PITTSBURGH — For the first two periods of Tuesday’s 6-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins couldn’t shake one of the NHL’s worst teams.
The Coyotes kept them off the scoreboard until the game’s midway point, pulled ahead of the Penguins three times and led 3-2 early in the third period.
But after Nick Schmaltz's spectacular go-ahead goal, the Penguins flipped the switch. They scored four unanswered goals on Karel Vejmelka to seize their sixth win in a row and pass around their victory helmet for the 17th time in 19 games.
In the first half of the game, the only things that got a rise out of the PPG Paints Arena crowd were the anthem, a Jumbotron tribute to healthcare workers and the pregame announcement that Phil Kessel was starting for the Coyotes.
The hockey? That would have made Kevin Constantine smile. The first period felt more like a badminton game, with the two teams swatting the puck back and forth at each other from their respective blue lines. The Coyotes had four shots and just 41 seconds of puck possession in the offensive zone, per Sportlogiq.
The Coyotes scored the first goal 8:23 into the second period. Schmaltz beat Tristan Jarry after Marcus Pettersson misplayed a bouncing puck at the blue line.
The Penguins power play helped keep them in the game during that period.
Over the weekend, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan acknowledged the boom-or-bust nature of his power play, which has generated opportunities for both the Penguins and their opponents in the two weeks since Evgeni Malkin returned.
“They scored a lot of big goals for us,” he said after Sunday’s win over Winnipeg. “But I also think we’ve given up some high-quality opportunities against.”
Two days later, the power play went boom in a big way. The Penguins scored twice on the man advantage in the second period to make 2-2 entering the third.
In four of their previous seven games, with Malkin back from knee surgery, the Penguins scored a power-play goal. Over that span, they led the league in scoring chances on the power play, per Natural Stat Trick. But they also gave up more the other way than any other team. That included a few breakaways.
Despite some frustrating moments, including a few in Sunday’s win over the Jets, Sullivan seemed to be taking the long view with his top power-play unit. There were going to be hiccups with Malkin getting reintegrated. But Sullivan argued that the big Russian had the potential to take the power play to another level.
“I just think [Malkin] just brings another dimension to our power play that makes us that much harder to defend against,” Sullivan said. “He also brings a certain level of instinctive play that’s unpredictable. It’s hard to game plan [against].”
That Sidney Crosby guy can be pretty difficult to defend, too. With the Penguins down, 1-0, and on a power play midway through the second period, he collected the puck just off the right post then pivoted to slip a no-look pass through his legs into the slot to Bryan Rust, who ripped a one-timer past Vejmelka.
After Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes on a 5-on-3 power play, the Penguins capitalized on another Coyotes penalty. This time it was Kris Letang who crept in from the point to beat Vejmelka over his right-handed catching glove.
Those two power-play goals kept the Penguins afloat against an inferior team. The Coyotes have one of the NHL’s worst records and an eye on the top pick, which they could use on Shane Wright or West Mifflin native Logan Cooley.
Schmaltz put the Coyotes up, 3-2, early in the third period. He picked off a risky pass by Dominik Simon into the neutral zone and then danced around both Mike Matheson and Jarry to tuck in his second goal of the evening.
For the third time Tuesday, the Penguins came right back after a Coyotes goal to tie it up. Brock McGinn kicked a skittering puck to his stick then flipped a backhand shot on goal that fooled Vejmelka to make it 3-3.
Evan Rodrigues picked up an assist on that goal – his first point since Jan. 6.
Crosby buried a Rust pass to give the Penguins their first lead. Letang pushed it to 5-3. Brian Boyle made it a laugher when he scored between his long legs.
The Penguins will continue their homestand Thursday against the expansion Seattle Kraken. It will be that franchise’s first ever game at PPG Paints Arena.
