Kevin Gorman: For Penguins, March playoff push not as simple as snapping losing streak
Searching for answers to snap a six-game losing streak, Mike Sullivan’s pregame talk to the Pittsburgh Penguins was about simplifying the game by shooting the puck.
It took only 99 seconds for that message to sink in as the Penguins turned a quick, two-goal lead into a runaway 7-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Yes, the same Penguins who produced only eight goals in the previous six games scored seven times in 60 minutes.
Well, maybe not the same Penguins.
There were the usual suspects: Evgeni Malkin had four assists, Sidney Crosby scored three points — including his 800th career assist — and leading goal scorer Bryan Rust added a hat trick.
The Penguins' Bryan Rust scores a hat trick during their game against Ottawa on March 3, 2020. #LetsGoPens @TribLIVE https://t.co/MMpTe74dPY pic.twitter.com/drlZ970vUt
— Nate Smallwood (@nsmallwoodphoto) March 4, 2020
There was the dramatic return of the defensemen: John Marino, out since Feb. 6, scored the first goal 48 seconds into the game; and Brian Dumoulin, out since Nov. 30, assisted on the second goal at 1:39 of the first period.
And there were the noisy newcomers, who made memorable first impressions at PPG Paints Arena: Connor Sheary, re-acquired from Buffalo at the trade deadline, scored his first goal in a Penguins uniform since April 5, 2018; Patrick Marleau, also added at the deadline from San Jose, earned his first assist in a Penguins uniform. And Jason Zucker, acquired from Minnesota early last month, had a goal and an assist.
“I thought there was a lot of collective, cooperative effort out there, and the guys finished,” Sullivan said. “You’ve got to give the players credit. I think they were determined to get the result, and so we were able to capitalize on a fair amount of chances but they worked hard to get them.”
Perhaps no one works harder to get them than Rust, who has a career-high 27 goals. He had his fourth multiple-goal game of the season and his second career hat trick against the Senators.
Rust set a screen on Senators goalie Craig Anderson on Marino’s opening goal, made it 3-1 on a wrister from the high slot with 45 seconds left in the first period, then scored on a rebound and a wrister from the right circle in the third.
“It was definitely nice to see some pucks go in the net,” Rust said. “We’ve hit some posts, missed a lot of open nets and had some chances here recently. It does a lot for guys’ confidence and the team confidence when you see pucks go in.”
Just like that, Rust is on the verge of becoming a 30-goal scorer. How unexpected was that? Consider he scored 31 goals combined over the past two seasons, including a career-high 18 goals last season. Rust has become a dangerous and dependable forward, whether skating on the right wing of Crosby or Malkin.
After notching 22 goals and 45 points in his first 37 games this season, Rust endured a dry spell. He had only two goals and five points in his previous 13 games. So a three-goal game was welcome and allowed Rust to relax and smile.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence, and he’s playing some of the best hockey that I’ve seen him play,” Dumoulin said. “I always knew he was this type of caliber of player. It’s good to see him healthy and playing well right now. He’s such a good teammate and such a good player that it’s good to see him rewarded.”
Sullivan said the same about the Penguins having something to show for the collective effort. A seven-goal game should be a shot in the arm for a team that has too much offensive talent — and defensive playmakers — not to score. Sullivan suggested the Penguins too often were looking for “that next play,” and it never materialized.
The return of Dumoulin and Marino eases the burden of Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz playing on top-four defense pairings. But the Penguins still have to decide on a go-to goalie between Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray and figure out how to fix a power play that went 1 for 4 against Ottawa and ranks in the middle of the league.
Now, the Penguins have to build off this victory and bounce back into position for home ice in the playoffs after slipping from first place in the Metropolitan Division to fifth in the Eastern Conference in a span of 10 days.
If only it were as simple as shooting the puck.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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