NHL - Pens Round Up - December 01-07, 2017

Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres 4-0 - Friday, December 01, 2017
Tristan Jarry made 34 saves for his first NHL shutout, a 4-0 victory for the Penguins against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. It was the rookie's first start since No. 1 goalie Matt Murray was injured Monday in the second period of a 5-4 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and Tom Kuhnhackl scored on a penalty shot for the Penguins (14-10-3), who have won three games in a row. The Sabres (6-16-4) have been shut out three straight games and lost 10 of their past 11. After Kuhnhackl gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 3:23 of the first period, Crosby scored unassisted at 6:38 to make it 2-0 after he intercepted defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen's pass across the slot and beat goalie Robin Lehner. Crosby, who had an assist on Patric Hornqvist's goal at 19:20 of the second period that made it 4-0, has five goals and six assists during a five-game point streak.
Jake Guentzel made it 3-0 with a wraparound goal at 18:05 of the first. He skated up the left wing after receiving a pass from Evgeni Malkin, went around the net and stuffed the puck inside the right post before Lehner could get over.Malkin returned to the lineup for the first of the home-and-home set with the Sabres after he missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury.
Buffalo has not scored since Kyle Okposo's empty-net goal with 51 seconds left in a 3-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers last Saturday, a span of 180:51.

"I think that's the guy that has led this team to two Stanley Cups back to back. He's an elite player, he plays at both ends of the rink, and we've seen Sid's game coming here for three or four weeks now. Now the puck's starting to go in the net for him, but certainly he's playing hard, he's playing the game at both ends of the rink, and when he does that, he's hard to handle. When you get up a few goals like that early, those games can be challenging. We talked about in between periods just making sure that we don't exhale, that we continue to try and work to get the next goal and play hard and play the right way, and for the most part, I think we did a good job." Mike Sullivan said.
"I think it's something that I'll be able to look back on hopefully in a while and be able to realize that it happened and it'll be a nice memory to have." Jarry said.
"When it's going like this, you try to keep shooting the puck and just try to be instinctive. That's one of those things where I think as a team we're going, as a line I think every line's going out there and contributing. We're just trying to do our part, and if we just think about that, then we'll make things happen." Crosby said.


Buffalo Sabres @ Penguins 1-5 - Saturday, December 02, 2017

Tristan Jarry made 32 saves to help the Penguins defeat the Buffalo Sabres for a second straight night, 5-1 at PPG Paints Arena. Jarry, who has assumed the starting role with Matt Murray recovering from a lower-body injury, made 34 saves for his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 win against the Sabres on Friday. He has won in four straight appearances after beginning his NHL career 0-1-2. Pittsburgh (15-10-3) has won four straight games since losing its previous three in regulation. It is 14-0-1 against Buffalo since a 4-2 loss on April 23, 2013.

Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring in the first period with his first goal since returning Friday from missing four games with an upper-body injury. Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist each scored in the second period to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead.

Jason Pominville cut Pittsburgh's lead to 3-1 at 11:18 of the third period. The goal was Buffalo's first in 232:09 dating to Nov. 24, when Kyle Okposo scored into an empty net with 51 seconds remaining in a 3-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers. Phil Kessel made it 4-1 at 13:14 before Sidney Crosby pushed it to 5-1 by scoring into an empty net at 18:58. Crosby, who had two points (one goal, one assist) has at least one goal in each of his past five games after scoring once in his previous 15. He has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) during a six-game point streak. The Sabres (6-17-4) have lost 11 of their past 12 games (1-9-2). Despite losing by four goals for a second straight night, Buffalo coach Phil Housley was pleased with his team's effort even if the execution wasn't always there. Malkin scored with 1:16 remaining in the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. He carried the puck down the far wall and shot over a sliding Marco Scandella and Chad Johnson's glove. Hagelin extended the lead to 2-0 when he carried the puck above Buffalo's crease. Johnson fell forward while tracking the play, allowing Hagelin to shoot over him at 5:36 of the second period. Hornqvist made it 3-0 during a 4-on-3 power play with 1:00 remaining in the second. Crosby stickhandled around Jack Eichel and slid a pass for Hornqvist to tap past Johnson for his 10th goal of the season.

Sabres defenseman Nathan Beaulieu played 7:46 before leaving in the second period with an undisclosed injury. … Scandella played in his 400th NHL game. … Sabres forward Matt Moulson was a healthy scratch after failing to score in his first 14 games this season. Forward Hudson Fasching, who was recalled from Rochester on Saturday, entered the lineup and had three hits in 10:57. … Pittsburgh began a season-long five-game homestand that will run through Dec. 11.

"It's hard to rely on a few guys to score goals each and every night. So when you get those contributions [from role players] in a timely fashion like we have the last handful of games here, it certainly helps." Mike Sullivan

"I was excited with the challenge [of starting on consecutive nights]. It's not something that happens too often at the NHL level. They wanted to see if I could do it and I was up for the challenge." Jarry said.

"I don't think there's any special formula. I think you go to the net hard. You get pucks to the net. All those habits, all those same things. And make sure you find a way to execute. I think our mindset has been to get more pucks and more people to the net and we've done that." Crosby said.

NY Rangers @ Penguins 4-3- Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Ondrej Pavelec wasn't planning to start for the first time since Oct. 28. After Henrik Lundqvist got the flu, though, the New York Rangers turned to their backup goalie. Pavelec responded by making 41 saves to help the Rangers defeat the Penguins 4-3 at PPG Paints Arena. Pavelec was 2-13-1 with a 4.20 goals-against average and .870 save percentage in 16 games against Pittsburgh entering Tuesday. He was most effective in the second period, when he made 22 saves on 23 shots after facing four shots in the first. Pavel Buchnevich scored with 8:48 remaining to put New York ahead 4-3. Buchnevich carried the puck into the offensive zone and attempted a cross-ice pass that deflected off Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and over goalie Tristan Jarry. He has scored one goal in two of his past three games following a six-game drought. Jarry made 25 saves for Pittsburgh. He had won in four straight appearances and each of his previous two starts since starting goalie Matt Murray sustained a lower-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 27. The Rangers (15-10-2) have won six of their past seven games (6-1-0). The Penguins (15-11-3) had their winning streak end at four. After Phil Kessel gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 7:11 of the second period, Jesper Fast and Mats Zuccarello scored to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead entering the third. Fast tied it 2-2 with his fifth goal at 12:26 of the second. Brady Skjei blew by Letang wall before going forehand to backhand and forcing a rebound, which Fast scored on. J.T. Miller sent a stretch pass past Matt Hunwick to Zuccarello, who held off Hunwick to squeeze a shot through Jarry at 17:20 of the second. Patric Hornqvist tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal on a breakaway at 3:35 of the third period. He has scored one goal in each of his past four games. The Penguins were outshot 10-4 in the first period but took a 1-0 lead when Conor Sheary ended his eight-game goal drought at 15:13 of the period. Hornqvist backhanded a cross-crease pass through Rangers forward Rick Nash to Sheary, who one-timed it. The lead lasted 1:36 before Boo Nieves tied it 1-1 with his first NHL goal at 16:49. Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz left the game in the first period and again in the second with a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said Schultz would be evaluated Wednesday.
Four points separate the top six teams in the Metropolitan Division. The New Jersey Devils lead the division with 36 points, and the Rangers are sixth with 32. Pittsburgh is one point ahead of New York with 33 points, tied with the Washington Capitals. The New York Islanders are third with 34 points.

"I'm playing the pass for the guy going back door. It deflects off me and goes right-top shelf. … I think in the third period, when you're trying to chase the game, you get exhausted and it's tough to rally." Letang said.
"We have to make sure we do a better job at recognizing when we have to make simple plays and play behind teams. … The third period was probably our best, but I thought early in the game, we were the victim of it a little bit." Mike Sullivan

NY Islanders @ Penguins 3-4 OT Thursday, December 07, 2017

Matt Hunwick scored 1:29 into overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena. Bryan Rust carried the puck to the crease and shot off Jaroslav Halak and Hunwick scored on the rebound. The goal was upheld following a review for goaltender interference. The Penguins (16-11-3) have won five of their past six games (5-1-0). The Islanders (16-9-3) have lost three of four (1-2-1) after winning seven of their previous eight (7-1-0). Phil Kessel and Riley Sheahan scored 32 seconds apart to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead in the third period. Kessel scored in a third straight game to make it 2-1 on a power play at 7:29 before Sheahan intercepted a pass from Halak against the near wall and shot over Halak while he was retreating to his crease at 8:01. Sheahan's goal was his second in 29 games this season and first that wasn't shot into an empty net.
The Islanders erased that lead when Mathew Barzal scored on New York's second shot of the period at 15:07, and Brock Nelson tied it 3-3 at 18:50. Kris Letang gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 12:17 of the first period when his slap shot through traffic got past Halak for a power-play goal. Kessel had a chance to extend the Penguins lead to 2-0 when he went on a breakaway early in the second period. With Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock chasing him, Kessel went forehand to backhand, but was denied when Halak slid right to make the save at 1:27. Jordan Eberle tied it 1-1 at 5:53. New York controlled the puck for nearly a minute after Sidney Crosby's stick broke, which allowed Eberle to take the puck down low and set up Pulock for a one-timer. Tristan Jarry made the initial save while falling in his crease and Eberle shot in the rebound for his fifth goal in seven games. Jarry made 23 saves. He has won three of four starts (3-1-0) since Matt Murray sustained a lower-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 27. Halak made 28 saves for New York. Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhackl left in the third period with an apparent injury after playing 9:17. He was in the process of being evaluated after the game, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.
The Islanders played without defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who was out with an undisclosed injury. Weight said it is not expected to be serious. … Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz did not play because of a lower-body injury he sustained against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. He is expected to miss several weeks.

        

"It's a little discouraging. We had complete control of the period, at least we felt, up until that point. … This team usually has been very good at making sure we defend leads the right way and keep going at teams." Mike Sullivan

"They kind of had a rush down at the other end and you kind of get going end to end there. I think they made a change and we were able to get a 3-on-2 and [Rust] just got it to the net. I was able to bang in the rebound." Hunwick said.

"Empty-netters are nice, but it's not the way you picture your first one. So to get one tonight definitely felt good." Sheahan said.

"I want to work as hard as I can and just get in front of as many pucks as I can. I think that's what I've been trying to do." Jarry said.