Penguins/Predators Summary: Well, that was a cheeky comment. Pens win a spirited game in OT

Before the game

Tristan Jarry is back in net, but otherwise the Penguins lineup is the same as it has been of late.

First period

Jarry on the net, you know the drill. The Predators scored early on their second shot of the game, with Jonathan Marchessault directing a pass from Filip Forsberg for the lead. Nashville gets up early.

There was some controversy regarding this, as at the start of the sequence it certainly looked as if the puck had hit the net and was out of play, but play continued.

Marchessault gets a hooking penalty, he must not have liked it, because as he comes out of the penalty area, Marchessault tucks Rickard Rakell’s stick under his arm and falls over, with no other reason to attract attention. It didn’t look so obvious until the replay when he attempted to use some embellishments on the referees to get his team a power play. They don’t score.

Pittsburgh equalizes late in the first period, Sidney Crosby pulls the defense in and shifts it to Rakell, who makes a very nice pass across the goal from Bryan Rust hanging off the back post. 1-1.

Even if there is legitimate criticism of the refereeing, nothing can be said about Anthony Beauvillier’s small interference error, which happened just a few seconds after the game-winning goal. Stupid decision by Beauvillier to throw a player onto the board from behind like that. Nashville takes advantage, Tommy Novak’s big shot leaves a rebound and Luke Evangelista is there to shoot it into the goal.

It’s difficult to give up after a draw.

The shots in the first third are only 9:5. The Pens didn’t even have a shot on goal until the final 6:45, which needs to be highlighted just as much as the early scoring woes.

Second period

The Preds get another power play, Blake Lizotte beats Steven Stamkos. There was contact, but Stamkos sure sold it like his leg was about to fall off. The Preds fail to score on the power play, but Stamkos is able to fend off the terrible loss and score. This goal negated another Nashville power play for Marchessault, who spun like a top and flew onto the ice, an incredible display of showmanship in Music City tonight! Another tip to the referees because they missed that goal and took a minute to confirm it, not the best night for the boys in the stripes.

To be fair to the Preds, it’s not just them, it’s the referees too. Michael Bunting falls of his own accord trying to pass a puck, and somehow the end result is Brady Skjei making a tripping call. Maybe they were just tired of trying to sum everything up? Anyway, Michael McCarron gives Crosby a rough ride into the boards, Crosby shakes him off, falls to his knees and deflects a goal to end his 10-game goal drought, and instead of celebrating, McCarron barks icily swear words. Tonight it’s officially a cheeky five-alarm celebration. 3-2 NSH.

The first line keeps the game going and ties the game. Rust aborts an attempt to break out, Crosby is fully involved. The captain serves Rakell, who brings the puck into the middle with Rust on top. It’s Rakell’s 15th goal of the season and the game is a draw.

The shots in the second round are only 7-4 NSH. There aren’t a lot of pucks coming into the net, but when they do, they go into the net for both teams. 3-3 games and the shot total is just 16-9 in favor of the Preds. Apparently it’s now in the Pens’ DNA not to shoot much in Nashville, but still score a lot of goals, greetings to 2017.

Third period

Erik Karlsson leaves the field after 38 seconds because he held the bat. Pens’ PK works this time.

The referee show continues when, for unknown reasons, no icing is used, Nashville capitalizes on it and scores the score 4-3.

It’s been a while since all hell broke loose, but it happens again when Lizotte drops a Pred that tips over and slides from the blue line to the red line. Nashville players go crazy bashing Lizotte, Karlsson interferes (and gets cut off by a teammate’s errant high stick). The wisdom of the referee decides tonight to only send Lizotte to the penalty area. Cool, cool. Pens are rightly killed there.

Karlsson is angry about bleeding his own blood (pssst, no one tells him it was accidental friendly fire) and is on a mission. His first shot doesn’t go in. His next one will definitely happen. 4:4 game.

A game this crazy calls for extra time. We understand it.

Over time

Crosby wins the faceoff and breaks his stick, fumbling with the puck in his skates because we’ve seen almost everything else tonight.

The Pens win it in fittingly wild fashion. Evgeni Malkin drops a pass to a player who isn’t there, the Preds can’t take advantage and give the puck right back to Rust (who probably saves the game by breaking up the pass attempt for a breakaway). Malkin finally gets on the same page with his teammates, and as is often the case, OT’s first shot on goal is the last as Rust scores his second goal of the game.

Some thoughts

• Jarry’s first goal allowed tonight came on the opposition’s second shot on goal. This is the 12th time in 14 starts that he has conceded a goal in his first five shots on goal this season. When will the madness end? If the other team gets a half-decent chance early, it will go to the net.
• This room almost never comments on officiating, but it was impossible to watch the game without noticing the impact of the decisions made tonight. This is never a sign of good play from the Zebras. A lot went against the Pens when the puck hit the net and the inexplicable decision to forego a glaze that contributed to two goals conceded. The penalties were also a gong show, although some of that can be attributed to the Predators’ antics in this game. Marchessault has long had a reputation as one of the league’s most notorious jumpers, and tonight he played his best game there. In a perfect world, the league would have to up the ante with a fine or a warning or whatever it wants to do, which is better than doing what it will end up doing (which of course means nothing).
• It was exciting to see old-fashioned bad blood organically boiling up in a game and two teams getting angrier at each other as the night went on. Too many nights where that kind of passion and emotion is missing in the NHL these days (that’s the oldest man sentence I’ve ever written). There’s not much to see an amateur like Cole Smith choking on Crosby, you can do without that, but a little excitement is good for the entertainment value.
• The Pens’ first line was fantastic, building on an excellent third period last game. Crosby broke his scoring drought and scored four points on the night. Rust also had four points. Rakell “only” had two, but scored a decisive goal along the way. Great job by everyone.
• It may be largely unpopular to praise Karlsson these days, but he’s been playing some very good hockey lately. Karlsson scored the game-winning goal in the third period and it was his shot attempt that Crosby controlled. Karlsson was on the ice for four of the five goals Pittsburgh scored tonight, which is no coincidence.
• Crosby’s 10-game goal drought also needs to be revisited, but how many played on the power play without Karlsson/Malkin? It feels like the talent distribution has been going on for seven or eight games. And then almost as soon as Karlsson/Malkin got on the power play with Crosby, 87 points tonight. It doesn’t have to be that difficult…
• Beauvillier only had three substitutions in the second period (for 2:29) and two substitutions in the third period (for 1:21) after giving a really, really bad and stupid penalty late in the first period. To quote Superbad: “People don’t forget.” And in this case, the people were his trainers. We’ll see if this costs him the chance to play in the next game.

The Pens will take advantage of the positive performance and rush, slide and boogie straight out of Nashville and head to New Jersey for their next game on Saturday.