Penguins score in myriad ways to run winning streak to 8

With 1,475 regular-season games over 21 years to his credit, it’s awfully hard for 42-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins center Matt Cullen to experience something that’s never happened to him in an NHL game before.

On Friday night, he managed to record an unusual first.

Cullen scored a goal with his ear for the first time when a Zach Aston-Reese pass caromed in off his head, helping the Penguins to a 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena.

Cullen said he’s not sure he’ll consider the goal one of his cherished hockey memories, but it was a significant play for a couple of reasons.

First, it showed just how powerful momentum can be in pro hockey.

The Penguins are on an incredible roll, winning eight in a row for the first time in the Mike Sullivan era.

If a puck had hit Cullen in the ear in November, it probably would have bounced harmlessly into the corner or maybe even caused an unlucky injury. On Friday night, with the team on a winning streak, all goalie Connor Hellebuyck could do was wave at his helplessly as it bounced past his right arm.

“It’s funny how that goes,” Cullen said. “When things are going not good, pucks are bouncing in your net and they’re not going in for you.”

For Cullen, the significance of the team’s winning streak goes beyond the final scores. It even goes beyond the impact it’s had on the Metropolitan Division standings, where the Penguins have moved into a first-place tie with the Washington Capitals.

The winning streak is most significant to Cullen because it shows the Penguins are willing and able to take the necessary steps to improve over the course of a long NHL season.

“We understand that we have a long ways to go, and the bounces aren’t always going to go our way, so it’s important that we have our game in order,” Cullen said.

The Penguins surely had their game in order Friday night, blanking a powerful Jets team that is considered a strong Stanley Cup contender.

Matt Murray, who made 33 saves to record his third shutout of the year, loved the defensive effort he saw in front of him.

“I thought we were really hard to play against tonight,” Murray said. “From my perspective, it looked like we were reloading and getting above pucks. When you do that, especially against a gifted team offensively like that, I think it’s good. It can frustrate them. That’s what we did.”

They also scored some timely goals.

Less than a minute before the bank off Cullen’s head made it 2-0 late in the first period, Olli Maatta scored his first goal of the season on the power play.

Late in the second period, with the Jets trying to mount a comeback, Evgeni Malkin made a pass from the left wing off the rush to the right side to Dominik Simon, who fluttered a backhand shot off the near post and into Hellebuyck’s glove.

At first glance, it looked like an amazing glove save. A video review using a tiny camera located inside the crossbar showed the entire puck crossed the goal line while in the webbing of the goalie’s glove, however, and the Penguins had a 3-0 lead.

Such is life for a team on an eight-game winning streak.

“It’s always nice when you score a goal, when you put up some points. It feels great,” Simon said. “First thing is that we’re winning. We’re rolling now. We’ve got to keep doing the things that we’re doing and keep it going.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer.
You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com
or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.