Empty Thoughts: Penguins 3, Sabres 2

Observations from the Penguins’ 3-2 win against the Sabres:

Jared McCann has scored some pretty goals this season.

The goal he scored on Saturday was not one of them.

But it might have been the craftiest.

Chasing down a rebound in the left corner of the offensive zone, McCann just whipped the puck to the crease where it hit off of goaltender Dustin Tokarski’s backside and deflected into the net.

It wasn’t exactly a lucky goal. There was some level calculation to what McCann did. But it’s fair to say there might have been more hope than strategy in what McCann did.

And considering his captain does it on a fairly regular basis, hopes can spring eternal.

“It’s a real heads-up play by Jared,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s not something that we have a lot of discussion about but what I will say is he’s watched Sid do it a number of times a year here for a number of years. And what better example? Sid scores more goals from below the goal line than anyone that I can think of. It may look like happenstance. It may look like it’s a lucky play but it’s a real calculated play and it’s a heads-up play to try to take advantage of a goalie when he’s in that situation when he has some separation from his post and there’s some light there.

“You can use the goalie himself to bank it off of him and put it in the net. I thought it was a real smart play on Jared’s part.”

What happened

The Penguins took a lead 10:30 into regulation. Taking a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson pumped a slapper on net. Tokarski fought off the puck, pushing a rebound to the left corner. McCann retrieved the puck and shuffled it to the crease where it clunked off of Tokarski’s derriere and deflected into the net for McCann’s 12th goal of the season. Matheson and defenseman Cody Ceci registered assists.

It became a 2-0 contest 5:57 into the second period when former Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues scored his sixth goal. Stealing a poor pass by Sabres rookie forward Dylan Cozens behind Buffalo’s net, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger slid a backhand pass to the left circle for Rodrigues who ripped a wrister past Tokarski’s glove on the far side. The lone assist went to Blueger.

The Sabres responded quickly at 6:41 of the second. After intercepting an errant pass attempt by Jarry from his own crease on the left wall, Sabres forward Tage Thompson ripped a wrister that was blocked by McCann. The rebound bounced in the left circle and was reclaimed by Thompson who then fired a wrister through goaltender Tristan Jarry’s five hole for his sixth goal. There were no assists.

A power-play goal at 12:15 of the second restored a two-goal lead for the Penguins. Taking a pass above the right circle of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel moved the puck to forward Sidney Crosby above the opposite circle. Moving past the faceoff dot, Crosby zipped a pass to the front of the crease where forward Bryan Rust planted his stick on the ice and deflected the puck past Tokarski’s left skate for his 17th goal. Crosby and Guentzel collected assists.

The Sabres pulled within one goal with a power-play score at 11:44 of the third period. From the right of the cage, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen slid a pass to the left circle for forward Casey Mittlestadt who leaned down and lifted a one-timer past Jarry’s glove hand on the far side for his seventh goal. Assists went to Ristolainen and forward Sam Reinhart.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins dominated shots, 41-30.

• Matheson led the game with seven shots.

• Thompson led the Sabres with six shots.

• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang led the game with 24:20 of ice time on 24 shifts.

• Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin led the Sabres with 24:02 of ice time on 22 shifts.

• The Sabres controlled faceoffs, 24-21 (53%).

• Reinhart was 9 for 13 (69%).

• Crosby was 12 for 24 (50%).

• Matheson and Sabres defenseman Colin Miller each led the game with three blocked shots.

• Jarry made 28 saves on 30 shots.

• Tokarski made 38 saves on 41 shots.

Randomly speaking

• The best player in this game might have been Tokarski. He was under duress most of the game as the Penguins controlled puck possession and just peppered him with shots. He was pretty stout most of the game. McCann’s goal notwithstanding, none of the goals Tokarski allowed were all that weak.

• The new second line of McCann, Jeff Carter and Jason Zucker was pretty strong in its second game. According to Natural Stat Trick, that trio dominated puck possession with 13 shot attempts for and four shot attempts against. They were on the ice for the Sabres’ first goal, but that was more of a byproduct of a bad pass from Jarry. If the Penguins ever get something resembling a healthy group of forwards, that trio might get broken up. But if nothing else, the Penguins appear to have discovered a viable combination for future reference.

• Rodrigues was dealt by the Sabres to the Penguins in February of 2020 after Rodrigues requested a trade. Something went afoul between the team and player as he was a healthy scratch on a regular basis for a pretty bad squad. Ever since then, on the occasions he has scored against the Sabres, including twice in his past three games against Buffalo, he celebrates as if it were personal. After the game, he mostly dismissed a question about there being any individual significance to beating the Sabres. But his body language suggests otherwise.

• The Sabres’ second goal came of a pretty lousy penalty called against Penguins forward Mark Jankowski. At 10:54 of the third period, Jankowski hounded Cozens for a puck in the Sabres’ zone and Cozens grabbed Jankowski’s stick, pulling it into his body. Officials deemed that a holding infraction against Jankowski and put the Sabres on the power play.

• This game was nearly tied late in regulation at 17:39 of the third period. Dahlin chucked a wrister from center point of the offensive zone. Jarry made the initial save but the rebound struck off the left post and bounced in the crease behind Jarry who sprawled backward to smother it before anyone could get a stick on it.

• The Penguins moved rookie forward Radim Zohorna back into the lineup on the fourth line and scratched forward Sam Lafferty. Zohorna had 7:23 of ice time on nine shifts and recorded two shots on two attempts.

Historically speaking

• Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin had a career-best six-game scoring streak snapped.

• Rust (204 points) surpassed forward Paul Gardner (203) for 42nd place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• The Sabres were officially eliminated from postseason contention for the 10th consecutive season. No fan base deserves such futility less than Buffalo. This is a wonderful hockey market, probably the best in the United States. Its only problem is the hockey team.

Publicly speaking

• Rodrigues dismissed any personal significance in playing the Sabres:

“It just seems to be finding me when we play these guys. I try to come into every game doing the same thing. But early in the past two games against these guys, the puck just seems to be getting to my stick. Luckily, I’ve been able to put a couple in the back of the net.”

• Sullivan isn’t happy with the penalty kill:

“It’s a number of things. It essentially boils down to details. We’ve got to be better on the kill. We recognize that. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches in helping these guys in these situations. We’ll continue to work at that as a coaching staff. We recognize that’s an area of our game that we need to improve on in order to continue to get consistent results. We’ve had our ups and downs this year with the kill. Lately, it hasn’t been quite as good. It boils down to details. We’re trying to introduce some new guys like Jeff Carter into it as well. So there’s going to be a learning curve there. … There’s no excuses. We’ve got to get better as a group. The coaching staff has got to do a better job in getting these guys on the same page.”

• Penguins defenseman Cody Ceci on the penalty kill:

“We started the season a little rough on the (penalty kill) then got on a little groove and started doing well. Lately, we’ve started to slide a little bit. We just need to get a little bit more consistent heading into the playoffs. We’ve got a lot of good (penalty) killers, a lot of guys that will block shots and are willing to learn. If we get rolling at the right time, I think it will be good for us, but we need to figure that out before the end of the (regular) season.”

• McCann on Carter:

“We’ve been great offensively. We’re getting chances every single game. Jeff, he’s a guy who brings a level of confidence on the ice when you’re out there with him. You know you can trust him. He obviously has the speed still and can fly out there. You know you’re just trying to find him. He does the same with me, he just tries to find me. So it’s been good.”

• Sullivan on the McCann-Carter-Zucker line:

“His line was pretty good tonight. They’re talking to one another in between shifts. Jeff is still trying to learn our team concept and how we’re trying to play. But I thought his line was pretty good tonight. They had a number of scoring chances. They’re all a little bit different in how they play. But they’re complementary. As far as if we’re going to move them around, it all depends on who is available to us and what we think the lineup looks like. But right now, given the lineup that we have, we think this is the best combination that gives us the balance that we want and surrounds the right people with what they need to be successful. I thought Jeff had a good game in particular. His line was pretty good as well.”

Publicly speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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