Acciari plays 'his best game' in win over Maple Leafs

Most of what Noel Acciari does for the Penguins won't show up on a scoresheet.

If one goes looking, they'd be able to find some of the things Acciari does that can be quantified, like his hit and blocked shot totals that are among the best on the team. But it's hard to really quantify some of Acciari's biggest contributions, like his defensive game, his penalty-killing, or what he does to open up shooting lanes for his teammates.

Acciari did it all in the Penguins' 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena -- scoring a key goal and helping to create another, all while doing the little things he does well to help shut down opponents.

“I thought that was that was probably (Acciari)’s best game as a Penguin," Mike Sullivan would observe after the game.

Acciari found the back of the net for just the second time this season on Saturday, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Penguins were trailing 2-1 by the midway point of the second period after Toronto got first-period goals from Tyler Bertuzzi and Matthew Knies, and Jake Guentzel got the Penguins on the board. Acciari capitalized on a turnover behind the Maple Leafs' net to quickly roof the puck over the shoulder of Joseph Woll:

"It was a good exit from our D zone," Acciari said of that play. "(Jeff Carter) was able to get a chip out of the zone, I was able to pressure in their zone. It was a fortunate turnover, I got a stick on it and was able to pull it out of the corner. Matty (Nieto) got a good moving screen for me and was able to put it in."

Sidney Crosby said that goal from Acciari was "huge."

"Just really good patience," Crosby said. "He plays so hard, whether it's blocking shots or being physical, finding pucks around the net. But that's just a huge goal. Definitely a pretty one."

Acciari didn't get an assist for the game-winning goal that followed, but it might not have happened without him.

Acciari's line with Nieto and Carter was on the ice late in the second period, as Sullivan often chooses to do to close out a period. Carter won an offensive zone draw with 28 seconds left in the middle frame, and got the puck back to Letang. Meanwhile, Acciari was making a beeline straight to the net-front, screening Woll and tying up the Toronto defenseman. Letang set up Erik Karlsson, who fired a rocket right past Woll:

That was the second time in a row that group had attempted that set faceoff play. Karlsson himself noted that the difference-maker in the shot that found the back of the net was Acciari's work at the net-front.

"I think it's been a set play in this league for as long as guys can shoot one-timers," Karlsson said with a chuckle. "It worked the first time, and the second time got a little bit of a screen. Same shot, just a little bit more traffic on the second."

Acciari wouldn't let himself be denied of that screen twice in a row.

"I just made sure I was going to take (Woll's) eyes that time," Acciari said. "The first time I got forced out and I said, 'Not that second time,' So I made sure I was in his way."

Acciari finished the night with one goal, four shots on goal, two hits, three blocked shots, one takeaway and no giveaways. That's a good night for him, but not out of the ordinary at all aside from the goal and shot totals. Check out these numbers:

• Acciari's 44 hits lead the entire team, and it isn't even close. Next is Letang with 27.

• Acciari, being on the fourth line, obviously doesn't see a ton of ice time. He averages just over 12 minutes a game. When you take that into account and look at his rate of hits, it's even more impressive. He averages 10.82 hits per 60 minutes of ice time. Next among the players who have over five games played this season is Radim Zohorna, at 7.11/60. Quite the difference.

• Acciari's 27 blocked shots lead all Penguins forwards. Next is Bryan Rust, at 15. He ranks fourth overall on the team in blocked shots.

• When you take Acciari's ice time into account and look at the rate again, Acciari leads everyone on the team in blocking shots, even the defensemen, at a rate of 6.64 per 60 minutes. Next is Ryan Graves, at 5.36/60.

• Acciari's nine takeaways are tied for the fifth-most among Penguins forwards. His rate of 2.21 per 60 minutes also ranks fifth.

• Acciari's two giveaways are the fewest among all forwards who have been on the roster all season.

• Acciari has had the toughest deployment zone-wise of any forward this season at five-on-five. Only 13.25% of the faceoffs he's on the ice for are in the offensive zone. He's primarily in a defensive role. He's been on the ice for just 20 offensive zone faceoffs, and 131 defensive zone faceoffs.

Those are the kinds of things that can fly under the radar, but they definitely don't go unnoticed by Acciari's teammates and coaches. I asked Mike Sullivan about his general impressions of what Acciari has brought to the team back on Nov. 19, when Acciari scored his first goal of the season in a win over the Golden Knights.

"He's a warrior," Sullivan told me of Acciari that day. "He plays hard. He plays really hard for us. He's physical, he blocks shots, he does a lot of those little things that don't necessarily show up on the score sheet. But they just help you win games. He's been a huge part of our penalty kill, he takes faceoffs for us, he's a great shot blocker."

That penalty-killing ability is one of Acciari's bigger strengths, and it was a big part of the Penguins' win Saturday. The Maple Leafs have one of the top power plays in the league -- coming into Saturday's game, it ranked fifth in the league with a 28.3% success rate.

The Maple Leafs got three power play opportunities in Saturday's game and went 0 for 3. They were held to six total shots on goal in those six minutes, and only three of them were high-danger chances. Acciari and Nieto took the bulk of the shorthanded time in this game, with over three minutes apiece.

Some of the numbers show what Acciari has done on the Penguins' penalty kill this season:

• Acciari and Nieto are tied for the team-lead among forwards in average time shorthanded per game, with 2.26 minutes a game.

• Acciari's 14.79 blocked shots per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time is over double the rate of the next-best penalty-killing forward -- Lars Eller, at 6.82/60.. It ranks No. 2 on the entire team, behind only Karlsson's 20.77/60.

Everything Acciari (and his line) brings is why the Penguins relied on his line so heavily when trying to close out the dreaded third-period lead. 

The Penguins were on the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday, having lost 3-2 to the Sabres the night before. They led 2-0 after second intermission on Friday, and lost the game in regulation after allowing three goals in the third period. Closing out games was a problem last season -- the Penguins' points percentage last season when leading after two periods was .757 with a 28-4-5 record. That record ranked 28th in the league. Those were valuable points left on the table.

With only a 3-2 lead entering the third period on Saturday, the margin for error was smaller. And it Acciari, more than any other forward, who was tasked with holding onto the lead. Of Acciari's 16:47 of ice time in this game, 8:01 came in the third period alone. No forward saw more ice time in the third period than he did.

"I just thought he was competitive," Sullivan said. "I thought his whole line was terrific, and we relied on them a lot. They got some tough matchups in the third period, they got a lot of D-zone starts. They played against (Auston) Matthews’ line a fair amount, they played against (John) Tavares’ line a fair amount, and they got the job done."

I asked Acciari what he thought the difference was in this game compared to the previous night when it came to holding onto that lead in the third.

"I think we were just smarter around both blue lines, making sure no costly turnovers, playing below their D, putting it behind them, just hemming them in their zone," he said.

Acciari didn't get the opportunity to do much of that Friday vs. the Sabres -- he played just 8:25 total in that loss, and only 2:02 in the third. 

With how responsible Acciari is, and how good he is at being deployed in a defensive role, sending him out there more often in the third might just be something that allows the Penguins to be better at holding onto leads and closing out games. That's an area where the Penguins just can't afford to lose too many points in the standings like they did on Friday.

Now, if Acciari could only fix the power play, too ...

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Erik Karlsson, Penguins D
2. Noel Acciari, Penguins C
3. Matthew Knies, Maple Leafs LW

THE INJURIES

• Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained Nov. 19. He's on injured reserve.

• Forward Bryan Rust is day-to-day with a lower-body injury he said just "popped up," it isn't clear whether it was from anything specific in his last game on Nov. 19. He's skated the last two days.

• Forward Rickard Rakell is out "longer-term" with an upper-body injury sustained Nov. 19. He's on long-term injured reserve.

• Defenseman P.O Joseph is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He last played on Nov 4. Sullivan said Saturday that Joseph hasn't skated yet, but hasn't had a setback and is making progress.

• Defenseman Will Butcher is sidelined with an undisclosed injury sustained at the end of last season. He has resumed skating with a group. He will be put on waivers to be sent down to Wilkes-Barre once healthy. He is on season-opening injured reserve, so his cap hit does not count.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Drew O'Connor
Reilly Smith - Evgeni Malkin - Alex Nylander
Radim Zohorna - Lars Eller - Jansen Harkins
Matt Nieto - Noel Acciari - Jeff Carter

Ryan Graves - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea - John Ludvig

And for Sheldon Keefe's Maple Leafs:

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Tyler Bertuzzi - John Tavares - William Nylander
Nicholas Robertson - Max Domi - Calle Jarnkrok
David Kampf - Noah Gregor

Morgan Reilly - TJ Brodie
Mark Giordano - Jake McCabe
Simon Benoit - Conor Timmins/William Lagesson

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins have a scheduled day off on Sunday. They'll practice Monday at 11 a.m. in Cranberry before flying to Nashville ahead of Tuesday's game.

THE CONTENT

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