Process better, as power play carries Penguins past Oilers

EDMONTON, Alberta — Just imagine the height of the Penguins’ collective ceiling if they can ever get the rest of their game to match what has become a truly prolific power play.

Five-on-five play remains something of a work in progress for the Penguins, although it did make some strides Wednesday during a 3-2 win over the Oilers at Rogers Place.

Significantly ahead for the Penguins at this point in the season has been a lethal power play, and it bought everything else a little bit of time with another deadly performance away from home.

Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin scored power-play goals — Malkin’s the game-winner in the third period — as the Penguins snapped a two-game losing skid that threatened to sour this road trip.

“It’s been producing,” Sidney Crosby said of the power play, which has goals in all nine road games this season and is clicking at 30 percent.

“It’s good to have that confidence going out there, especially in close games. You want it to be a difference-maker. It’s been pretty good since the start of the year. Our challenge will be to consistently produce five-on-five.”

Yeah, that.

Sort of an elephant in the room the past week or so.

The Penguins entered this game with just 17 five-on-five goals in 13 games, a horrendous pace and nowhere near where they had been the past two seasons under Sullivan.

Cooperative effort was a big talking point for Sullivan, and the Penguins got that. Hornqvist called the Penguins’ approach “a little old-school.” Basically winning one-on-one battles and digging a little deeper than they had been.

As a result, the Penguins’ five-on-five effort against the Oilers was at least passable. Crosby set up Conor Sheary for his team-leading sixth goal at the end of the second period, a marker that got the Penguins feeling good for the third.

“This was a really big effort for us,” Hornqvist said. “We all played really hard. We went back to a little old school, winning one-on-one battles out there. When we do that, we have a good team. Obviously the power play helped us win the game. It doesn’t really matter tonight. The effort was there. That’s what we’re looking for.”

The win helped the Penguins extend their dominance over the Oilers to 15 consecutive games where they’ve earned at least one point (12-0-3).

Matt Murray was spectacular in goal, holding strong during a late flurry and stopped 35 of 37 shots to avoid losing a third consecutive regular-season game in regulation for the first time in his career.

“Just tried to stay loose,” Murray said of the late push by the Oilers, which included a couple glorious chances. “I know they’re going to throw a lot of pucks to the net and get a lot of bodies there, especially late when they’re trying to tie it up.”

The Penguins’ improved effort was evident from the start, which had been another sore spot. They came into this one having allowed 21 first-period goals — an NHL-high — with 18 coming on the road.

But the Penguins allowed the Oilers just four shot attempts in the first 9:30. Sullivan was pleased with how the Penguins pressured together, in addition to his team’s cleaner breakouts and how linemates supported one another.

One aspect Sullivan probably won’t like is the penalties the Penguins took. Jake Guentzel took two at the same time in the second, leading to an Oilers power-play goal, and Guentzel and Maatta picked up minors in the third.

The Penguins penalty kill, however, held strong and didn’t let Edmonton — which is now in alarm-bell territory at 3-7-1 — climb back into the game.

“We know what kind of team we are,” Kris Letang said. “We just have to play the right way. You could see in the mindset of the guys, we wanted to defend first. Once you defend the right way, you’re going to get chances on the other side. That’s what we did.”

Coming off a 7-1 loss in Winnipeg Sunday, the Penguins have won 10 of their past 11 — including seven straight — the game after allowing seven or more goals.

Doing that, a bouncing back from a couple of frustrating efforts was necessary, several Penguins admitted.

“We haven’t played our best here the last two games,” Hornqvist said. “[Wednesday] we deared down for a good, 60-minute effort. Power play was good. Penalty kill was awesome. Murray was great in net. Five-on-five play was really good, too. Overall a really good game from everybody. that’s exactly what we needed at this point in the season.”

It really doesn’t hurt when you take a minute and think about where this team could be if it continues to have power-play success and builds upon this overall team performance.

“Our power play has won a lot of games for us in the early part of the season,” Sullivan said. “We know when we get our five-on-five game in order, we’re going to be that much more difficult to play against.”

Source: gazette