Sidney Crosby thought he had scored the game-winning goal 23 seconds into overtime Wednesday night, and he was hardly alone.
The Penguins cheered. The Columbus Blue Jackets? Well, they started marching back to their dressing room, believing it was over, but not so fast. A video review that sources said was not conducted by Al Riveron overturned the goal.
“I thought it was going to count,” Crosby said of his finish off a Brian Dumoulin pass from the slot. “It didn’t happen.”
Wednesday's 5-4 shootout win at PPG Paints Arena offered example after example of the Penguins’ resilience, and this was no different.
But it was a bit ironic that, 10 days after “survive the ground” became part of our vernacular, replay review reared its ugly head once again.
Officials ruled that Dumoulin had interfered with Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, the teams played on, and the Penguins eventually marched to victory in the shootout.
“I didn’t try to hit him at all,” Dumoulin said. “I was trying to put it in the net. After I tried to make that move, I stepped outside of the crease, kind of made a play on the puck. He was the one kind of tied up with me. I was trying to get out of there. I think I did everything possible that I could to get out of that situation. Obviously they thought different.”
What more could Dumoulin have done? And did he really stop Bobrovsky from making the stop?
No and no.
We simply have a new toy (technology) and have to use it.
Among the other takeaways:
• The Penguins penalty kill should’ve been one of the game’s three stars, specifically for its work killing a high-sticking minor on Jake Guentzel in overtime – a four-on-three situation.
Carter Rowney won all three defensive-zone faceoffs, beating the daylights out of Columbus captain Nick Foligno.
Ian Cole wasn’t officially credited with a blocked shot but did some excellent work clogging lanes. Ditto for Tom Kuhnhackl, who was credited with one block on the kill, another two seconds after Guentzel exited the box.
“Those guys did a terrific job,’ Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s a big part of the game. If they score there, obviously it’s over, right?
“I thought those guys were focused. They were locked in. They made great reads. Obviously they had some huge blocked shots, which is a big part of it.”
The PK went 3 for 3 against Columbus. It’s some welcomed traction after having allowed a power-play goal in three straight. That last kill, where Columbus registered just one shot on goal despite having a boatload of time and space with which to work, was the signature moment.
“That’s huge in the game, four on three in overtime,” Crosby said. “There’s a lot of time and space out there. You have to get in lanes and block shots. That’s not easy to do, especially against that group. They did a great job for us. It extended everything to give us a chance to win.”
• Matt Murray talked recently about wanting to make more big saves in big moments.
Wednesday offered an opportunity to do that, but Murray let in a couple he’d probably like to have back.
The most obvious was a rebound he lost track of, a puck that Artemi Panarin buried for the Blue Jackets’ fourth goal.
But credit to Murray: He moved on quickly and was stellar the rest of the way, finishing it with a terrific right-pad stop on Panarin in the second round of the shootout.
“I don’t think you can blame him,” Crosby said. “There were some pretty good chances, good looks they had. We have to limit those, but he’s been solid all year.
“I think [Murray] knows what he can do out there. He’s a confident guy. He should be with the way he’s played. He’s been solid for us.”
• Two important goals scored Wednesday, and not simply because of the in-game implications they had.
Jake Guentzel had nothing in his previous 10 games before Wednesday. Conor Sheary had scored once in his past 17. Both beat Bobrovsky.
If the Penguins are going to get to where they went to go, Sheary and Guentzel have to produce more than they’ve been, especially if they’re your top two left wings, which they were Wednesday.
“You can’t get frustrated because you know it’s a tough league,” Guentzel said. “You just have to stay with it and try to stay positive the whole time.”
• Power play looked solid despite missing quarterback Kris Letang. Scored twice, goals by Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin. Typical Kessel shot, Malkin’s a rebound.
A couple things at play here: One, the Penguins – specifically Malkin on his goal – went to the net more than they have in the past. Need repeat performances of that.
Two, the power play needs to either build on this or play Columbus every night. No. 2 might not be possible.
The power play is 4 for 9 in its past two against the Blue Jackets, 0 for 15 in five games against everyone else.
• No update on Bryan Rust or Chad Ruhwedel. Neither finished the game.
Losing Ruhwedel and Letang forced things to get … interesting, with only Jamie Oleksiak – who’s a lefty – remaining among viable options on the right side.
The Penguins already had to rally with Letang out. Dumoulin thinks having to do again might be even bigger.
“We were all playing with each other,” Dumoulin said. “We dealt with that a lot last year. That’s something that kind of brought us together as a D corps. Obviously we’d like to have all of those guys in the lineup and playing, but it takes some of these games to bring you together and get comfortable with each other.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: December 28, 2017, 4:21 a.m.
