DK: These Penguins are showing their heaviest mettle yet
A four-point game. Archrival in the house. Among the largest and loudest crowds all winter. A national TV audience watching from far and wide.
Adversity?
Boom!
As in ...
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
And after a brief pause for the opponent to demonstrate at least a modicum of pushback, along came the triple-whammy to open the third period:
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
Uh-huh. As in ... a make-that-thing-the-statue BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I swear, I could place a piece of punctuation right here and call it a column from the Penguins' 6-3 slaughter of the Flyers tonight here at PPG Paints Arena. That's how thorough this was. And for the throbbing crowd of 17,963 that scarcely ceased chanting their collective two-word assessment of Philadelphia's NHL franchise, how thrilling it appeared to be.
But nah, that wouldn't be right. Not when there's legitimately a lot more to it.
See, it wasn't all that long ago that these guys sure came across as ... soft, for lack of a kinder term. They'd encounter a little trouble, they'd start doing dumb stuff they wouldn't otherwise do, and they'd ... you know. let the Ducks tie with a tenth of a tick on the clock.
That's not this. Not in the slightest.
The last of those late blown leads: Dec. 14 to the Mammoth.
The record since Christmas: 7-2-1.
The record overall: 22-14-10, now good for third in the Metro, six points behind the Hurricanes and three points behind the Islanders, holding a game in hand on each.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," was how Bryan Rust would word it with a small smile in our one-on-one afterward, and I kinda like that.
"I think we're just finding all sorts of ways to win games," he'd continue. "I think guys in this room are getting a lot more confidence in what they bring to this team and the roles they bring and kind of what they do and everything. I mean, you see our fourth line out there and they're getting momentum pretty much every shift and they're chipping in offense for us."
He motioned toward Blake Lizotte, who at that moment was surrounded by cameras and microphones following his goal, his seismic hit on the Flyers' Denver Barkey and his ensuing fight with Matvei Michkov. Which is to say nothing of Connor Dewar, the other fourth-liner, who'd also score. And Noel Acciari, who set up the Lizotte goal by pretty much freaking out the Flyers' Travis Konecny along the right-wing boards to get the puck.
"Everybody's kind of just doing their thing throughout the lineup," Rust kept going. "Everybody's bringing what they do and, for the most part, we've been doing it well, so I think that just breeds some confidence through our lineup. On any given night, different guys can step up, and they can do it in their own ways."
That's how this played out. Power-play goals by Justin Brazeau and Rust, then a two-on-one beauty by Egor Chinakhov early in the second chased Sam Ersson, Philadelphia's brutal backup goaltender now saddled with an .853 save percentage. But just as the Flyers found some fire there and commanded the first few minutes of that period, the Penguins began ... um, hitting?
Yeah, and it wasn't just Connor Clifton.
I asked Dan Muse if that might've been by design, even a broader one, to help keep those November/December lapses at bay.
"It's not one thing," he'd reply. "Momentum swings can happen. I don't think it came as a surprise to any of us after our first period that they're gonna try to push. You don't want those to stack. You don't want there to be three or four shifts that go in their favor. So, yeah, being physical, going out there on the forecheck, for sure, that's a way you can start to generate momentum."
Stuart Skinner hasn't been around even a month, but he described much the same, saying the Penguins displayed "maturity" in managing the lead tonight and in other games of late.
“We've let some leads go that we definitely shouldn't have,” Lizotte would say on that subject. “I think it just shows the learning curve we’ve made."
Look, as I see it, one can either bemoan all the lost points over these first 46 games -- and there've been a bunch, particularly when weighing overtimes and shootouts -- or one can see the stark reality of the NHL standings, coupled with real progress in a foundational facet like this, and see the same upward arrow they seem to be sensing on the inside.
I loved Brazeau's response when I brought this up with him.
"Right from the start of the year, I think, a lot of people kind of wrote us off, and I think a lot of people in this room didn't take that well," he'd say of the immeasurable forecasts of draft-lottery doom for this team. "We've got a lot of guys in here with a lot of pride. I think, even when things aren't going our way, we know that if we stick with it and get back to our game, good things are going to happen. So let's just keep chipping away at it."
• For a game the Penguins eventually led, 6-1, one might think Skinner wasn't much of a factor. This would be false. He'd stop 30 of 33 shots but, far more significant, when the Flyers had those pushes I mentioned -- one early in the first period, the other for a few strong minutes in the second -- he stood his tallest.
As Muse put it, "He made some big saves."
• Maybe start him again Saturday against the Blue Jackets, then?
No, really, there's nothing etched anywhere about goaltenders needing to rotate. Skinner's got the wide shoulders of a guy who's been in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, and I'm betting he can handle a bonus start or two leading into the Olympic break.
• I asked Skinner about what appeared to me to be an especially aggressive stance in the first against some of the Flyers' more dangerous looks, and he deftly -- and fairly -- deflected credit to his defensemen for taking care of threats to either side of him. That, he'd add, allowed him to step well out of the blue.
• Chinakhov's finishes are surreal.
• I semi-jokingly asked Brazeau if he'd called for that slick feed from Ben Kindel.
"That kid?" he'd reply with a slight laugh. "Oh, he knew where I was."
• Sid at 25 goals? Yeah, no biggie. He's now on pace for 44 on the season, which would tie Gordie Howe (1968-69) and Alexander Ovechkin (2024-25) for most in a season by anyone 38 or older. Insane.
Oh, and he's now got 51 points:
NHL
• Rick Tocchet could've ripped his Flyers to shreds after this, particularly since they've been outscored, 25-9, over an 0-4-1 slide. But he chose peace.
“Guys are trying,” Tocchet would say. “But then, they’re running around at bad angles, you know? One hand, sticks in the air ... too many stick infractions. Adversity's hit our team. And in your career, you’re going to have adversity. I don’t care who you are. It’s how we deal with it.”
My unwanted assessment: Dan Vladar, their No. 1 goaltender who'd been hurt the previous night, had better be brilliant (and healthy) or they're toast in advance of anything.
• In all seriousness, one of the cooler crowds of the season, never letting up on the Flyers. That's how it's supposed to be.
And by the way, it's yet another example of why the league needs to get back to a more imbalanced schedule that stresses divisional rivalries. These teams can't summon up any meaningful enmity by meeting only four times.
The world's a healthier place when the Penguins and Flyers hate each other.
• Thanks for reading my hockey coverage. I'll be back here Saturday.
THE ASYLUM
DK: These Penguins are showing their heaviest mettle yet
A four-point game. Archrival in the house. Among the largest and loudest crowds all winter. A national TV audience watching from far and wide.
Adversity?
Boom!
As in ...
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
And after a brief pause for the opponent to demonstrate at least a modicum of pushback, along came the triple-whammy to open the third period:
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
And again ...
ESPN
Uh-huh. As in ... a make-that-thing-the-statue BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I swear, I could place a piece of punctuation right here and call it a column from the Penguins' 6-3 slaughter of the Flyers tonight here at PPG Paints Arena. That's how thorough this was. And for the throbbing crowd of 17,963 that scarcely ceased chanting their collective two-word assessment of Philadelphia's NHL franchise, how thrilling it appeared to be.
But nah, that wouldn't be right. Not when there's legitimately a lot more to it.
See, it wasn't all that long ago that these guys sure came across as ... soft, for lack of a kinder term. They'd encounter a little trouble, they'd start doing dumb stuff they wouldn't otherwise do, and they'd ... you know. let the Ducks tie with a tenth of a tick on the clock.
That's not this. Not in the slightest.
The last of those late blown leads: Dec. 14 to the Mammoth.
The record since Christmas: 7-2-1.
The record overall: 22-14-10, now good for third in the Metro, six points behind the Hurricanes and three points behind the Islanders, holding a game in hand on each.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," was how Bryan Rust would word it with a small smile in our one-on-one afterward, and I kinda like that.
"I think we're just finding all sorts of ways to win games," he'd continue. "I think guys in this room are getting a lot more confidence in what they bring to this team and the roles they bring and kind of what they do and everything. I mean, you see our fourth line out there and they're getting momentum pretty much every shift and they're chipping in offense for us."
He motioned toward Blake Lizotte, who at that moment was surrounded by cameras and microphones following his goal, his seismic hit on the Flyers' Denver Barkey and his ensuing fight with Matvei Michkov. Which is to say nothing of Connor Dewar, the other fourth-liner, who'd also score. And Noel Acciari, who set up the Lizotte goal by pretty much freaking out the Flyers' Travis Konecny along the right-wing boards to get the puck.
Those three are just nuts at this point.
"Everybody's kind of just doing their thing throughout the lineup," Rust kept going. "Everybody's bringing what they do and, for the most part, we've been doing it well, so I think that just breeds some confidence through our lineup. On any given night, different guys can step up, and they can do it in their own ways."
That's how this played out. Power-play goals by Justin Brazeau and Rust, then a two-on-one beauty by Egor Chinakhov early in the second chased Sam Ersson, Philadelphia's brutal backup goaltender now saddled with an .853 save percentage. But just as the Flyers found some fire there and commanded the first few minutes of that period, the Penguins began ... um, hitting?
Yeah, and it wasn't just Connor Clifton.
I asked Dan Muse if that might've been by design, even a broader one, to help keep those November/December lapses at bay.
"It's not one thing," he'd reply. "Momentum swings can happen. I don't think it came as a surprise to any of us after our first period that they're gonna try to push. You don't want those to stack. You don't want there to be three or four shifts that go in their favor. So, yeah, being physical, going out there on the forecheck, for sure, that's a way you can start to generate momentum."
Stuart Skinner hasn't been around even a month, but he described much the same, saying the Penguins displayed "maturity" in managing the lead tonight and in other games of late.
“We've let some leads go that we definitely shouldn't have,” Lizotte would say on that subject. “I think it just shows the learning curve we’ve made."
Look, as I see it, one can either bemoan all the lost points over these first 46 games -- and there've been a bunch, particularly when weighing overtimes and shootouts -- or one can see the stark reality of the NHL standings, coupled with real progress in a foundational facet like this, and see the same upward arrow they seem to be sensing on the inside.
I loved Brazeau's response when I brought this up with him.
"Right from the start of the year, I think, a lot of people kind of wrote us off, and I think a lot of people in this room didn't take that well," he'd say of the immeasurable forecasts of draft-lottery doom for this team. "We've got a lot of guys in here with a lot of pride. I think, even when things aren't going our way, we know that if we stick with it and get back to our game, good things are going to happen. So let's just keep chipping away at it."
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari and Connor Clifton celebrate Lizotte's goal Thursday night.
• For a game the Penguins eventually led, 6-1, one might think Skinner wasn't much of a factor. This would be false. He'd stop 30 of 33 shots but, far more significant, when the Flyers had those pushes I mentioned -- one early in the first period, the other for a few strong minutes in the second -- he stood his tallest.
As Muse put it, "He made some big saves."
• Maybe start him again Saturday against the Blue Jackets, then?
No, really, there's nothing etched anywhere about goaltenders needing to rotate. Skinner's got the wide shoulders of a guy who's been in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, and I'm betting he can handle a bonus start or two leading into the Olympic break.
• I asked Skinner about what appeared to me to be an especially aggressive stance in the first against some of the Flyers' more dangerous looks, and he deftly -- and fairly -- deflected credit to his defensemen for taking care of threats to either side of him. That, he'd add, allowed him to step well out of the blue.
• Chinakhov's finishes are surreal.
• I semi-jokingly asked Brazeau if he'd called for that slick feed from Ben Kindel.
"That kid?" he'd reply with a slight laugh. "Oh, he knew where I was."
• Sid at 25 goals? Yeah, no biggie. He's now on pace for 44 on the season, which would tie Gordie Howe (1968-69) and Alexander Ovechkin (2024-25) for most in a season by anyone 38 or older. Insane.
Oh, and he's now got 51 points:
NHL
• Rick Tocchet could've ripped his Flyers to shreds after this, particularly since they've been outscored, 25-9, over an 0-4-1 slide. But he chose peace.
“Guys are trying,” Tocchet would say. “But then, they’re running around at bad angles, you know? One hand, sticks in the air ... too many stick infractions. Adversity's hit our team. And in your career, you’re going to have adversity. I don’t care who you are. It’s how we deal with it.”
My unwanted assessment: Dan Vladar, their No. 1 goaltender who'd been hurt the previous night, had better be brilliant (and healthy) or they're toast in advance of anything.
• In all seriousness, one of the cooler crowds of the season, never letting up on the Flyers. That's how it's supposed to be.
And by the way, it's yet another example of why the league needs to get back to a more imbalanced schedule that stresses divisional rivalries. These teams can't summon up any meaningful enmity by meeting only four times.
The world's a healthier place when the Penguins and Flyers hate each other.
• Thanks for reading my hockey coverage. I'll be back here Saturday.
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