Penguins replacements lead way in win over Blues
It was an occasion to appreciate replacements at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday.
New Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton was there, freshly installed as successor to the beleaguered Clint Hurdle barely a week ago.
Also present was Devlin “Duck” Hodges, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locum tenens at quarterback for the foreseeable future as the would-be heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph, checked himself down enough times to be pulled out of the starting lineup.
The most notable replacements present were on the ice. Because of maladies to incumbents, roughly 33 percent of the lineup the Pittsburgh Penguins dressed was composed of players who have either served as regular healthy scratches or starters with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season.
Despite such a hodgepodge and incomplete collection of talent, the Penguins were able to grind their way to a much-needed 3-0 victory against the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.
The most notable reinforcement was in net. Backup goaltender Tristan Jarry got the start over struggling starter Matt Murray and stopped 28 shots to record his first shutout of the season.
“When you get a shutout in this league, you’ve definitely played a hell of a game,” said forward Alex Galchenyuk.
“He was terrific,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He made some big saves for us throughout the course of the game. He was good on our penalty kill. A lot of times your goaltender has to be your best killer. He was tonight. He was playing with a lot of confidence. He saw the puck well. He plays the puck well, too, which is an added benefit. It helps our defensemen when we’re going back for pucks, and he has the ability to play the puck himself. He helped us in a lot of areas.”
The Penguins’ penalty kill, which had allowed goals in their previous six games, was perfect Friday going 4 for 4 despite losing yet another player, defenseman Jack Johnson, one of the team’s leading penalty killers, to illness in the morning.
“I thought we were a lot more structured out there and a lot more aggressive on loose pucks,” defenseman John Marino said. “It showed today.”
The Penguins opened the scoring with one of their more established players only 39 seconds into regulation.
Forcing Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson into a turnover in St. Louis’ right corner, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev controlled the puck behind the net and fed a pass to defenseman Marcus Pettersson at the left point. Surveying the zone for a moment, Pettersson launched a wrister towards the cage.
Penguins forward Teddy Blueger was positioned above the crease and deflected the puck past the glove of goaltender Jordan Binnington.
The longest of long-shot replacements made it a 2-0 game with only 40 seconds left in the second period.
After Penguins forward Jared McCann hounded Blues defenseman Justin Faulk into a turnover in St. Louis’ right corner, he fed a pass to forward Dominik Kahun on the left half wall.
Kahun veered above the circle but fed a backhand pass back to McCann. From the left wall, McCann snapped a wrister on net.
Forward Stefan Noesen, who basically cold-called his way to the NHL contract he signed with the Penguins on Monday, deflected the puck down into Binnington. As Binnington reacted to the initial save, Noesen, appearing in his first NHL game since April 4, was able to draw in the rebound with his backhand and lift a forehand shot into the crease for his first goal with the Penguins.
“The offseason was pretty long,” Noesen said. “Not signing right away and not knowing where I was. Once you get back to playing hockey again, it’s just hockey. You go out there and play and do your best and try to find your way back.”
The Penguins’ most scrutinized replacement put the team up 3-0 at 4:59 of the third. After Blues forward Tyler Bozak fumbled a puck at the offensive blue line, Penguins forward Sam Lafferty fed it up ice to spring Galchenyuk, the primary return in an offseason trade that sent the popular Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, on a breakaway.
Fending off Blues defensemen Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester, Galchenyuk moved in on net and lifted a wrister under Binnington’s blocker for his second goal of the season. Lafferty had the lone assist.
“All of our guys push themselves to succeed,” Galchenyuk said. “Obviously, we have have a lot of key guys out. We have a lot of (other) guys contributing. We’ve got to play a solid team game, build it up and we’ll get games like that.”
With vital components such as Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Patric Hornqvist, Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz each sidelined because of injuries, the Penguins are relying on the replacements who spearheaded Wednesday’s triumph.
“It’s so important to us becoming a team,” Sullivan said. “These guys, they work so hard. They don’t get a lot of accolades for what they do, but they’re real important players for our team.
“That’s the essence of a team, when everyone is getting involved, when everybody is buying in. We’re playing for each other. It’s really fun to watch as a coach when you watch how hard the guys are playing for one another.”
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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