Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Flames 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames:

First things first, there was no update on defenseman Justin Schultz who limped off the ice following his first shift of the game at the Saddledome.

Coach Mike Sullivan simply told reporters in Calgary that Schultz’s undisclosed injury was being evaluated. The Penguins are scheduled for a practice in Calgary on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (EST) and presumably, there may be a few more details on Schultz’s status available by then.

That forced the team’s remaining defensemen to play a ton of extra minutes on Tuesday night. They appeared to handle the task fairly well considering Schultz lasted all of 40 seconds before departing for the night.

Not that there’s a convenient time for the Penguins to lose Schultz’s offensive acumen, but this team is already without the sturdy defensive presence of Brian Dumoulin.

Sure, Juuso Riikola will presumably slot in should Schultz not be available for any future games but presumably, the team will want to call up another reserve defenseman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

There’s a potential problem on that front, however. Zach Trotman and David Warsofsky, two of the AHL Penguins’ most reliable veteran defenders, each missed practice on Tuesday and their status for for Wednesday’s home game against the Providence Bruins is questionable.

So … who would get the call?

Presumably, Kevin Czuczman would be next in line. He’s the only other defenseman in the organization signed to an NHL contract with actual NHL experience. That came in the form of a mere 13 games (and two assists) with the New York Islanders in 2013-14. He’s a left-hand shot - and those are the only shots they have remaining among healthy defenders in Wilkes-Barre under NHL contracts - who can move the puck and put up points at the AHL level but has little in the way of a sample size in the NHL. In 20 AHL games this season, he has eight points (one goal, seven assists).

Beyond Czuczman, the only other options are Niclas Almari and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, 20. Joseph, who was part of the deal that sent Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, has the biggest upside considering he’s a former first-round pick but he’s been limited to 17 game and three points (one goal, two assists) in his first professional season due to a bout with mononucleosis.

Almari, 21, has a little more professional experience as he’s in his first full professional season in North America after coming up on an amateur tryout contract for a few games last season. In 21 games this season, he has five points (one goal, four assists).

Keep in mind, any potential recall of Czuczman, Almari or Joseph would be contingent on Schultz, Trotman and Warsofsky all being unavailable. And whoever would be called up would only be expected to be a seventh defenseman and be an extra body in practice. It’s hardly a dire emergency.

But it’s very sobering to see how limited the options are.

What happened

The Flames opened the scoring by dicing up the Penguins’ zone at 16:05 of the first period. Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau gained the offensive zone on the right wing then left a drop pass at the point for forward Mikael Backlund. As Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson lost his footing and fell backward in the right circle, Backlund fed a pass to forward Tobias Rieder in the left circle. With Pettersson out of position, Gaudreau sneaked to the far side of the crease where Rieder fed a slick pass to him for the backdoor tap in behind scrambling goaltender Tristan Jarry. Assists went to Rieder and Backlund.

(Video courtesy NHL)

It was tied up at 12:13 of the second period. Just as a power-play opportunity had expired, Penguins forward Dominik Kahun fed a pass from the left circle to Pettersson at the left point. Pettersson then moved the puck on to defenseman John Marinoa t the right point. Moving into the right circle, Marino red the defenders, waited for a screen to develop and lifted a wrister and snapped off a far side wrister past goaltender Cam Talbot’s blocker. Forward Zach Aston-Reese had a screen on the sequence. Pettersson and Kahun collected assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

The Penguins took their first lead only 1:22 later. Collecting a rim on the right half wall, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang spun off a check from Flames forward Derek Ryan and flicked a backhand dump-in to the end boards. Penguins forward Bryan Rust claimed the puck, skated behind the net, emerged in the left circle and snapped off wrister through a forest of bodies and into Talbot’s right ribs. The puck squeezed between his torso and his blocker then trickled into the cage. Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic appeared to transpire on a screen during the sequence. Assists were credited to Letang and forward Evgeni Malkin.

(Video courtesy NHL)

At 18:02 of the third, Malkin plunked in an empty net goal from the offensive blue line off assists from Rust and Marino.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Only 20 seconds later, defenseman Kris Letang airmailed an empty net goal from behind his own cage. There were no assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Statistically speaking

• The Flames had a 34-33 edge in shots

• Gaudreau led the Flames with five shots.

• Aston-Reese, Guentzel and forward Jared McCann each led the Penguins with four shots.

• Letang led the game with 27:54 of ice time on 30 shifts.

• Defenseman Mark Giordano led the Flames with 25:11 of ice time on 25 shifts.

• The Flames controlled faceoffs, 27-25 (52 percent).

• Ryan was 8 for 10 (80 percent).

• Penguins forward Teddy Blueger was 7 for 11 (64 percent).

• Pettersson led the game with four blocked shots.

• Giordano, Hamonic and defenseman Rasmus Andersson each led the Flames with three blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• Rust (138 points) surpassed forward Stu Barnes (136) for sole possession of 65th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Malkin’s goal was the 400th of his career.

• Malkin (1,031 points) surpassed former teammate (kind of) Alexei Kovalev (1,029 for 78th place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Kovalev is still first in moonwalks, however.

• The only Russian-/Soviet Union-born players with more career points are forwards Alex Ovechkin (1,244), Sergei Fedorov (1,179) and Alexander Mogiliny (1,032).

• This was the seventh time in franchise history the Penguins had two empty net goals in the same game. The most recent was a 3-0 road win against the Maple Leafs on Oct. 18, 2018. Letang and Malkin were the scorers that night as well.

Randomly speaking

• Seemingly bored with stopping all-stars such as Kings forward Anze Kopitar on repeated breakaways, Tristan Jarry decided to stop a two-on-none in this game. After Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson had a puck stolen at the offensive blue line, Flames forward Dillon Dube created the two-on-none rush along with forward Milan Lucic in hopes of tying the game at two goals apiece. Dube approached the net and played hot potato a few times with Lucic before Lucic finally shot and was just flatly denied by an unflappable Jarry at 17:40 of the second period.

(Video courtesy NHL)

• Jarry just seems to calm in net, even in “emergency” situations like that. He just kicked out the puck while the earth was crashing down around him like it was routine. He continues to be simply tuned in.

• They needed Jarry to be on his game early on as they were outshot, 17-6, in the first period.

• Malkin returned to the lineup after missing two games due to illness. He logged 22:10 of ice time on 24 shifts. In addition to his goal and an assist, Malkin had three shots on net on six attempts and was 9 for 20 (45 percent) on faceoffs.

• Forward Joseph Blandisi was in the lineup while Stefan Noesen was the (presumed) healthy scratch. Blandisi, who played four games in four days last week, logged 7:41 of ice time on 10 shifts and had one shot on one attempt. He was 1 for 3 (33 percent) in faceoffs.

• After scoring a goal in his Penguins debut, Noesen has looked rather ordinary in his other five games. It doesn’t seem like Sullivan is enamored with him the way management in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton may be.

• Marino and Letang appeared to be flipped on the top pair. That’s to say Marino was moved to the left side while Letang manned the right side. Both are right shots and neither are 100 percent comfortable on the left side. In Saturday’s 5-4 shootout win against the Kings, Letang struggled a good bit. Moving back to the right side seemed to put him at ease. And Marino appeared to be up for the challenge on the left side.

• If Schultz, another right shot, is out for any future games, the coaches might be forced to break up Letang and Marino simply because there are dwindling right-handed resources on the blue line.

• Marino logged a season-high 27:18 of ice time on 29 shifts. He topped his previous high mark by over three minutes (24:14).

• After taking penalties in four of his first five games of the season, defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has gone six consecutive contests without a penalty.

Publicly speaking

• Sullivan on his team’s bad play in the first period:

“We loved the response. We knew we weren’t at our best. Quite honestly, it might have been our worst period of the year. But we got big saves from Tristan. We were within striking distance, we just tried to regroup and played the game the right way. The responded was terrific.”

• Rust on the bad first period:

“We just weren’t good enough. We were getting beat to pucks. They were just hungrier than we were. But obviously, Tristan was unbelievable there in the first. Only being down there, 1-0, was big.”

• Malkin spoke about his play coming off his illness:

“Not my best game for sure. But I don’t care, we get two points. A little bit tough for sure. We win. I hope tomorrow to feel so much better. Small steps tonight. Before the game, I feel great. But I knew it (would be) a little bit tough. Calgary played well. They so fast. Huge two points. Scored an empty net goal but I take it too. Every day, I feel better.”

• Sullivan on playing without Schultz most of the game:

“It’s tough when you lose a defenseman on his first shift of the game. We got to five right away. Those guys were playing heavy minutes. They did a terrific job, the five guys (remaining defensemen).”

• Jarry spoke about how he defended the two-on-none:

“Just to play the shot. Wait as long as I can. … Just making sure I’m playing the shot and getting over there as quick as I can when he passed it. … There’s nothing that I can think of that can prepare you for that.”

• Malkin on the significance of his 400th career goal:

“Every goal is special. It’s a good number for sure. But I play (for) a great team. I always enjoy (playing) here. It’s a huge number but I want more for sure. Very important year for me. I want to play better every game. … I want more for sure. I feel it right now. Work every day. I hope I play five, six more years here with the Penguins.”

• Sullivan on Marino:

“With every game that he plays, he gets better. He’s learning the league, he’s adjusting to the pace of play. His game is evolving. When he first came in, he was just a steady, stay-at-home defenseman. He’s always shown an ability to have poise with the puck. He helps us get out of our end, he doesn’t throw it away, he protects it extremely well, he can make plays under pressure. Now, he’s doing it in the offensive zone as well.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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