Penguins end skid with authoritative 7-3 rout of Senators
Mike Sullivan didn’t think it would take much to get the Penguins out of the dolor that was born out of a season-worst six-game losing streak.
“Confidence is fleeting,” the coach said. “You can get it back as soon as you lose it. It just starts with a good shift or a good play and we can build from there.”
Getting two of your top four defensemen back on the ice and a hat trick can help, too.
Brian Dumoulin and John Marino returned to the lineup and helped the Penguins defeat the Ottawa Senators, 7-3, at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
It was their first victory since Feb. 18.
Dumoulin had been sidelined since Nov. 30 because of lacerated tendons in his left ankle, and Marino had not played since Feb. 6 because of facial bone fractures.
“They were great,” said forward Bryan Rust, who wasn’t too shabby himself as he recorded his third career hat trick. “They’re obviously guys that mean so much to the team. They move the puck up quick, they’re great skaters, they play in the face of the opponent. A combination of all of that kind of helps us play in the offensive zone more and gives us the puck more.”
Each player had a role in the Penguins’ opening goals Tuesday.
They struck first only 48 seconds into regulation.
Taking a pass at the right point, Marino hesitated for a moment to allow a screen to develop. As Rust battled in front of goaltender Craig Anderson, Marino lifted a wrister that sailed past Anderson’s blocker on the far side for his sixth goal of the season.
They doubled the lead 51 seconds later.
From the right wall, Dumoulin distributed a pass to Sheary moving up through the left circle. Going low in the circle, Sheary attempted a pass to the top of the crease for linemate Sidney Crosby but missed the mark. The errant pass was then tapped into the cage by Senators defenseman Reilly.
Sheary was credited with his 10th goal of the season and first since rejoining the Penguins via trade on Feb. 24.
“I was just more excited to play than anything,” said Dumoulin, who netted an assist on the goal as well as 19:52 of ice time. “It had been a while. I just kind of wanted that opening faceoff to come.”
A goal by Senators forward Jayce Hawrlyuk at 16:24 of the first period made it a 2-1 contest but the Penguins snuffed out any notion of a comeback with a power-play score by Rust, a wrister from the high slot at the 19:15 mark.
Crosby’s 14th goal, a wrister from the right circle, made it 4-1 at 17:21 of the second period.
The Penguins took a 5-1 lead 36 seconds into the third when forward Jason Zucker converted an Ottawa turnover into his 20th goal.
The Senators crawled back into the contest thanks to forward Brady Tkachuk’s 19th goal at the 1:09 mark and forward Connor Brown 15th at 11:27.
Rust stomped out that resurgence at the 13:29 mark by cleaning up a rebound in the crease with a forehand shot then ripped a wrister from the right circle at the 17:10 mark.
Murray made 23 saves in the victory, the Penguins’ first in two weeks.
“Every team goes through this,” said Marino, who registered 20:55 of ice time. “We happen to go through it now. Other teams go through it early in the season, middle of the season. There’s a lot of veteran players on this team that know to stay calm. We have the right guys in the room to do what we want. As long as we stick to our game, we’ll be fine.”
They’ll likely be okay as long as Dumoulin and Marino are each able-bodied as well.
“They’re such good players on both sides of the puck,” Sullivan said. “They defend so well. They’re puck poised on the breakout. They have a lot of subtleties to their game that help us get our of our end clean with the puck. They’re just both real good players. They help us create some balance throughout our pairs.
“There’s so many aspects of the game that they help us. It just makes us a better team when they’re in the lineup.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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