Penguins pound Ducks despite defenseman Kris Letang's absence

A four-game road trip that takes the Pittsburgh Penguins primarily through California got off to a good start with a commanding 6-3 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Friday.

But that success was achieved without one of their most important players. Defenseman Kris Letang was scratched due to an undisclosed illness. The team announced his unavailability through Twitter just prior to the start of the contest.

Following the game, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan indicated Letang was “just ill” while speaking with media that traveled to Anaheim.

Letang missed five games in late November and early December due to a stroke, his second.

Without Letang, the Penguins took advantage of an underwhelming opponent, which is one of the league’s worst outfits, and earned a vital two points.

The 59 shots the Penguins totaled were a season-high as well as a franchise mark for a road contest.

Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph opened the scoring 9:03 into regulation with his third goal of the season.

After Penguins forward Josh Archibald slammed Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the ice in Anaheim’s left corner, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger claimed the puck on the end boards, skated to the right of the cage and dished a pass to the high slot for Joseph. Surveying for a shooting lane, Joseph stroked a wrister that rung off the left post and hit twine behind goaltender John Gibson, a Whitehall native. Blueger and Archibald had assists.

A power-play goal tied the game 1-1 at 15:26 of the first period.

On a faceoff in the Penguins’ left circle, Ducks forward Adam Henrique beat Blueger and pushed the puck forward to the crease. As Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin was slow to react, Ducks forward Trevor Zegras surged past Penguins forward Bryan Rust and claimed the puck, elevating a backhander off the right post and into the cage past goaltender Casey DeSmith’s glove for his seventh goal. The lone assist went to Henrique.

The Penguins’ second power-play unit regained a lead, 2-1, with a little bit of good fortune at 17:38 of the opening frame.

Taking a pass on the right half wall of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen forced a pass to the slot for forward Jason Zucker, but the sequence was broken up by Ducks defenseman Simon Benoit, who inadvertently deflected the puck with his left skate past Gibson’s blocker. Kapanen was credited with his seventh goal off assists from Joseph and Rust.

Forward Jeff Carter snapped an 11-game scoreless streak and put the Penguins up by two goals late in the first period at the 19:47 mark thanks to some charity by the hosts.

Corralling an errant puck on his own end boards, Gibson and Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler fouled up a pass and allowed Kapanen to dart in and tap the puck to the crease. Carter was hovering around the blue paint and claimed the puck. Allowing a scrambling Gibson to slide out of position, Carter elevated a wrister into a mostly vacant cage for his eighth goal. Kapanen claimed the only assist.

Joseph scored again to put the Penguins up by a field goal at 14:55 of the second period.

After Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom fumbled a puck in his own high slot, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin settled it above the right circle, retreated a bit to the right point and fed a pass to Joseph at the center point. Walking up the slot against minimal resistance, Joseph fired a heavy wrister that toasted Gibson’s blocker. Malkin had the only assist.

Malkin recorded his 1,200th career point with an assist off a goal by Rust at 10:04 of the third.

Corralling a puck in the Ducks’ right circle, Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel backpedaled to the right point and slid a pass up the boards to Malkin in the near corner. Curling around the right circle, Malkin dished a pass to Rust low in the circle. As Zucker tied up Fowler above the crease, Rust attacked the cage and snapped a backhander past Gibson’s right skate. Malkin and Ruhwedel registered assists.

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel got in on the act with his 21st goal at 12:08 of the final frame.

Under pressure from a forechecking Guentzel in his own right corner, Ducks defenseman Dmitry Kulikov forced an ill-conceived pass to the slot, which was picked off by Sidney Crosby. Stopping the puck with his right skate, Crosby backhanded a pass to Guentzel low in the right circle. From there, Guentzel whipped a simple wrister to the far side past the right leg of a beleaguered Gibson. The lone assist was claimed by Crosby.

The Ducks pulled within four at 11:34 of the third period when rookie forward Mason McTavish found his 11th goal.

Picking up a loose puck in front of the visiting penalty box, Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg gained the offensive zone on the right wing and offloaded the puck to MacTavish in the high slot. Veering slightly to the left circle, McTavish fended off light pressure from Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry and wired a far side wrister past DeSmith’s glove hand. Silfverberg and Henrique had assists.

Scoring was capped at 15:58 of the third thanks to Ducks defenseman John Klingberg’s seventh goal.

After McTavish gained the offensive blue line at the center point, he dished a pass to Klingberg streaking up the right wing. Despite Malkin partially blocking the pass with his stick, Klingberg was able to settle the puck and elevated a rising wrister over DeSmith’s left shoulder on the near side. McTavish and Silfverberg tallied assists.

DeSmith made 28 saves on 31 shots to improve his record to 9-10-4.

Notes:

• The Penguins’ previous franchise record for shots in a road game of 55 was set in a 5-4 overtime win against the New York Rangers on March 4, 2010.

• Their previous season-high for shots in a game of 53 was set in their season-opener, a 6-2 home win against the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 13.

It was the third-most shots ever in a game for the Penguins. The only two occasions with more shots were:

• 65 in a 12-1 home win against the Washington Capitals, March 15, 1975
• 60 in a 10-1 home win against the Chicago Black Hawks, Feb. 21, 1976

• For Gibson, the 59 shots he faced were a career-high. His previous high-water mark 55 came in a 3-2 road overtime loss on April 12, 2022.

• Joseph made a little bit of history when he became the eighth rookie defenseman in franchise history to score twice in the same game.

His predecessors:

• Olli Maatta - at Sharks 5, Penguins 3, March 6, 2014
• Alex Goligoski - Penguins 4, at Sabres 3 (OT) - Dec. 22, 2008
• Maxim Galanov - Flyers 4, at Penguins 4 - Nov. 3, 1998
• Paul Stanton - at Penguins 9, Jets 2 - Dec. 19, 1990
• Zarley Zalapski - at Whalers 8, Penguins 6 - Feb. 26, 1989
• Dennis Owchar - Penguins 8, at Maple Leafs 5 - Nov 20, 1974
• Darryl Edestrand - at Bruins 4, Penguins 4 - Mar 12, 1972

• Crosby became the latest NHLer to take issue with Zegras when he bumped into flamboyant Zegras after he attempted a shot on the Penguins’ net following a whistle toward the end of the second period:

In recent weeks, Zegras had drawn the ire of Arizona Coyotes forward Troy Stecher and Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand.

• Rust (302 points) surpassed defenseman Larry Murphy (301) for 26th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• With Letang scratched, his typical defensive partner, Dumoulin, served as an alternate captain.

• Penguins forwards Danton Heinen and Drew O’Connor were healthy scratches.