup so the balance is important for us.”

• Zucker on he and Malkin being reunited with Rust:

“We were just trying to get that chemistry back. I thought we started training camp this year with some good chemistry and kind of lost it the first few games of the year. For us, we were just trying to get that back. I think tonight was a good step in that direction. I’m just trying to battle. Obviously (Rust and Malkin) are two amazing players so for me, I want to complement them anytime I can. Those two guys made a great play on the goal. I was just trying to get it on goal there. Just trying to play three tight, just gain that chemistry and just keep building. This is a good building block game for us. We’ve just got to keep getting better from here on out.”

• Sullivan on Jarry:

“Tristan was solid. He’s really making strides. He looks much more comfortable in the crease. He’s challenging the shooter, he’s tracking the puck through traffic, his rebound control has been improved. So we see a lot of the characteristics of Tristan’s game when he’s at this best. We see him making progress in a lot of those areas. When your goalie has a certain demeanor and a certain comfort level, that can be contagious along the bench. … When your goaltender is making saves and for your team, it has a psychological impact in a positive way in the group in front of him. Tristan’s doing that for us right now.”

• Jarry generally speaks in bland cliches but he offered a pretty interesting observation on how the overall NHL season has unfolded and how he has adjusted:

“It’s just the way the games are played. Last year, I think was more so a north-south game with a lot of down-low plays and pucks being pumped to the blue line and shots on net with rebounds. This year, it’s more so east-west. You see a lot of games over the league and it’s high-scoring games. Just with the shorter training camp and no exhibition games, I think the games are being played a little bit different this year. There’s a lot more skill and there’s a lot more time with the puck and there’s not as many momentum swings with not having any fans. I think the game’s a little bit different this year. It was something that I had to adapt to and I had to work for.”

• Zucker on Jarry:

“He’s been incredible the last few games. Two games ago, I thought he was extremely good. The last game was really good. And then tonight, I thought was his best game. We need him to be as strong as he is throughout the rest of this season. … It was great to see him play well the last three games now.”

• Zucker on playing with a rare first lead:

“We’ve been putting an emphasis on getting that first goal. We haven’t done a good job of it this year. That’s been one of our biggest downfalls. Teams are so good in this league that when you get a goal or two, they’re so good at holding leads that it’s hard to come back every single time. We’re trying to put an emphasis on having better starts and getting that first goal. It was great to get that tonight. At that point, we were able to just play hockey and get them chasing the game a little bit. At that point, when they have to start chasing, they come out of their system and we can have a little bit more freedom to play the game and play smart and keep attacking.”

• The Islanders were not happy with Matheson. Coach Barry Trotz:

“He’s got a couple of our guys here. (Martin) sent the message to him. It’s going to get testy. We’ve got to play these guys a whole bunch. I think we’ve got another four times coming up here. As it gets ramped up, it will probably get harder and harder.”

• Nelson on Matheson:

“Guys take notice. It’s a fast game. Things are going to happen. You just want to respond in a positive manner and make it hard on him moving forward. Let him know that maybe we didn’t appreciate some plays.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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