The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Saturday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets with the best record in the NHL (8-2-2), but weren’t able to beat one of the best teams in the Western Conference thus far.
They didn’t start the game on time, and Gabriel Vilardi opened the scoring just 15 seconds into the first period. Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs didn’t play it right and allowed Vilardi to bank the puck off him and in.
Brad Lambert notched his first NHL goal just a couple of minutes later after beating Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke to a loose puck right in front of the net. The Penguins were down 2-0 less than three minutes into the game.
After the opening three minutes, the Penguins started to find their legs and forechecked hard for the rest of the period, but couldn’t buy a goal. Jets goaltender Eric Comrie, who started in place for Connor Hellebuyck, made some strong saves down the stretch of that period to preserve the Jets’ 2-0 lead going into the second period.
The Jets made it 3-0 early in the second period when Vladislav Namestnikov made it 3-0 off a beautiful pass from Jonathan Toews. Silovs had no chance on that shot.
Even after that goal, the Penguins continued to push to try and get back in the game, but Comrie stood tall. The Jets later made it 4-0 off a penalty shot from forward Kyle Connor. Silovs has really struggled in shootouts/penalty shots to open the year, giving up six goals on seven attempts. It’s something that he needs to work on.
The Penguins cut into the four-goal deficit and made it 4-1 late in the second period when an Erik Karlsson shot deflected off Sidney Crosby and into the net. They eventually made it a two-goal game in the third period when Blake Lizotte notched his second goal of the season. Lizotte made a nice cut to the net, resulting in a save for Comrie before he knocked the puck into his own net.
Kyle Connor eventually finished the game off with an empty net goal, giving the Jets a 5-2 win.
Here are some other observations from the game:
– Despite the 5-2 loss, I really didn’t think the Penguins played that poorly. Yes, they didn’t start the game on time, but once they found their legs, they were able to get plenty of dangerous scoring chances. Comrie was up to the task in goal, while Silovs had a bit of an off day. Sometimes, it’s just not your day.
– The third line of Novak-Kindel-Koivunen was once again outstanding. They played only 4:54 of 5v5 ice time since the Penguins were chasing the game three minutes in, but they accounted for 100% of the shot attempts, 100% of the expected goals, and 100% of the scoring chances. Kindel continues to improve in each game he plays, and it won’t be long before Koivunen starts producing this season.
– We got to see Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke paired together on the bottom pair, and it didn’t go according to plan. Both players had rough outings and weren’t feeding off one another. Brunicke has one game left on the nine-game trial before the Penguins have to decide if they want to keep him for the entire season or send him back to Kamloops in the WHL.
– Bryan Rust has four goals and 10 points in 11 games, but still hasn’t looked fully right to start the season. Yes, he had the game-winning goal against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, but he seems to be second-guessing himself a lot when he’s on the ice. He wasn’t as engaged as he normally is against the Jets. It’s something to monitor.
– The Penguins will have the chance to finish this road trip on a high note on Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are coming off a 5-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and are 6-5-1 on the season. They’ll also have a few other tough tests on the horizon, including Thursday’s game against the Washington Capitals and next Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
We’ll know a lot more about this team once this tough stretch is over with.
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