Penguins rebound to win thanks to reserve goaltender Dustin Tokarski

Streaks have been the defining characteristic of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season as they approach the midway point of the campaign.

A 4-0-1 start was immediately followed by a seven-game skid in late October and early November.

Then, gains from a seven-game winning streak in early December were largely washed out by a six-game losing streak later in the month that extended into January.

“When you look at the (season) a whole, it’s been a little bit of a roller coaster ride,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We started off really strong, then we lose a bunch in a row, then we win a bunch in a row, then we lose a few. I believe that this team is capable of more consistent play and more consistent performance.”

Tuesday’s 5-4 win against the Vancouver Canucks at PPG Paints Arena — the 40th game of the Penguins’ season — was about as consistent as a snowbank on the shoulder of Interstate 70 perforated with rock salt.

In August.

That’s to say it was sloppy, undisciplined, full of penalties and offered little in the way of structure. And the quality of goaltending was exactly what one might expect from a pair of backups — Casey DeSmith of the Penguins and Spencer Martin of the Canucks — who opened the contest in place of injured All-Star starters, Tristan Jarry and Thatcher Demko, respectively.

All of those factors led to the kind of entertaining offensive affair that entices specators but enrages coaches.

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And much of it was orchestrated by an unlikely hero in reserve goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who recorded the victory in his debut with the Penguins, one week after he was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

“A little nervous but good nervous,” said Tokarski, who last played an NHL game in April as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. “It’s fun to get into the game and help out.”

The Penguins needed a lot of help after the Canucks went up by a field goal as they scored the contest’s first three goals within the first 7:05 of regulation.

Forward Conor Garland’s seventh goal of the season was the lid lifter at 4:46 of the first period. Corralling a rebound in his own zone, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes fed a simple backhand pass up ice to Garland, who skated the puck from his own blue line into the Penguins’ zone up the left wing. Fending off a backcheck by Penguins forward Danton Heinen, Garland took advantage of poor positioning at the offensive blue line by rookie defenseman P.O Joseph and surged towards the net with little resistance. From just inside the left dot, Garland went backhand to forehand and elevated a far-side wrister over DeSmith’s left shoulder. Hughes and defenseman Luke Schenn had assists.

It became a two-goal contest at 6:40 of the first period. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Canucks forward Ilya Mikheyev flung a wrister on net that DeSmith kicked out. Mikheyev followed up on the rebound and chipped it to the slot. After Canucks forward Bo Horvat and Penguins forward Rickard Rakell each made contact with the puck, Canucks forward Brock Boeser barged in, claimed possession, deked a few times and pitchforked a backhander over DeSmith’s right leg for his eighth goal. Horvat and Mikheyev netted assists.

The visitors went up by three only 25 seconds later thanks to Hughes’ second goal of the campaign. After Canucks forward Elias Pettersson beat Penguins forward Sidney Crosby on a draw in the Penguins’ left circle, Schenn one-touched a forehand pass from the center point to Hughes at the left point. Surveying for a moment, Hughes chucked a pedestrian wrister through a forest of legs and sticks that clunked off the inside of DeSmith’s blocker and his left ribs before finding twine. Schenn and Pettersson tallied assists.

DeSmith found himself on the bench after that goal. His night came to an end having made only two saves on five shots.

The Penguins got on the scoreboard less than two minutes later thanks to a five-on-three power-play goal by forward Evgeni Malkin at the 8:57 mark.

Accepting a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Ty Smith slid a smooth pass to the right circle into Malkin’s wheelhouse. Teeing up a one-timer, Malkin claimed his 13th goal by cranking a shot that hit off of the lip of Martin’s glove then deflected off his left ribs and bounced into the cage. Smith and forward Bryan Rust registered assists.

Crosby got in on the act with his 21st goal at the 14:25 mark. Controlling a puck in the left circle of the offensive zone, Crosby deftly fed a pass to defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Settling things for a moment, Dumoulin allowed the offensive zone to open up and fed it back to Crosby, who deflected the puck with the front of his stick blade from just below the left hashmarks past a poke check attempt by Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers and Martin’s right skate. Assists went to Dumoulin and Rust.

The score was tied 3-3 at 16:30 of the opening frame. After beating Pettersson on a draw in the Canucks’ left circle, Malkin got the puck to linemate Jason Zucker, positioned directly behind him. Adjusting to the bouncing puck, Zucker snapped off a wrister that clanked off the right post and deflected into the cage for his 10th goal. The only assist went to Malkin.

“Obviously, tying it up before the end of the first (period) was nice,” Zucker said. “For us to come in (and) have 40 minutes left with a tie game was somewhere that we liked for our spot to be.”

The Penguins needed only 7:58 of the second period to take their first lead during a four-on-four sequence.

After Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta forced Mikheyev into a turnover in front of the home bench (despite losing his stick in the process), Malkin claimed possession and gained the offensive zone on the right wing with steam and left a drop pass for a trailing Zucker. That maneuver created a two-on-one rush against Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who was unable to deny Zucker’s backhand pass that set up Malkin’s one-touch forehand shot from the left of the crease. Zucker had the lone assist.

“Zucker unbelievable,” Malkin said. “They have turnover, we go two-on-one. I drop (the) puck to Zucker and I just go to (the) net, far post. I know he (can) pass (to) me across (the front of the crease).”

Another power-play goal gave the Penguins’ a two-goal lead at 14:31 of the middle frame. After Tokarski made a desperate right toe save to deny Pettersson on a short-handed breakaway, the Penguins quickly transitioned to the attack and converted the man advantage.

Following Penguins forward Jake Guentzel’s offensive zone entry on the right wing, he pulled up on the half wall and fed the puck back to Smith at the right point. From there, Smith dished a pass to above the left circle where Malkin golfed a slapper at the cage that struck Rakell, positioned to the left of the crease. With Martin unaware of the puck’s location, Rakell allowed it to drop to the ice and swept in an easy forehand shot for his 14th goal. Malkin and Smith netted assists.

After going 0 for 21 with the power play in their previous four games, the Penguins were 2 for 5 with the man advantage on Tuesday.

“I think it’s been kind of progressively building,” said Smith, who has been filling in on the top unit in place of defenseman Kris Letang, on a leave of absence following his father’s death on Dec. 31. “Obviously, tonight it kind of broke through. It’s definitely a good feeling to get a couple there and help us get the win.”

The Canucks pulled back within one at 12:52 of the third thanks to defenseman Travis Dermott’s first goal. Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Ekman-Larsson backpedaled to center point and fired a wrister wide to the left of the cage. The puck hit off the end boards and deflected to the right of the crease where Dermott pursued it and cleaned up the rebound with a forehand shot past a scrambling Tokarski. Assists went to Ekman-Larsson and Boeser.

In a game full of warts, that was the lone blemish on Tokarski, who made 18 saves on 19 shots and got a win in his first NHL contest since April 29.

“I have all the confidence in the world in him,” said Smith, who played substantially alongside Tokarski with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the early portions of the season. “As soon as he went in there, it was something that it’s just kind of this feeling that he’s going to get the job done.”

Notes:

• Prior to the game, a moment of silence was held in recognition of Brackenridge police chief Justin McIntire, who was killed in the line of duty on Jan. 2.

• T0karski even denied Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko on a wrister at 4:40 of the third period despite having lost his glove and stick on a goalmouth scramble:

• Tokarski became the 57th goaltender to record a regular season win with the Penguins. He is now in a six-way tie for 52nd place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list with Alain Chevrier, Philippe DeRouville, Louis Domingue, Maxime Lagace and Rich Parent.

• Tokarski’s last NHL win came with the Sabres in a 3-2 home victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. He made 19 saves on 21 shots in that triumph.

• Per Penguins historian Bob Grove, Tokarski became the third goaltender in franchise history to record a win in his debut with the team in a relief appearance.

That feat was previously accomplished by John Curry in a 5-3 road win against the New York Islanders on Nov. 26, 2008 and Rob Holland in a 4-1 road win against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 14, 1979.

• Tokarski became the eighth player to wear No. 40 for the Penguins. His predecessors:

Frank Pietrangelo, Patrick Lalime, Andy Chiodo, Alexander Pechurskiy, Nick Drazenovic, Maxim Lapierre, Oskar Sundqvist

• Malkin (1,185 points) surpassed former forward Rod Brind’Amour (1,181) for 52nd place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• The Penguins’ scratches were Jarry, forward Ryan Poehling (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Mark Friedman.

• Boeser continues to be a Penguins killer. In nine career games against the Penguins, he has 11 points (eight goals, three assists).