Going into last night's game against the Florida Panthers in the Sunshine State, the Pittsburgh Penguins were on a 5-1-1 run and had a chance to continue to build on that streak against a team that played them closely last season in four separate one-goal games (including three in overtime).
In games that close, we all know that special teams often can make the difference.
And so it went again last night in the first contest against the Panthers this year, as the Penguins' special teams brought home a 3-2 victory thanks to two first-period power play goals in 3 overall chances, and a penalty killing unit that again was stellar, snuffing out all 5 Florida power plays in the game -- including one late in the third period.
Kris Letang got the Pens' on the board first 4 minutes in on a slapshot from the right point. It was the culmination of a sequence that started with a clean face-off win by Captain Sidney Crosby in Florida's zone.
Obviously not satisfied with that work, Crosby upped the Pens' lead to 2-0 seven minutes later when he finished a 3-on-2 with Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy by taking TK's crossing pass in the low slot and getting Panthers' netminder Tomas Vokoun to slide out of position before easily depositing a backhand into the vacated cage.
Cory Stillman scored for Florida later that period on a play that required video review to see if Stillman knocked the puck into the net with his hand. From what I could see on the replays, it was difficult to tell whether Stillman got the puck with his glove or the shaft of his stick, but the call on the ice was a goal, and there obviously wasn't enough evidence in Toronto to overturn that.
Panthers' defenseman Bryan McCabe then tied the game in the second period on what looked like an innocent 2-on-2 rush into the Pens' zone.
That is, until Pens' center Mark Letestu flubbed his effort to intercept Florida forward David Booth's attempted pass to the oncoming blueliner.
Letestu did have the puck on his stick for a minute but didn't corral it cleanly, and it just rolled right off his blade to McCabe, who shot the puck in one motion from 30 feet on Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury got a piece of McCabe's shot, but it squeaked under his arm. In my opinion, Fleury could have had that one, although he might have let his guard down for a half-second when he thought Letestu had the play covered.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, the Pens' rookie atoned for his miscue in the third period.
With about 7 minutes left in the game, Letestu took the puck into Florida's zone and drove hard down the near boards just around and past the defending McCabe enough that he was able to curl a one-armed pass back towards the right circle to the oncoming Chris Conner.
Conner made no mistake, quickly releasing the puck and beating the surprised Vokoun above the right pad near side for a 3-2 Pittsburgh lead.
"A great play all around, from the breakout to the entry to the final play and the finish," said Pens' Captain Sidney Crosby of Conner's goal.
Florida got no closer, and with that, game 1 of Pittsburgh's annual fathers trip was a wrap. Fleury stopped 27 of 29 shots overall, and the Pens' ran their streak to 6-1-1 in their last 8.
Given that the Pens have historically tried to give every guy on the roster a chance to play in front of their dad during the 2-game journey each year, there will probably be a few lineup changes when Pittsburgh visits Buffalo to play the Sabres Wednesday night.
Last night, defenseman Deryk Engelland and forwards Mike Comrie and Mike Rupp were healthy scratches. While Comrie has been sitting, Engelland and Rupp watched from the press box at the expense of Ben Lovejoy and Eric Godard. Expect both of those two to watch the Sabres' game in street clothes while Engelland and Rupp return to the lineup.
And even though Comrie has been just a shade short of awful this year, I wouldn't rule out him getting back in the lineup on Wednesday either. If he does play, I'm not sure who will sit at this point. Of course, with the team playing so well overall, Head Coach Dan Bylsma may opt against changing his lineup that much and keep Comrie out of the lineup.
We'll see.
By the way, I may not have the opportunity to post a timely recap of that game on Turkey day, since this is the first year my family and I are hosting everyone on the holiday, and that means chances are my wife will have me completely pre-occupied that morning. If I don't get anything up right away, forgive me in advance. And have a happy Thanksgiving.
More soon.
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