Tim Benz: Penguins plow through to-do list in Game 1 versus Flyers
Mar. 3—I'd like to thank the Pittsburgh Penguins for being such loyal readers of "Breakfast With Benz."
Obviously, they are.
Because based on Tuesday's to-do list that we compiled for the team's crucial three-game series against the Philadelphia Flyers, they took it very much to heart. And they checked every box en route to 5-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena.
Not only did the team accomplish that task, it did so in front of fans for the first time at PPG Paints Arena. And the skaters rallied without Sidney Crosby in the lineup.
Let's recap by looking at each specific area of importance we laid out Tuesday. Then we'll follow up by seeing how the Pens responded.
In each case, really well.
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1. Special teams: As we outlined Tuesday, neither the Penguins nor the Flyers were boomin' entering Game 1 of the week-long series in this category.
So whoever may gain a slight edge on that front could find themselves in the win column.
Well, one-for-one in that regard on the Pens' side of the ice.
The Penguins penalty kill came into the game leaking oil at just 72.1% (29th). Yet it blanked Philadelphia on all five of its power play attempts. The Flyers are now 0 for 10 in their past three games and 3 for 30 in their past seven. Goaltender Tristan Jarry was good on the power play stopping all eleven shots he faced.
Kasperi Kapanen still isn't getting shorthanded ice time. But we'll worry about that later. After all, give him credit for scoring the lone power play goal of the game.
For Kapanen, that was his first power play goal of the year, and it helped a Pens unit that started the evening at 15.0% (26th in the NHL).
2. Win in regulation: Yup. They did that. No need to go to overtime if you have a three-goal lead after 60 minutes.
That's some high-quality math there, right?
Yes, the Penguins somehow managed to get a victory without yielding a "loser point" back to a divisional foe. And that's nice because prior to Tuesday's faceoff, Mike Sullivan's team has collected six wins since Feb. 1, and three of them went to overtime or a shootout.
Tuesday, though, the Flyers left completely empty-handed. That's a good thing. Because it allowed the Pens to pull into a tie with the Flyers for fourth place in terms of total points in the Eastern Division.
1. Capitals — 28 points (21 games)
2. Islanders — 28 points (22 games)
3. Bruins — 26 points (19 games)
4. Flyers — 25 points (19 games)
5. Penguins- 25 points (21 games)
The Flyers have the edge based on points percentage, but that was good ground for the Penguins to gather without halving their progress.
3. Get Kasperi Kapanen going: The winger had been struggling. Demoted at times. Flat-out benched at times. But he had a doozy of a game Tuesday.
Not only did he have the power play goal mentioned above to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. But he also scored at even strength to tie the game at 1-1.
Kapanen nearly scored a third straight goal a shift after his power play marker but was robbed by Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
OK. Since we are hot after Tuesday night's game, let's come up with three more things on the to-do list for Game 2 of this set on Thursday.
—Get better at faceoffs: The Pens were skewered Tuesday losing 36 of 58 draws. That especially goes for Evgeni Malkin who lost 13 of 19 tries.
—Narrow the shots gap: No need to lean on Jarry so much. The Penguins were outshot 42-27.
—Bounce back for Blueger: Tuesday wasn't Teddy Blueger's best night. He had a bad turnover at center ice which ignited Philadelphia's first goal. He was a minus-2. He lost 8 of 14 faceoffs. And he didn't attempt a shot.
Blueger has been good for the Penguins this year. But Tuesday wasn't up to his standard.
Let's see if I can go six-for-six.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
