The Minnesota Wild (18-9-6) hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins (16-14-3) tonight resuming NHL action after a short break for the holidays. Patric Hornqvist scored his first goal in over five games and Sidney Crosby finished the game with one goal and one assist in a 3-1 win.
Pittsburgh went the first period without scoring, but was able to put up three goals in the second period to give the Penguins a multi-goal lead that allowed the offense to play freely and without pressure. Tonight’s game also saw the return of Crosby and Kris Letang from injury.
Aggressive Offense
The Penguin’s power play was able to finish only one of three chances, but was enough to hold Minnesota from coming back late. Head Coach Mike Sullivan coached yet another game where his team out shot their opponent, tonight finishing with 32 shots, six more than the Wild.
Crosby looked fresh and was able to find his way on the end of more than a few scoring chances. Instead of being hesitant, the captain instead took charge and weaved around the ice waiting for his teammates to follow. Letang also saw is 300th career point assisting Crosby in his lone goal tonight.
The offense also looked more in tune with each other in anticipating when a Penguin would shoot or pass. Their aggressiveness left the defense at a disadvantage at times, but the effectiveness of the offense being able to keep and maintain offensive possessions; the defense did not fold under the pressure and stopped Minnesota from scoring more than one goal.
Special Teams Efficiency
Pittsburgh was able to keep their lead because of a very tight and disciplined penalty kill that killed all four of the Wild’s power plays. The Penguins were able to limit the amount of possession time by the Wild and boxed out players giving goalie Matt Murray a clear line of sight to the puck.
Murray has continued to be a solid replacement for Marc-Andre Fleury who has been out for nearly two weeks due to a concussion. Murray finished the game making 25 saves, and really keeping the game out of reach for Minnesota. Collecting his second win of his career tonight, Murray has played very well over the course of his three starts allowing two or less goals in each game.
The power play needs to also continue putting up shots and scoring to take pressure off of the defense. Crosby appeared to be on a mission tonight not only carrying the special teams line, but also leading Pittsburgh’s full strength offense.
Final Words
After losing five straight games, Sullivan has continued to coach the team up, challenging everyone including the stars. While not out of the grave they dug themselves, Pittsburgh is beginning to piece back together what looked to me a season to forget.
The small glimmer of light is in sight for the Penguins, but it is up to the players in the end to execute and finish games. If they are able to continue to generate goals and create opportunities for each other, the second half of the season may become the opposite of what fans have seen so far in the first half.
What’s Next?
Pittsburgh will be travelling to Winnipeg to face the Jets tomorrow night at 8p.m.
