Penguins mount comeback, fall to Red Wings in overtime, 3-2

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced a familiar situation when they gave up two quick goals to the Detroit Red Wings early in the second period, falling to a 2-0 deficit.

And, although they responded in the right way and tied the match 2-2, they narrowly fell short in overtime.

Michael Rasmussen scored the game-winner for Detroit in overtime, as the Penguins lost to the Red Wings, 3-2. Bryan Rust and Anthony Beauvillier scored goals for Pittsburgh and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 28 of Detroit’s 31 shots.

Although it failed to get the extra point, the team was proud of its response to Monday’s disaster of a game.

“The other night it was embarrassing,” forward Bryan Rust said. “Tonight we adapted. We lost two points and we just tried to react. We were really good in the second half of the match. We didn’t succeed in overtime, but we showed a lot more courage this evening.”

Rust added: “Obviously Rome wasn’t built in a day. We’re trying to get things moving in the right direction as quickly as possible. It was a good step.”

Here are some thoughts and observations on Wednesday’s overtime loss:

– I saw a lot of criticism against X in the first period that criticized the Penguins’ “lack of effort” and “lack of life.”

I have to say I strongly disagree with these.

The Penguins played perhaps one of their best defensive periods of the season in the first period. Detroit had some time in the offensive zone early, but Pittsburgh didn’t really allow many high-danger chances. They clogged lanes, got stick on puck, stick on stick and excelled at recoveries and escapes from the defensive zone. Ryan Graves was particularly good in the first third.

Then, as the period progressed, they gained some offensive momentum.

Yes, the building was quiet and there wasn’t much energy inside. Remember, they were coming off a really bad loss. Head coach Mike Sullivan even mentioned that the Penguins might have played a little too cautiously at the start of the period.

But overall, the team came out of that bad loss and responded in the right way by playing a fundamentally sound, if boring, period.

Boring hockey isn’t always bad hockey. Especially for the Penguins, who have struggled on the defensive side of the puck this season.

– In my opinion, this is most certainly the best deployment for the Penguins top six at the moment.

The first line was the best on the team. Beauvillier scored his fifth goal of the season and is on pace to reach a career high of 23 goals. Crosby made a nice pass to Marcus Pettersson before Pettersson set up Beauvillier’s goal with a perfect pass of his own:

And Rickard Rakell – despite being in a mini-production funk with no points in his last four games and no goals in his last seven – is a threat on the forecheck and has been very good along the walls and in battles with the puck tonight. He also had several scoring chances that he just couldn’t put home.

I asked Sullivan what has worked so well for Beauvillier this season playing on the top line with Crosby. He mentioned Beauvillier’s ability to score, but highlighted how his speed helps create opportunities for Crosby and Rakell.

“One of the reasons we considered him there right out of training camp – if you remember, we put him with Sid a lot – is that we liked his speed and his game chasing the puck,” Sullivan said. “We thought it would help Sid’s line, in particular, to get the puck and control possession of the puck. And I think that’s what Sid thrives on. So having someone with Speed ​​is an important part of setting Sid’s training up for success, and it’s one of the reasons we tried Beau there.

And for the second line? I really like what I’m starting to see from Michael Bunting, but Rust is doing a little better since he teamed up with Evgeni Malkin and Bunting. I think Rust and Bunting have great chemistry and their playstyles complement Malkin well. Rust isn’t quite matching up with Crosby this season like he has in the past, so I think the Rakell trade will benefit everyone involved.

Overall, a very good performance from these two units.

– Blake Lizotte just can’t catch a break.

As the Penguins forechecked late in the first period, Drew O’Connor shot a puck towards the net, but unfortunately missed. The puck hit Lizotte, who was standing near the blue paint, in the face. He didn’t come back.

This is the second time this season that Lizotte has been the victim of an errant puck coming off a teammate’s stick. It’s really unfortunate for him and hopefully removing him from the game was just precautionary.

– Sam Poulin, although it was an uncertain decision, took a costly tripping penalty early in the second period, leading to Patrick Kane’s power play goal that gave the lead in Detroit, 2-0. Otherwise, he was pretty good in this game, but not overly visible in the way I’m sure he’d like to be, especially in the offensive zone.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Penguins forward group, especially if Lizotte misses time. They currently don’t have any healthy forwards on their roster, so it’s pretty safe to assume that at least one forward will be called up to fill that space. If Lizotte goes on injured reserve, they’ll need two.

Poulin will have to prove himself in the coming matches. His NHL career with the Penguins largely depends on it at this point. And he has a real opportunity here.

– Just like I got Crosby after writing a numbers-based article about Crosby when he was struggling, it looks like I got Letang tonight.

Letang played one of his best matches of the season on Wednesday. He was very good in the defensive zone with his stick work, and he was one of those players strong in recoveries and escapes in the defensive zone.

He was also everywhere in the offensive zone tonight. He had five shots on goal and 11 shot attempts. He rolled the puck well and handled it with confidence on the offensive blue line.

A very good performance from him after a stinking performance on Monday.

– Even though it didn’t score, the Penguins’ first power play unit looked good tonight.

Erik Karlsson seems much more comfortable alone on the blue line, and he was much more decisive with the puck today. The power play will benefit if the unit is free to run through Karlsson, which it did tonight.

I also like that they kept four forwards in the unit, including Rakell. It kind of allows everyone to play to their strengths and him to be the trigger in the slot, while Rust and Crosby can kind of move down low where they’re at their best.

I would still consider using Bunting instead of Rust on this unit, but you certainly can’t complain about how the first unit looks tonight. If they do it regularly, they will score a lot of goals.

-Malkin’s 500 goal ceremony was really well done by the Penguins. They managed to bring his parents over from Russia and everyone from Sid to Patric Hornqvist to Alex Ovechkin offered their congratulations.

And it included a heart-melting video moment from his son, Nikita:

Just a very special night for a very special player.

– Yes, they gave up the extra point tonight.

But no, the Penguins shouldn’t be too hard on themselves for this one.

They could have given in completely after losing 2-0 at the start of the second. But they did no such thing. They regained momentum and were the better team for the rest of the match.

Hopefully they can continue some of that momentum back-to-back Friday and Saturday. It feels like the Penguins really need to get at least three points in these two games.

And make no mistake: these games are crucial for this team, especially given the current situation with injuries and trades. These guys know they have to perform, and several of them are probably playing for their careers in Pittsburgh right now.

I expect them to show strong Friday in Columbus.