Heading into their Tuesday match against the Pittsburgh Penguinsthe Los Angeles Kings had won seven of their last eight games and were on tears.
But the Penguins were in trouble themselves and continued their winning streak against the Kings.
Pittsburgh came from behind twice before winning against the Kings in overtime, 3-2. Rickard Rakell scored the overtime winner by deflecting an Erik Karlsson floater from the point for his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
The Penguins are now 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, and they were playing against a hot LA team which ranks second in the Atlantic Division behind the Vegas Golden Knights. During this stretch, six of Pittsburgh’s wins have come against teams currently in playoff position.
Rakell referenced the team’s hot streak at the end of last season – beating very good teams to nearly catapult themselves into the playoffs – and how there’s a similar feeling in the room right now. moment.
“I think it does us good in our team play,” Rakell said. “And it gives everyone more confidence to feel like we can play any team in this league and no one is going to have an easy game against us.”
This game was another example of the stark difference between the Penguins of a month ago and the Penguins of today.
They could have mailed it in early on, as Penguins certified killer Adrian Kempe scored just 33 seconds into the game. Instead, they responded by playing a defensively responsible game and pressuring the Kings with puck possession and forecheck pressure in the offensive zone.
Evgeni Malkin scores his first goal in six games – and his seventh of the season – in the first half of the second period. However, Los Angeles took the lead again midway through the second period thanks to a goal from Alex Turcotte.
But the Penguins refused to give up. They were the better team in the second half of the game, and it finally paid off with 5:35 left in regulation, when defenseman Matt Grzelcyk scored his first goal in a Penguins uniform and forced overtime.
“Right now, guys… they believe, you know?” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “I’m happy for them, because we went through a tough time here at the beginning of the year. We kind of got back into the mix.”
Here are some notes and observations from Tuesday’s game:
-I wanted to briefly mention something Kings-related: Kempe’s goal-scoring dominance against the Penguins is really something else.
In his last five games against Pittsburgh, Kempe has eight goals. He has nine goals and 14 total points against the Penguins in his career.
What a player he is too. He leads the Kings in goals this season with 16 and is second to Anze Kopitar with 31 points in 31 games.
– I’ve said it many times, but Rakell is playing his best hockey in a Penguins uniform – and, quite possibly, the best hockey of his career – this season.
Baby, wake up, a new Ricky Raks statistic just dropped.
Since the Swedish team left him off the Four Nations roster, Rakell leads all Swedish-born players with four goals and eight points in six games. pic.twitter.com/60CPdKXGJi
– Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) December 18, 2024
Rakell left out of Sweden’s 4 Nations squadas he is third in goals among Swedish-born players this season. He expressed his disappointment at not being selected.
Not only does he have four goals and eight points in six games since the snub, but he also has 12 points during this 10-game winning streak for the Penguins.
He’s playing remarkable hockey and it’s safe to say he’s currently sticking with the Swedish team selection committee.
– This is the first time I can honestly say that Owen Pickering had a bit of an inconsistent night.
He and partner Kris Letang were on the ice for the first goal against Kempe, and Pickering made a bad read in the neutral zone and was beaten to the puck by Turcotte before his partial breakaway goal.
Pickering has been pretty judicious in his decision-making and in his own zone this season, but that wasn’t really the case on Tuesday. He looked a little inexperienced against a very talented Kings first line.
But Sullivan said the team was pleased with how he handled adjusting the top pair’s minutes, especially with increased responsibilities. in the absence of Marcus Pettersson.
“Pick is 20 years old and he plays 20 minutes,” Sullivan said. “He’s played quite a bit against Kopitar and Danault and players of that nature… it’s a handful. So we think he competes hard. He’s not perfect, but he competes hard. He fights over there.”
Pickering took advantage of the Penguins’ second power play with Erik Karlsson, which is a new look for him. I’m curious to see if this is something that sticks. He skated in place of Glass on this particular advantage.
– Another player who I think had a bit of a rough night is Karlsson. He wasn’t bad at all – he made three shots and sent the puck towards the net on Rakell’s deflection goal in overtime – but he wasn’t at his best either.
He had a huge defensive zone giveaway early in the second period that led to a great scoring chance for Los Angeles, and there were several instances where he was unable to recover passes, fumbled the puck and had a general hesitation.
Like Letang, he was very good in this winning streak for the Penguins. But I didn’t think it was his best match.
– Once again, Malkin scored his first goal in six games on Tuesday – and I’m still not even sure it was his.
After a lengthy review process, it was determined that Malkin got a piece of the puck as it headed off the post to Kuemper, who ultimately guided it into his own net.
I don’t fully see it yet, but the Penguins will score a goal no matter what. Regardless, Michael Bunting played another very solid and committed game for the Penguins. He now has 15 points in his last 20 games – which is tied with Rakell for third in that stretch – and he has four shots on goal.
But my favorite play of Tuesday came midway through the third period. The Penguins had a scoring chance around Kuemper in the blue paint, and Malkin took a few swings to try to free the puck. Kevin Fiala kind of pulled Malkin from behind, and Bunting right after Fiala.
It’s great to see not only this team, but Bunting in particular. When he does those kinds of things, he’s at his best. And that’s definitely where his game is at right now.
-That being said, Sidney Crosby was the best player in this game, and it wasn’t particularly close.
He scored six shots on goal in 12 attempts. His line was everywhere. He made good readings. A difficult forecheck. And his pass to Grzelcyk for the equalizing goal at the end of the third period was magnificent:
This guy wants to score. Seriously. When he plays at this level, the goals are going to come flooding in once there finally is one.
“I think he’s so close,” Sullivan said. “He could have had three tonight. He could have had three in the third period alone. It’s a matter of time, it’s going to go in the net for him.”
I asked Grzelcyk how big of a factor Crosby was for the team in this win.
“Amazing,” Grzelcyk said. “I know he’s probably a little frustrated that he didn’t score, but he played really well for us. Such a good player, he has incredible vision… I know from playing against him for so many ‘years, he still has a cool head and he can put guys on his back and draw a lot of guys into coverage and find you, I mean, that play (on goal) was all him.
-The Penguins are really starting to look like a formidable hockey team, and I’m not entirely convinced that’s a fluke.
Nedeljkovic, on playing without Pettersson: “Everyone did a good job of making up for it and putting their bodies on the line tonight, and that’s what it’s going to take to move forward. Even when he returns, it will require the same type of effort and commitment.
– Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 18, 2024
Their process is completely different than it was a month ago. They beat playoff teams. They are committed to defense and not wasting chances like they were at the start of the season, even with the absence of their best defensive defender. It seems like there’s a level of urgency to their game that wasn’t necessarily at its peak before.
The Penguins are going they still need their numerical advantage to click in addition to good goaltending – Alex Nedeljkovic was solid in net for the Penguins on Tuesday and Tristan Jarry has been very good of late – but, as a unit, they just seem a lot tougher to play against.
It’ll take more than one hot streak in December to change this team’s outlook, even if it briefly found itself in the playoffs before Ottawa beat the Kraken, 3-0, on Tuesday night.
But if they can maintain this level of commitment to detail – and continue to get contributions, offensive and defensive, up and down their roster – they should find themselves in a pretty good position by the end of the season.
