Rust's hat trick only a third of a historic torrent of offense
The Penguins made a habit of third-period collapses early in the season. They'd go into the final frame with a lead, sit back and get passive, and squander all that early work away.
They've gotten better about that as of late, and those third-period collapses aren't as commonplace. But if there's any game that stands as an example of the Penguins learning how to play in the third period, it's Thursday's 9-2 win over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins had a narrow lead after 20 minutes. After Nick Suzuki scored on the Canadiens' first shot of the game, the Penguins quickly responded with a power-play goal from Rickard Rakell and a pair of second-period goals from Bryan Rust, but Joel Armia brought the Canadiens back within a goal before second intermission.
To that point, the game was fairly evenly-matched. The third period was anything but that. Rakell netted his second goal of the game, parking himself in the slot and redirecting a Rust pass. Letang made it 5-2 shortly after with a power-play goal, and then Anthony Beauvillier drove to the net and knocked in a puck to extend the Penguins' lead to four goals. Rust completed he hat trick with a snapshot from the left circle, Matt Nieto deflected a Matt Grzelcyk pass for his first goal of the year, and then Noel Acciari scored the Penguins' ninth goal with just 1:18 remaining. The Penguins peppered Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau after Montembeault was pulled with 14 shots in the third, while holding the Canadiens to just six shots in the frame.
"I think we were on our toes," Rust said of that third period. "Even though we still had the lead, we weren't sitting back. We just kind of went at them, and we were able to get that fourth one. And then our PP had a huge goal, which I think kind of hurt them a lot, and then we just took off."
That power-play goal Rust referenced was the Penguins' fifth, the Letang tally set up by Michael Bunting:
Mike Sullivan, too, cited that fifth goal as the real backbreaker.
"I said this to the guys after the game," Sullivan said. "That fifth goal we got on a power play in the third period, for me was a really important goal for us. We talk about power play statistics and things of that nature. But for me, one of the biggest attributes of a good power play is the timing of when they score goals. That was an example."
There was a lot to like about this win. The power play went 2-for-3 against a penalty-kill that entered this game tied as the sixth-best in the league. The top line of Rakell, Crosby and Rust combined for 11 points. The Penguins got a pair of goals from their fourth line. Tristan Jarry, though he allowed a goal on his first shot faced for the fifth time in just 12 starts, settled in and didn't spiral after the early deficit, and made some key, big saves when the game was still close.
The Penguins have six wins in their last eight games and are two points back of a playoff spot. They've shown in that stretch that they're still capable of some real stinkers. But as a whole, they're largely trending in the right direction after a pretty horrendous start to the year.
"We're just giving ourselves a chance," Crosby said. "You know, we're not beating ourselves. ... We've just got to continue to try to get better and do the right things, similar to what we've been doing here the last chunk of time."
THE ASYLUM
Rust's hat trick only a third of a historic torrent of offense
The Penguins made a habit of third-period collapses early in the season. They'd go into the final frame with a lead, sit back and get passive, and squander all that early work away.
They've gotten better about that as of late, and those third-period collapses aren't as commonplace. But if there's any game that stands as an example of the Penguins learning how to play in the third period, it's Thursday's 9-2 win over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins had a narrow lead after 20 minutes. After Nick Suzuki scored on the Canadiens' first shot of the game, the Penguins quickly responded with a power-play goal from Rickard Rakell and a pair of second-period goals from Bryan Rust, but Joel Armia brought the Canadiens back within a goal before second intermission.
To that point, the game was fairly evenly-matched. The third period was anything but that. Rakell netted his second goal of the game, parking himself in the slot and redirecting a Rust pass. Letang made it 5-2 shortly after with a power-play goal, and then Anthony Beauvillier drove to the net and knocked in a puck to extend the Penguins' lead to four goals. Rust completed he hat trick with a snapshot from the left circle, Matt Nieto deflected a Matt Grzelcyk pass for his first goal of the year, and then Noel Acciari scored the Penguins' ninth goal with just 1:18 remaining. The Penguins peppered Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau after Montembeault was pulled with 14 shots in the third, while holding the Canadiens to just six shots in the frame.
"I think we were on our toes," Rust said of that third period. "Even though we still had the lead, we weren't sitting back. We just kind of went at them, and we were able to get that fourth one. And then our PP had a huge goal, which I think kind of hurt them a lot, and then we just took off."
That power-play goal Rust referenced was the Penguins' fifth, the Letang tally set up by Michael Bunting:
Mike Sullivan, too, cited that fifth goal as the real backbreaker.
"I said this to the guys after the game," Sullivan said. "That fifth goal we got on a power play in the third period, for me was a really important goal for us. We talk about power play statistics and things of that nature. But for me, one of the biggest attributes of a good power play is the timing of when they score goals. That was an example."
There was a lot to like about this win. The power play went 2-for-3 against a penalty-kill that entered this game tied as the sixth-best in the league. The top line of Rakell, Crosby and Rust combined for 11 points. The Penguins got a pair of goals from their fourth line. Tristan Jarry, though he allowed a goal on his first shot faced for the fifth time in just 12 starts, settled in and didn't spiral after the early deficit, and made some key, big saves when the game was still close.
The Penguins have six wins in their last eight games and are two points back of a playoff spot. They've shown in that stretch that they're still capable of some real stinkers. But as a whole, they're largely trending in the right direction after a pretty horrendous start to the year.
"We're just giving ourselves a chance," Crosby said. "You know, we're not beating ourselves. ... We've just got to continue to try to get better and do the right things, similar to what we've been doing here the last chunk of time."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!