The Penguins began tonight’s game without Evgeni Malkin, Egor Chinakhov, Bryan Rust, Sam Girard, and Ben Kindel. They ended the evening with a great 3-2 overtime victory over Nashville.
Makeshift doesn’t even begin to describe tonight’s lineup, but they put together quite the performance. The Penguins had several Grade A looks throughout the evening, and it looked like they were about to get “goalied” by Saros.
Saros’ ability to stymie the Pens ended with just over a minute remaining when Crosby rifled a seam pass over to Rickard Rakell, who evened the game. Rakell, notably off to a slow start, was stonewalled on two (!) clear-cut breakaways in this game, making his tying goal feel that much sweeter.
As the game transitioned to overtime, several guys were thrust into that situation who would typically never see the ice. One of those guys was Ville Koivunen, and he decided to make the most of the opportunity. Ville found himself with a great look and buried a shot from the high slot to win the game for the Pens.
The Penguins truly played a great game and deserved this outcome. It’s extremely positive to see how they’ve responded to the Western losing streak, plus all of the injury adversity they’ve faced.
I think a few guys have used the injuries to push harder for their spot in the lineup once the injury bug ends. Elmer Soderblom and Hendrix Lapierre have both played really well the past two games. If either, or both, of these guys continue to play this way, it’ll be hard for the coaches to take them out.
Unfortunately for the McGroarty and Hayes stans out there, they both left something to be desired tonight.
They have a few days off to get healthy, then they’ll look to make it three in a row when they play Utah on Thursday. When they’re healthy, it’ll be interesting to see what they do regarding the lineup.
What would you like to see the Penguins do once they’re healthy?
