Net-front play led to the Penguins' winning streak being snapped
The Penguins knew what the Dallas Stars would do.
And they stopped them.
At least for the first 54 minutes, 59 seconds of regulation.
That’s when the Stars’ seemingly relentless intent of crashing the net began to pay off and led to them claiming a 3-2 win at American Airlines Center that snapped the Penguins’ 10-game winning streak.
“They bring a combination of strength and speed,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said to media in Dallas before the game. “The net front is going to be important. They have some size, players like (forwards Jamie) Benn and (Alexander) Radulov that are really good at the net front. So I think controlling our net front is going to be an important aspect of it.”
Sure enough, they limited Benn and Radulov. In fact, as Benn fell on top of Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry at 8:08 of the second period, Radulov was battered up a bit by rambunctious Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman for trespassing near the crease. Both players received roughing minors for the skirmish.
But the likes of Stars forwards Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski, Jacob Peterson and Jason Robertson would not be stymied by the Penguins.
Things began to boil over pretty early in the third period. At the 15:19 mark, Pavelski and Robertson each did something akin to a body splash on top of Jarry — along with Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson — after the goaltender froze a puck. Jarry was so incensed by the sequence, he ripped Pavelski’s stick away in response.
Another scrum developed at 10:08 of the third after Jarry gloved a wrister by Robertson, but little came of it.
The Stars’ tactics began paying off at 14:59 of the third as they tied the score 2-2. Settling a puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Robertson shuffled a quick wrister on net. Jarry made the initial save but allowed a rebound. With Penguins defensemen Mike Matheson and Chad Ruhwedel providing minimal residence, Pavelski established position above the crease, claimed the puck and pushed a forehand shot past just past the reach of Jarry’s left skate.
A mere 75 seconds later, the winning goal was generated in a similar fashion. Swooping up the left wing of the offensive zone, Hintz saucered a pass to the slot for Robertson, who jabbed the puck out of mid-air but couldn’t put it on net. The rebound bounced to the right of the net, where Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen shuffled the puck back toward the crease. With Jarry laying on the ice out of position, Hintz established himself in the vacant crease, dragged the puck past Jarry’s left skate and plunked in an easy backhand shot to give his team its first lead of the contest.
“The net front was an area that we definitely wanted to focus on before the game,” Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. “They scored two there on our net front in the third period.”
Added Sullivan after the game: “We clearly didn’t win the net-front battles in the third period. But I thought in the first two, we were pretty good in that area. But they get two blue-paint goals. That’s an indication, we knew that’s the type of team they are. It’s part of their identity. We had to be good there. We just didn’t get it done in the third.”
Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Sunday after traveling to California.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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