Empty Thoughts: Penguins 5, Sabres 2

Observations from the Penguins’ 5-2 win against the Sabres:

First things first, Penguins defenseman John Marino was scratched due to an undisclosed injury. He is “day to day” according to coach Mike Sullivan.

As for the game, Evgeni Malkin kept rolling along.

After that terrible 2-0 road loss to the New York Islanders on Feb. 28, Malkin offered a “state of the union” for where the team was during his postgame press conference.

Malkin didn’t overlook his play either, as it had been less than stellar to that point in the season.

“I’m not happy with my game right now,” Malkin said. “But it’s coming, I feel it.”

Eleven days later, Malkin must be feeling pretty good.

He has a six-game scoring streak since then, totaling nine points (three goals, six assists). On Friday, he had the opening goal as well as a power-play assist on the winning goal.

His game might not have yet reached its terminus, but it’s pretty far along on the route.

A lot of that success can be tied to Malkin being paired on a line with Kasperi Kapanen. They’ve combined on a goal in some fashion for three consecutive games.

But even with that success, Malkin is hesitant to declare the union has completely fixed everything for him.

Regardless, the Penguins are winning right now — matching a season-best four-game winning streak — largely because Malkin’s game has taken considerable leaps forward in less than two weeks.

“When he starts to play well and he starts to produce offensively, he gets a surge in confidence, he gets a surge in energy,” Sullivan said. “He feeds off of that. We all know what he’s capable of, he’s a dynamic player. So when he’s getting the game the right way and he’s making good decisions through the neutral zone and he is taking what the game gives him, then he has the ability to be a real dynamic player. That’s what we try to encourage him as a coaching staff, in just helping him in those areas of the game, just the details of the process. When the plays are there, he’s going to see them, he’s going to make those plays. He has such great instincts.

“When things go well for him and he starts to gain that level of confidence, he tends not to force things. He tends to take what the game gives him and he’s a much better player when he’s in that mindset. That’s where he’s at right now.”

What happened

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead 6:27 into regulation. After a botched passing sequence between Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Jacob Bryson at their own blue line, Kapanen swiped the puck and created his own breakaway. He failed to get a shot off, however. Instead, he left a drop pass for the skater chasing him, Malkin, who lifted a forehand shot over goaltender Jonas Johansson’s left leg for his seventh goal. Kapanen had the lone assist. That marked only the ninth time out of 26 games this season in which the Penguins scored the first goal.

But that rare first lead lasted all of 27 seconds for the Penguins. After winning a puck battle on the right wall of the offensive zone against Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang, Sabres forward Tage Thompson swooped behind the net with the puck, emerged to the left of the cage and jammed in a wraparound forehand shot through the stick then the five hole of goaltender Tristan Jarry for his first goal of the campaign. Assists went to forward Kyle Okposo and Cody Eakin.

The Penguins regained a lead 3:24 into the second period. Off a defensive zone faceoff win, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger banked a pass up the boards to spring forward Brandon Tanev on a breakaway from the right wing. Attacking the cage, Tanev was able to tuck a backhander through Johansson’s five hole for his sixth goal. Blueger and defenseman Mike Matheson had assists.

Things were tied again, 2-2, at 8:46 of the second. Ex-Penguins forward Riley Sheahan chipped a puck up the left wing of the offensive zone, chased it down and whipped a pass to the right circle where onrushing forward Victor Olofsson adjusted and fired something of an awkward one-timer past Jarry’s left skate. Sheahan and forward Eric Staal netted assists.

A power-play goal by forward Jake Guentzel restored a lead for the Penguins at 11:36 of the second. From the left circle of the offensive zone, Malkin fed a pass behind the net for Crosby. Surveying the zone, Crosby then distributed the puck to Guentzel, low in the right circle. With an acre of ice and a calendar of time to pick his shot, Guentzel sniped a difficult wrister to the far side past Johansson’s blocker for his ninth goal. Assists were recorded by Crosby and Malkin.

The Penguins’ fourth line got a rare goal 2:43 into the third period to make it a two-goal lead. Settling a bouncing puck in the neutral zone, forward Anthony Angello glided into the offensive zone and from the right circle, he ripped a fairly impressive wrister by Johansson’s glove on the near side for his first goal of the season. Forward Colton Sceviour had the lone assist.

An empty net goal by forward Bryan Rust, his ninth, at 18:45 of the third capped the scoring. Jarry, who tried to shoot on the empty net and missed, had the lone assist.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 27-23.

• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour each led the game with four shots.

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

• Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen led the Sabres with 23:01 of ice time on 24 shifts.

• The Sabres controlled faceoffs, 33-22 (60%).

• Mittelstadt was 8 for 8 (100%).

• Crosby was 11 for 19 (58%).

• Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, Sabres defensemen Rasmus Dahlin, Matt Irwin and Montour each led the game with two blocked shots.

• Jarry made 21 saves on 23 shots.

• Johansson made 22 saves on 26 shots.

Randomly speaking

• The Sabres were pretty mad at the Penguins for a couple of hits in the third period, most notably one by Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese that led to an undisclosed injury for Sabres rookie forward Dylan Cozens at 2:25 of the third period.

Cozens dumped a puck into the Penguins’ zone from near the center red line and was slammed toward the boards by Aston-Reese. Sabres defenseman Colin Miller immediately jumped Aston-Reese and they fought. Cozens left the ice in some distress and did not return.

Then at 7:47 of the third, Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel dropped Dahlin with a knee-on-knee hit in the Penguins’ zone that was more coincidental than Aston-Reese’s hit. Dahlin was shaken up a bit but was able to complete the game.

• From this writer’s perspective, Aston-Reese’s hit was legal, but it sure was borderline. And it was certainly unnecessary as well as dangerous given how close it was in relation to the boards. It probably doesn’t rise to the level of supplemental discipline, but it might serve Aston-Reese well to avoid hits like that in the future.

• Granted, the Sabres are pretty awful. But this was one of the Penguins’ more complete games of the season. All four lines found a way to score and they even got a goal from the power play. Plus, the penalty kill was perfect, going 2 for 2. The Penguins needed to get a clean two points against a poor opponent and they did exactly that.

• Angello’s first goal was significant given that he grew up in Manilus, N.Y., about three hours east of Buffalo, and rooted for the Sabres. In terms of more contemporary concerns, the score was significant in that it was an actual tangible contribution from the fourth line. The Penguins’ last goal from the fourth line came during a 5-4 overtime home win against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 19. Sceviour scored on a goalmouth scramble off a zone entry by Kapanen.

(If you recall, that was Kapanen’s first game with the Penguins and he was placed on the fourth line as he tried to regain his conditioning.)

That group nearly scored in the first period when Mark Jankowski set up Angello in the slot resulting in Angello putting one off a post:

The fourth line can still be improved quite a bit but that was a considerable step forward.

• Not coincidentally, that goal against Washington was Sceviour’s last point before Thursday. He snapped a 13-game pointless streak.

• Ruhwedel stepped into the lineup in place of Marino. It was Ruhwedel’s first game after being a healthy scratch for 12 games. Primarily paired with Marcus Pettersson, Ruhwedel offered his typically unremarkable but reliable, steady-Eddie game, clocking 13:35 of ice time on 18 shifts with one shot on one attempt as well as one blocked shot.

• Jarry was good but not perfect. The goal by Thompson was very preventable. But he played a strong game all things considered.

• The Penguins seemed to learn their lesson after Tuesday’s 4-2 home win against the Rangers when they let the Rangers dominate shots in the third period, 15-1. On Thursday, they controlled play, leading in shots, 8-4, and just kind of milked this game away. It was a considerable improvement from Tuesday.

• That said, the Sabres did hit either a post or crossbar four times in the period. So the Penguins had a little luck on their side.

• The Sabres just look like a fractured group. And that’s not necessarily anything different than what they’ve looked like for the past decade or so. This is just a wretched franchise.

Historically speaking

• Sullivan recorded his 300th career win.

• Jarry (45 wins) surpassed Jim Rutherford (44) for 11th place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• Jarry leads the NHL in goaltending assists with three. He also moved into fifth place on the franchise’s career scoring list among goaltenders with five points (all assists), surpassing Matt Murray (four).

• Jarry has more career points with the franchise than 249 players (192 skaters and 57 goaltenders) who have also suited up for the Penguins.

• Sheahan recorded his 100th career assist. He recorded 23 of those as a member of the Penguins.

• Even at 36 and on a bad team, Staal continues to be a Penguin killer. He now has 56 points (23 goals, 33 assists) in 58 career games against the Penguins.

Publicly speaking

• Malkin was Don Rickles after this game. He had a few one-liners, including one based on nationalities. First, he was asked if he has grown closer to Kapanen as a person:

“He speaks (Finnish). I (don’t) understand. We try to be nice together. We’re not (sharing hotel) rooms right now. We all stay in the hotel. We’re not (going) out. We’re not going to dinner together. Maybe I’m too old to him. But I try to be with him and play cards and play video games too. But he’s a good guy. Really funny.”

• Then Malkin was asked what the Penguins need to become a true Stanley Cup contender:

“Maybe Mario Lemieux. I don’t know. It’s a hard question. The last four games, I do think it’s all good. … We have deep lines. It’s hard to say right now. It might be a little bit lucky. Sometimes, it’s not the best to win (the Stanley) Cup. It’s more like the hardest team (that) works on the ice. Today, we block shots. We have everything to win. It’s hard to say right now. We still have lots of games. Right now, we look fine. But we need to work every day (to get) better and better for sure.”

• Malkin also gave something of a “state of the union” as his team is on a four-game winning streak:

“More confidence right now. When you win a couple (of consecutive) games, you have more confidence. We’re feeling more like we work together. And the goalie, Jarry played unbelievable (the) last four games. … He’s amazing. He’s I think (the) best player right now on the team. … The power play is working now too. It’s everything that’s come back.”

• Sullivan likes what he sees between Malkin and Kapanen:

“They’re developing some real good chemistry. They’re both really talented guys, first and foremost. … They’re real dangerous off the rush in particular. (Kapanen) brings a ton of speed, he’s going to challenge (opponents) with the wide speed. And he has finishing ability. (Malkin) has the playmaking ability off the rush to get him the puck at the right time that gives him an opportunity to get a look at the net. … They’ve just developed a certain chemistry here over the time they’ve been together. We’ve really been encouraged by it. With each game they’ve played, they get more comfortable with one another. They’ve been a real good tandem for us, regardless of who we put on that opposite side. … That tandem, in particular, has been dynamic.”

• Angello on playing in Buffalo for the first time as a professional:

“It was awesome. Obviously, playing in Buffalo is a little but surreal because this is close to home where I grew up and these were the NHL games that I came to. So finally playing in the game was awesome. Then scoring, honestly, was even more surreal if that’s even possible.”

• Angello got some good advice leading to his goal:

“Evan Rodrigues said any time I get it inside the top of the circles, make sure to let it rip. So I didn’t think twice about shooting that one.”

• Sullivan liked what he got from the fourth line:

“The fourth line had a real strong game tonight. They brought us a lot of energy. They had some offensive zone time. They possessed the puck down low. They forced Buffalo to have to expend energy defending them. That’s the type of contribution that those guys can provide for our team. They helped us with momentum.”

• Sullivan on his team’s third period:

“I thought we played a decent period. We were trying to play the game the right way. I’ve always been a believer that when your mindset changes and you try to sit on a lead, it’s not a positive thing for a team. That’s one of the things we talked about between periods is we’ve got to continue to play on our toes. We’ve got to continue to try to score the next goal, we just have to do it the right way. Our calculation of risk might change a little bit. In certain situations, we might make a safer play or get a puck deep. Or if you’re late in shifts, you’ve got to make simple plays so that you force teams to play 200 feet. But we’ve got to continue to try to score.

“I think that’s when our team is at its best. Our best defense in a lot of instances is by possessing the puck in the offensive zone, and if we don’t have it, by pursuing the puck in the offensive zone. That’s something that we’re trying to encourage our guys to continue to do even through we’re protecting a one- or a two-goal lead. For the most part, we did a pretty good job in the third. I know we can get better and improve in that regard.”

• Sabres coach Ralph Krueger was not happy over Aston-Reese’s hit on Cozens:

“Looking at it now, it’s a push in the number in a real vulnerable, dangerous spot. It has to be a penalty. Good for (Miller) jumping in there. Really difficult when you see a player exposed like that and you give him a push right in the numbers at that distance. You know the danger of that as a player. Quite disappointed that wasn’t called at that point.

“We need to prepare ourselves for a reaction. We’ve got Pittsburgh again in two days. The hits on Dylan and Rasmus, they’re boiling the blood right now and we just need to show a reaction.”

Visually speaking

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights:

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