Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Sabres 2

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-2 win against the Sabres:

BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the early days of training camp this past September, the Penguins toyed with some different line combinations.

They gave Dominik Kahun a look with Sidney Crosby on the first line. That never really materialized.

Brandon Tanev worked with Evgeni Malkin and the second line. They skated for a few games in the regular season before Malkin’s injury broke that up.

One line which looked like a sure bet to open the season was the third line of Jared McCann at left wing, Nick Bjugstad at center and Patric Hornqvist on the right wing.

They just looked like a third line of the modern NHL. You had some scoring touch in all three players. A little bit of grit or pushback with McCann and Hornqvist. And Bjugstad had a long reach at 6-foot-6 which could make him a true nuisance for any opponents looking for shooting or passing lanes.

It lasted five periods and change into the regular season.

In a 7-2 home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 5, Bjugstad tweaked a core muscle while chasing down Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois in the neutral zone. He missed several games and eventually returned to the lineup but was never 100 percent. He worsened the injury after falling into the boards during a 2-1 road loss to the New Jersey Devils and was shut down for the next three-plus months as he required surgery and extensive rehabilitation to get fully healthy.

On Thursday, he stepped onto the ice and made an immediate impact, especially on Sabres goaltender Jonas Johansson in a very literal sense.

Bjugstad crashed the net and set up Hornqvist for the game’s opening goal.

He finished the night with an assist off that play, 11:02 of ice time on 15 shifts, two shots on three attempts and was 2 for 2 on faceoffs.

“I didn’t think I would have that many nerves,” Bjugstad said. “I was a little nervous going into it because it had been so long. I just wanted to go out and get my feet under me. We had our ups and downs. I felt like I could be a little better defensively. We’ll brush up on that. But as far as being back in the lineup, definitely very thankful. It’s been a long time and it’s good to get a win here.”

Injuries are always one bad step, one big hit or one blocked shot away from disrupting the best-laid plans of mice and men. But the Penguins appear to have a pretty dynamic third line at their disposal which can offer some offense while also being a complete pain in the neck to play against.

They just had to wait for Bjugstad to come back.

“He was good,” Hornqvist said. “He was hard on pucks. He’s big, he’s a big body. He covered a lot of ice and he made some really good plays. My first goal, he goes hard to the net and creates the goal for me. The good thing is, he’s only going to get better.”

What happened

The Penguins scored first 7:56 into regulation. Settling a puck in the Sabres’ left circle, Hornqvist lifted a wrister on net which Johansson denied. Bjugstad drove the crease for a rebound but was tripped by Sabres forward Curtis Lazar as well as defenseman Jake McCabe and crashed into Johansson.

As the rebound rolled loose in the slot, Hornqvist spun off a check from McCabe and fired a backhander while falling past a helpless Johansson. Linesman Jesse Marquis immediately ruled a goal and a brief conference with other officials confirmed the ruling. The Sabres issued a coach’s challenge on the basis of goaltender interference but it was determined Bjugstad’s crash into Johansson was caused by Lazar and McCabe. Hornqvist recorded his 16th goal of the season off of assists from Bjugstad and forward Jared McCann.

(Video courtesy NHL)

After the Sabres were issued a delay of game penalty for the unsuccessful coach’s challenge, the Penguins were granted a power play but allowed a short-handed goal to McCabe at 9:01 of the first period. Penguins forward Bryan Rust tried to gain the offensive zone with speed but his backhand pass to forward Jason Zucker on the right wall was swiped at the blue line by an attentive McCabe who took back into the Penguins’ zone, attacked the net on a breakaway and lifted a backhander over goaltender Matt Murray’s glove for his third goal. There were no assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

At 12:26 of the first, Marcus Pettersson’s second goal of the season restored a lead for the Penguins, 2-1. After entering the offensive zone and curling around in the left circle, Rust fed a pass to an on-rushing Pettersson who stroked a one-timer though Johansson’s five hole. Rust and Malkin netted assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

A power-play goal by Hornqvist at 13:32 made it a 3-1 contest. From the Sabres’ right point, Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz banked a puck off the glass of the right wall to Malkin in the right corner. Moving toward the goal line, Malkin shuffled a small pass to Hornqvist rushing in from the right circle. Hornqvist fired a quick wrister which glanced off of Johansson’s stick and floated into the cage on the far side. Assists went to Malkin and Schultz.

(Video courtesy NHL)

The Sabres pulled within one at 1:57 of the third period. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Sabres forward Dominik Kahun, whom the Penguins traded away only 10 days prior, centered a pass to the slot. Linemate Marcus Johansson leaned down and ripped a wrister past Murray’s blocker for his ninth goal. Kahun and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had assists.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Any notion of a comeback was snuffed out by Crosby at 6:02 of the third. Settling a loose puck in his own left circle, Penguins forward Jason Zucker backhanded a pass to Crosby in the neutral zone. Pushing play up ice, Crosby created a two-on-one rush with forward Conor Sheary against Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour. Electing to shoot, Crosby backhanded a shot from the right circle past Jonas Johansson’s glove on the near side for his 15th goal. The only assist went to Zucker.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 32-30.

• Crosby and Sabres forward Jeff Skinner each led the game with five shots.

• Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin led the game with 24:16 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• Forward Jack Eichel led the Sabres with 23:33 of ice time on 22 shifts.

• The Penguins had a 27-25 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).

• Malkin was 7 for 13 (54 percent).

• Sabres forward Johan Larsson was 6 for 12 (50 percent).

• Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson led the game with three blocked shots.

• Dahlin and forward Zemgus Girgensons each led the Sabres with two blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• Rust (168 points) surpassed defenseman Doug Bodger (167) for 52nd place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Malkin (1,071 points) surpassed forward Henrik Sedin (1,070) for 65th place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• The Penguins tend to do well in Buffalo:

The @penguins extended their road point streak against the Sabres to 12 games (10-0-2) and established a franchise record for longest such run against any opponent. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/tuxB2iAhTP

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 6, 2020

(Video courtesy NHL)

Randomly speaking

• It wasn’t his most impressive game from bell to bell and he could have stolen one or both of the goals he allowed, but Murray’s play in the second period was pretty vital to how this game turned out.

The Penguins were struggling to even possess the puck in the second period and were just getting outskated all over their own zone. Murray came up with a huge save at the 5:55 mark which really put his team in position to claim a two-goal lead a few minutes later.

After Johnson just misread a stretch pass out of Buffalo’s zone, Marcus Johansson created a two-on-none with forward Jimmy Vesey. Johansson fed a pass to Vesey in the right circle. Vesey had the net dead to rights but Murray read the sequence like a pulp novel, slid to his left and coolly kicked out the blast.

(Video courtesy NHL)

• Zucker now has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 12 games with the Penguins.

• Pettersson’s last goal was in that 7-2 win against the Blue Jackets on Oct. 2.

• McCabe’s goal was only the fourth short-handed goal the Penguins have allowed this season and first since Dec. 20.

• Only the Kings (1), Golden Knights (3) and Jets (3) have allowed fewer short-handed goals this season.

• The Penguins infamously allowed a league-high 15 short-handed goals last season.

• The ugly thing about the short-handed goal the Penguins allowed was that it came off a botched zone entry. They worked on zone entries for about 10 minutes the day prior in practice.

• Bjugstad’s assist was only his second point of the season.

• The Sabres have lost five consecutive games.

• Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had some issues late in regulation:

(Video courtesy NHL)

Publicly speaking

• Bjugstad on his role in Hornqvist’s goal:

“I just wanted to drive the net. I think it tipped off my stick. I was just trying to shoot it. It wasn’t even an intentional play. We were a little worried it might have been goalie interference. They didn’t have a call on it. I got tripped, I didn’t mean to run into the goalie. Sometimes that stuff happens.”

• Sullivan on Bjugstad:

“Nick had a good game. It’s not an easy adjustment when you miss that much time to step into an NHL game at this time of year with the type of intensity that’s out there. I thought he did a real good job.

• Murray on Bjugstad:

“It was awesome to see him out there. He’s been unlucky this year, going through a lot. I was just really excited to see him out there and see him on the gamesheet, see him out there competing. That’s where we want to be. Nick’s a competitive guy and he wanted to be out there all year. Just felt really, really good for him.”

• Hornqvist on Murray:

“He was huge. They had probably three, four odd-man rushes and breakaways and he made really big stops for us. That’s why he’s there. He’s been great.”

• Crosby’s backhander drew high praise from Sullivan:

“Sid has an amazing backhand. He distributes the puck with his backhand. And he can really shoot it. Backhand shots are really hard for goaltenders because it’s hard for them to pick up where it’s going. It’s hard for them to pick the release. Sid’s one of the best at it. There aren’t a lot of guys that can play on their backhands like he does in today’s game. That’s a throwback skill. But he’s certainly really good at it.”

• Sabres coach Ralph Krueger did not agree with the NHL’s decision on Hornqvist’s first goal:

“I was quite stunned. We reviewed it about six times. (The NHL claimed) that we knocked (Bjugstad) in. But it was a normal alteration. It looks like his hands were out in front of him.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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