Penguins play ‘most complete game,’ shut out powerful Avalanche
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Reilly Smith professed optimism.
In the face of a three-game losing streak, he offered a buoyant outlook in advance of his team’s home game against the imposing Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
“It’s not easy in this league,” Smith said after a practice at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday. “You’re going to go through some rough patches. But you can’t just get down on yourself.
“You have to be able to pick everyone up.”
Smith employed a pretty effective method of elevating his team’s spirits Thursday as he scored two goals and led the Penguins to a 4-0 victory that halted his team’s losing streak. Conversely, the Avalanche lost for the first time this season (6-1-0).
Another pick-me-up for the Penguins came in the form of goaltender Tristan Jarry, who recorded his second shutout of the season by making 31 saves as his record improved to 2-3-0. Jarry’s play was so sharp that chants of his surname replaced sing-song choruses devoted to the employment status of the local football team’s offensive coordinator.
“It’s just another game for me,” Jarry said. “I want to be solid back there. I want the guys to know what they’re going to get every night. I want to be committed to every save. Just being prepared, that puts me in a good position and it helps me make saves.”
The Penguins as a whole looked perfectly prepared for the awesome Avalanche, limiting the likes of superstars such as forward Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. As a result, the Penguins offered what was arguably their best performance of the still-young 2023-24 season.
“That was the most complete game we’ve played so far,” defenseman Ryan Graves said. “We’ve had flashes throughout the year, but that was definitely the best full game we’ve strung together. It’s the way we want to play.”
Smith led the way with his fourth goal of the season to open the scoring 4:40 into regulation.
As a power-play opportunity expired for the hosts, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell took a pass in the Avalanche’s left circle but lost possession as defenseman Samuel Girard blocked his shot attempt. The puck slid just above the left hashmark, where Smith collected it then gripped and ripped a wrister over the glove of goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. There were no assists.
Smith struck again at 16:51 of the opening period off a dynamic two-on-one sequence with linemate Evgeni Malkin.
Roaring up the right wing into the offensive zone against Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews, Malkin pumped the Jake brake a bit in the near circle. As Toews spun himself out of position, Malkin slipped a pass to the left circle, where Smith shuffled a forehand shot past a sprawling Georgiev on the near side. Malkin and forward Bryan Rust had assists.
Forward Lars Eller’s first goal of the season — and first as a member of the Penguins — made it a 3-0 contest six minutes into the second period.
Pushing play up the right wing into the offensive zone, Penguins forward Drew O’Connor pulled up deep in the corner and tried to center a pass to the slot for linemate Radim Zohorna. Backchecking Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen disrupted the sequence, but was unable to maintain possession thanks to a poke check by Zohorna that directed the puck to the right of the crease. As Georgiev slid out of position, Eller swooped in and lanced a backhander into a mostly vacant cage. Zohorna registered the lone assist.
Defensively, the Penguins were stout and that was never more evident than during a sequence of four consecutive minutes of power-play time for the Avalanche after Malkin was given a double minor for high sticking Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen at 16:25 of the second period.
Some combination of Penguins forwards Noel Acciari, Matt Nieto, Bryan Rust, Eller, O’Connor and Smith as well as defensemen Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel and Graves limited the potent Avalanche to three shots during that extended power-play scenario. Overall, the Penguins were perfect on the penalty kill, going 4 for 4.
“We were just keeping them to the perimeter,” Jarry said. “The strength of our game is when we’re keeping guys to the outside and forcing them to move the puck around. That makes it a little easier on us. It (gives) us a little bit more time for the decisions that we need. When we put them on the run, we’re able to get the puck back and get clears.”
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby capped the scoring at 10:35 of the third period with his fourth goal off an assist from linemate Jake Guentzel.
After a turnover by MacKinnon inside his own blue line, Guentzel curled around above the left circle and offloaded the puck to a trailing Crosby, who wired a wrister through a screen by Rust and under Georgiev’s blocker.
The Avalanche did manage to generate a handful of quality scoring chances, but Jarry rejected each of them, resulting in fans showering him with praise.
Barely half a year ago, the most common invocation of Jarry’s name was debate over if he was really this franchise’s best option in the net.
At least externally.
“Oh, we have full belief in him,“ Pettersson said. “He showed tonight that he’s a top goalie in the league. He’s been unfortunate with injuries the last couple of years and not gotten his rhythm going (due to) injuries. I think he showed tonight, he’s a top goalie in the league.”
For one night at least, the Penguins were better than one of the best teams in the league.
“If we play the right way, we’ll get the outcome that we want,” Jarry said. “Playing the right way, it benefits the whole team. It benefits everyone. We’re able to get results from it.”
Notes:
• The Penguins’ last shutout of the Avalanche was a 1-0 home win on Dec. 18, 2014. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves in the victory. Forward Blake Comeau scored the lone goal.
• Eller became the 558th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.
• Malkin (1,238 points) surpassed forward Patrick Kane (1,237) for 41st place on the NHL’s career scoring list.
• Ruhwedel returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch during a 4-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
• Penguins defensemen P.O Joseph (healthy) and John Ludvig (concussion) were scratched. Joseph has been scratched for three consecutive games.
• Attendance was listed as 17,154, the lowest such figure of the season. In comparison, attendance for the season-opener, a 4-2 home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks was 18,411.
Seated capacity at PPG Paints Arena for hockey is 18,187.