Who could have guessed that all it was going to take for the Pittsburgh Penguins to climb their way out of an eight-game skid was a milestone, a shootout, and a dream?
Well, all of that came together in dramatic fashion Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens. Not only did they secure a much-needed win, their captain also made history with his biggest career accomplishment to date.
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The Penguins defeated the Canadiens, 4-3, in a dramatic shootout victory that was led by Arturs Silovs – who has, all season long, struggled immensely in shootouts, and sparked by Sidney Crosby, who accomplished a major feat early on in the game and set the tone for the remainder of it.
With a first period goal – then a power play assist – Crosby tied then subesequently broke Mario Lemieux’s all-time franchise record for points, earning his 1,723rd then his 1,724th. The crowd went berserk, the bench cleared to mob their captain, and the moment inspired this teammates the rest of way.
Simply put, the Penguins refused to lose this hockey game. They could have. Several times. But they had every intention of winning it so they could finally break their skid and so that Crosby could actually enjoy his moment.
“That’s a huge day for us, you know?” Silovs said. “Sid did an amazing job breaking a franchise record. Like, you don’t see that every day. Fantastic player. And managing to win as a team effort, that’s like a cherry on top. I think that’s a great day to play hockey.”
BREAKING: Sidney Crosby Breaks Mario Lemieux’s Franchise Record To Become Penguins’ All-Time Leader In Points
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Montreal got off to a good start in this one, and Oliver Kapanen broke through first with his 11th goal of the season seven and a half minutes in to give the Habs a 1-0 lead. But, instead of reeling, the Penguins – and Crosby – answered back pretty much right away.
27 seconds after Kapanen’s goal, the Penguins’ first line – with Rickard Rakell back on it – was pushing in the offensive zone. Crosby took a shot at the net that ended up back on Erik Karlsson’s stick at the point, and Karlsson recognized a wide-open Crosby in the low-slot area. He fed Crosby one of his patented shot-passes, and Crosby didn’t miss on the redirection. 1-1, and Crosby tied Lemieux with his 20th goal of the season.
And the big moment came a little less than five minutes later.
Rookie forward Rutger McGroarty drew a tripping penalty on Adam Engstrom, and the Penguins headed to the power play. They got set up and in the offensive zone and were cycling, and Crosby slapped a puck toward the net from the left circle that hit Bryan Rust. The puck trickled over to Rakell on the other side of the blue paint, and he put it home – giving Crosby the secondary apple and the point that put him alone at the top of the Penguins’ all-time scoring list.
“I think, in the moment, we were just trying to score,” Rust said. “I saw Raks score, went to go celebrate with him, and then it kind of clicked. It’s cool. Obviously, it’s a humongous moment for him, for this organization, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
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Crosby knew it was only a matter of time before he reached the big moment, and it had certainly been challenging over the past handful of games.
“It’s kind of mixed emotions because that number, I’ve been hanging around,” Crosby said. “The hockey gods made me earn it, I feel like, the last few games. But just to get the win, to get a win in a shootout, it all kind of lined up well tonight.”
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Unfortunately, the Canadiens tied things up early in the second period courtesy of rookie Ivan Demidov, who registered his eighth goal of the season. There was some back-and-forth action to follow, and – just past the midway point of the period – Kris Letang was behind his own goal line, and he airmailed a Murphy dump to a breaking Noel Acciari in the offensive zone. From the left circle, Acciari sniped a top-shelf wrister past Habs’ goalie Jakub Dobes to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
The third period has been a nightmare for the Penguins of late, as they have surrendered more leads than they can count. It happened again on Sunday, as Noah Dobson put home a backhander from the slot to tie the game again. The Penguins – and Silovs – responded well, but neither team could finish.
Then, in overtime – where the Penguins are 0-3 this season – Pittsburgh really tempted fate. Montreal controlled possession for nearly the entire extra frame and hit two posts, but Silovs also made some saves to keep the Penguins’ hopes alive. Somehow, they escaped overtime only to go to a shootout, where things have been even worse this season.
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The Penguins were 0-5 in shootouts going into this one. They had only three shootout goals on the season, and Silovs had only made one shootout save. The odds were stacked against them, and they certainly knew that.
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So, in response, they changed things up. Instead of trotting out the standard shootout lineup of Bryan Rust, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang, they tried something else. They first sent out Kevin Hayes, who placed a soft shot over the right shoulder of Dobes and into the net. Then, Silovs made a save on Alexandre Texier. Crosby was stopped. Cole Caufield scored on Silovs.
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And this is another area where the Penguins are sure glad to have Rakell back, as he has scored at over a 40 percent clip for his career in the shootout. Rakell came in slowly and meandered from the right side, dragging and showing forehand until the last second, when he deked backhand and found space between Dobes’s right arm and his body to put it home.
Silovs – with the game in his hands – was up to the task on Nick Suzuki, who he stymied with the left pad. He dropped to one knee and did an uppercut in celebration, and the Penguins’ shootout curse was finally lifted.
“It means a lot because we haven’t done it yet,” head coach Dan Muse said. “Honestly, you know, it’s a matter of time. It’s been a tough couple weeks. It’s been tough, and you go back, and every game’s been a little bit different. But it is. It just f—ing wears on you, and obviously, when you go through these types of stretches, that’s just the reality of it. They’re hard, and it’s emotional.
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“But these guys care. They care a lot. They want to win, and they’re going to win. And, so, you have a stretch like this… I think it was only fitting that we kind of come out of a tough couple of weeks with a shootout win.”
All in all, the win was a full-team effort. The Penguins, again, refused to lose this game, and they were able to give Crosby some space to celebrate his special night.
The Penguins NEEDED Sunday’s Win And They Got It
But, most importantly, it’s wins like this that can be a catalyst for a struggling team. Just as the loss that resulted from a shorthanded goal by the Anaheim Ducks with 0.1 seconds on the clock back on Dec. 9 could have defined their season, a cathartic win that came together the way it did on Sunday can also define a season. And the Penguins are hoping that it’s the start of better days to come.
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“It’s huge,” Crosby said. “I mean, you look at how close the standings are, and those points are massive. So, hopefully this gets us over the hump.”
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