Finally, Some Guts & Emotion; Outburst Sparks Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins played the first 28 minutes as if a librarian shushed them. Their mousey demeanor, soft play, and disconnected effort eventually spotted the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-0 lead at 7:24 of the second.

Then coach Mike Sullivan made a move that had much less to do with performance than team attitude and had a cascading positive effect that he couldn’t have possibly predicted.

After Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Vincent Desharnais politely let the Flyers super rookie Matvei Michkov have enough time for a pair of shots around the net, including the second one in which he had time to turn the puck to the backhand and chip it past a fallen goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, Sullivan yanked Nedeljkovic.

The goalie was not happy. He slammed his stick across the crossbar so hard that it was a clean break. He skated toward the bench, letting his coaches know it wasn’t a good decision, slammed the bench door, appeared to have a few heavy-duty words for Sullivan, and then stormed down the tunnel before returning to cheer on his teammates a minute later.

“I had no problem with Ned’s reaction. For me, that’s just an indication of how invested he is. He cares,” Sullivan said. “He’s competitive; he wants to win. That’s raw emotion, and I have no problem with that. Quite honestly, I thought he inspired the group to want to compete for him. I thought our team responded, and Ned was a big part of it.”

The outburst was more emotion than the rest of the team had shown in the previous four-plus periods combined. The Penguins were sadly slumbering through what looked like another dispirited loss as their season careened out of control and was about to land on the figurative rocks of pathetic disappointment.

And then, suddenly, the Penguins looked like they cared. Not just say they cared, but they actually looked like they cared.

Philip Tomasino scored 1:41 later. Erik Karlsson scored the first of his two goals 30 seconds after that.

No, the Penguins weren’t playing great hockey. It was sloppy and loose, but by God, at least they cared. It was the first show of emotion and care from the Penguins since they dominated and lost to the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Despite denials, the Penguins played like a heartbroken team with little interest in the final score during a 6-1 loss to Philly on Tuesday. They resumed their sullen performance Thursday.

Until the spitfire goaltender, whom Sullivan has praised as being scrappy and rubbing off on his team, went off.

“I think Ned had a lot to do with it. I really believe that he’s a very popular teammate, and nobody wants to be in that situation. I thought our guys wanted to respond,” said Sullivan. “You get a certain feeling behind the bench. That was a feeling I had–I thought we responded immediately after that. As we talk about all the time, it’s a game of momentum. When you score a goal, the team gets a boost. You can feel the energy on the bench. You get a jolt of energy. And you know, then we scored again.”

And then Boko Imama took exception to Garnett Hathaway’s attempted hit on Noel Acciari and blindsided the Flyers forward with a heavy shoulder. It was interference, but after a review, referees adjusted the penalty from a major to a minor.

The Flyers scored on the power play, and you’d be forgiven for expecting the Penguins to pack it in. But they didn’t.

For once, the Penguins had a physical response from a credible source. It was a cheap hit, and it easily could have been upheld as a major penalty, but the Penguins have been plastered, run over, poked, gauged, hacked, whacked, and bullied all season.

Imama lowered the boom, and it was the Flyers, not the Penguins, who didn’t have anyone to respond. Despite giving up the power play goal, it was the Penguins who were emboldened.

The 2024-25 versions of the Penguins will go down as one of the more frustrating squads in its history. The team has shown an ability to play capable, professional, and successful hockey. But they have also shown far too little of that. Inconsistent, thy name is Penguins.

But with a little blood and guts, a little anger and fire, the Penguins rallied again to win, 5-4 in overtime. Evgeni Malkin scored both the tying goal at 2:30 of the third period and the winner with a vintage cutback and wrist shot about 10 feet from the net.

Not to be lost in the game, rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist relieved Nedeljkovic and stopped 21 of 22 shots.

Young 23-year-old Tomasino scored his second goal in two games, his fourth in eight, and he has six points in eight games in February. His goal was a pretty backhand deke.

Another little change may have gone unnoticed: coaches put second-year NHL player Ryan Shea on the top pairing with Kris Letang. It’s probably not a long-term solution, but it was yet another player thrust from the shadows of the pressbox to center stage of a high-profile spot and given a chance to shine.

Thursday, the team recalled Emil Bemstrom after veteran Matt Nieto cleared waivers.

At the heart of the comeback win was a pair of goals by Erik Karlsson and a pair by Malkin, but the team finally showed a little feistiness.

Sullivan had no problem with the popular Nedeljkovic going off. Malkin also credited “Ned.”

“This is for (the whole) team. You know, his reaction–we understand. He’s not happy, and we’re not happy, too,” said Malkin. “I’m glad I didn’t break in my stick, you know, because I scored two goals after. But again, I’m mad too because we understand we weren’t helping him for sure.”

In the end, the Penguins changed course. They put forth a game with blood, guts, emotion, and contributions from youth and lesser talented players who will soon dot the roster in place of superstars.

In the end, it was fun to watch and fun for the players, too. It was a best-case scenario game for a team in the first stages of its great transition. If they can keep a few of those intangibles, they’ll keep plenty of interest, too.

Finally, some real heart.