LAS VEGAS – The glimmering lights and ever-present cha-ching of slot machines can make Las Vegas as disorienting as it is intoxicating. Walking around the windowless casinos, it’s easy to find yourself asking what time is it? What day is it? And, when can we go home?
As the Penguins arrived in Sin City at the tail end of a 12-day, six-game bender of a road trip, the feeling was similar.
A team that ran its win streak to an NHL-best 10 games during leg one on Jan. 6 in Philadelphia looked like a completely different club in its road whites. Entering Monday night, the Penguins had played six of their worst periods of the season consecutively. Things came undone during a lopsided loss in Los Angeles last Thursday and the process didn’t appear any better during an overtime win in San Jose that goalie Louis Domingue almost single handedly stole.
Ahead of Monday’s road-trip finale against the Golden Knights, coach Mike Sullivan provided an honest assessment.
“We feel as though as a group we've gotten away from it in the last couple of games,” Sullivan said. “It didn't hurt us in San Jose. But it's a great learning opportunity for us to make sure that we have the ability to recapture the game that that makes us hard to play against and gives us the best chance to win.”
During a road trip full of poor periods, Monday’s first frame might have been the Penguins worst. But with five unanswered goals and a noticeable fire in their bellies the final 40 minutes, Pittsburgh clawed all the way back from a three-goal, first-period deficit to beat Vegas, 5-3.
The road trip takes on a different tone after the team ended it with one of its gutsiest wins of the season. The Penguins will return home on Tuesday having claimed eight of a possible 12 points during the western swing.
In the first period, Chandler Stephenson, Evgenii Dadonov and Nicholas Roy scored for the Golden Knights, as the Penguins went to the dressing room trailing 3-0.
The Penguins responded in a big way in the second period with a pair of goals just 49 seconds apart. On the first goal, the second power-play unit started a mosh pit in the blue paint, with Jeff Carter pitchforking goalie Robin Lehner and Jason Zucker hammering away at the puck. Zucker, playing in his first game since Dec. 19, ultimately was credited with his first goal since Nov. 22.
Moments later, Mike Matheson sprung Brian Boyle on a partial breakaway. Lehner denied the first chance with a glove save. But center Teddy Blueger flew in to backhand the rebound.
More than just the goals, the Penguins played a style of hockey that was more similar to what’s brought them success recently with effective puck possession and a quick-strike attack that highlighted their team speed. Pittsburgh out-shot Vegas, 18-6, in the middle frame. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Penguins produced nine high-danger chances to the Golden Knights’ one at even strength.
The ice continued to tilt in the Penguins favor in the third. Just 28 seconds into the final frame, Evgeni Malkin won a faceoff back to Kasperi Kapanen. He ripped it on net and Zucker tipped it for his second goal of the game.
Then, less than two minutes later, Jake Guentzel grabbed a rebound in front, zipped around the net and wrapped it in on the back side. The goal gave the Penguins their first lead of the game, 4-3, and allowed Guentzel to hit the 20-goal milestone for the fifth consecutive season.
Finally, Sidney Crosby sealed the win with an empty netter.
The Penguins are back in action on Thursday when they host the Ottawa Senators and their old friend, Matt Murray. When they do, they just might ice the fabled fully healthy lineup, as Casey DeSmith, Zach Aston-Reese and Danton Heinen are near the end of their stay in the COVID-19 protocol.
_____
