"He Was Huge For Us: Penguins' Blomqvist Stopped Capitals' Fight in 4-2 Victory"

Beginning, it appeared like business as usual for the Pittsburgh Penguins against Washington Capitals. They opened with two goals from Erik Karlsson and Michael Bunting early, only for it all to fall away six minutes into the second period. Once again, Pittsburgh seemed set to drop another hockey game after surrendering an early two-goal advantage, yet their rookie goaltender made something happen this time: Joel Blomqvist bounced back strongly after giving up a questionable goal early and made several important saves in the final two periods to help his team take an unlikely 4-2 victory behind Evgeni Malkin and Noel Acciari’s third period goals (and an empty net goal in overtime!). “He was incredible (last night). He really gave us hope there in the second period after giving up numerous scoring chances; then down the stretch he just kept making amazing saves!” forward Rickard Rakell expressed. “The Penguins played an outstanding third period, playing smart on both ends of the puck while remaining reliable when Capitals tried late to tie game.” Head coach Mike Sullivan commented “it was one of our more complete periods”. “Just getting down and playing our team game. Really proud of my guys.” “Here are my observations from Friday’s win against the Capitals:- The Penguins had their finest third period yet this season – possibly their best overall – when defending well against Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin and not giving any scoring chances away to them. They avoided high-risk play, were prudent across all three zones and used smart tactics in controlling play in the third period, only allowing five shots from Washington during that span and none during its initial nine minutes of action. Furthermore, their offense proved fruitful as they took advantage of opportunities whenever possible. Malkin scored on Bryan Rust using his speed to perform his “signature move”, skate around and behind Capitals forward Connor McMichael while still on defense – using Rust as an outlet winger, of course! Malkin collected it and scored to give Pittsburgh its game-winning goal 9 minutes 32 seconds into the third period: Drew O’Connor made several key blocks at the end of play before Acciari scored their winning goal with an empty net, prior to Acciari scoring on an empty net goal; “I just think we defended hard,” according to Sullivan. “Our players played well. They took calculated risks with the puck, made good decisions with it and defended well as a group – something which will prove hard for our opponents to accomplish in future games. When our defense is solid and our mindset strong enough, our opponents become difficult opponents.” Our challenge will be delivering this consistently: shift by shift, period by period and game by game. “- After Karlsson struggled against Carolina on Thursday night, he responded well against Washington by producing an outstanding effort in his return game. While still somewhat inconsistent on defense during the second period, Karlsson displayed much greater poise during this one.” As Karlsson rarely made plays to pinch into the slot in Pittsburgh’s offense, something which had not happened often enough in their previous meetings; and then made an amazing pass to Bunting to set up their second goal (more about this shortly). Additionally, Karlsson proved effective on both ends of the puck during the third period – something the Penguins can only benefit from more often from him. He now leads Penguins defensemen in scoring with 10 points through 16 games and appears to be taking advantage of that offensive edge more frequently. While never going to be known for being an ideal defensive performer. But if these efforts from Karlsson can provide more consistent value to the Penguins, that would more than suffice.- Bunting scored one of his trademark goals! Not to linger too much here, but even though Karlsson made an incredible pass to set up Bunting’s goal. Bunting initially made another amazing pass to Karlsson that helped set him on his journey toward scoring his own goal. Bunting’s goal came about thanks to his aggressive style and driving hard at the net:Like Karlsson, Bunting is needed more often to play this way and crash the net hard; when this occurs, great things usually follow suit.- Noel Acciari put together another solid defensive performance tonight. He is so effective on the penalty kill and there was an amazing play in the second period when Acciari dove to block Alex Ovechkin’s shot on power play and led directly to a clear for Pittsburgh. I have said it before; Acciari has impressed this season. All around, this young forward stands out on the ice – especially defensively – and earned his goal on Saturday by working tirelessly for loose pucks while keeping calm when overskated by Capitals players, then firing home into empty cage. Every team would love having this kind of talent on its fourth line! He’s Just a Hockey Player.- Jack St. Ivany had an eventful night. Within one minute and thirty seconds in the second period alone he experienced three miscues: bad pinch in neutral zone leading to odd-man break, failed netfront coverage that enabled high-danger scoring chance, and an error which allowed Dylan Strome for breakaway opportunity from behind him resulting in misrad. It has not been an ideal start to St Ivany’s season thus far. Blomqvist was visibly struggling in this game for his Penguins; while he performed admirably last season, he has yet to find his game this campaign. Although there’s no understating his great performance Friday – when Rasmus Sandin scored off of him short side early in the first period! – it can never be overstated how great Blomqvist truly is. After Washington tied it in the second, this marked only the second time all season that the Penguins did not completely fold; much of this could be credited to Blomqvist making timely saves at crucial moments during that period; notably stopping Strome on an apparent breakaway opportunity. He did an outstanding job stopping Ovechkin’s prime scoring chance at point blank range, controlling rebound around the crease effectively and impressing observers with his physicality in controlling puck possession – something no eye test can detect. Joel Blomqvist’s ability to make key saves at critical moments is evident in the numbers:He now ranks 3rd best among NHL goaltenders for high-danger saves above average with 5.52 as of last night’s impressive display. As such, it is crucial that Penguins goalies perform in such circumstances well, with Blomqvist having started off his career so strongly (pic.twitter.com/2QyhkGloOr– Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal). Good goaltending in this league can make all the difference. With his ability to make high-danger saves, he was able to buy his team time and space in which to gain momentum during the third period. If any of those high-danger chances go in, the game could easily have taken an entirely different course. As it stands now, only this goaltender for the Penguins makes regular saves similar to what was seen during Cup runs. The Pittsburgh Penguins will likely continue with three goaltenders for some time as Tristan Jarry returns from his AHL conditioning stint. Blomqvist should receive some opportunities; however, his more consistent play has earned more starts for the Penguins this season.- Matt Grzelcyk deserves credit for how well he’s playing right now after initially showing promise early in the season; after an inconsistent period in which his play dipped substantially after starting off well he really began struggling at points throughout. “He looked disorganized in his defensive zone and often made poor decisions with the puck, something which has not been noticeable over the last three or four games.” Grzelcyk has made positive contributions on both offense and defense for his team; Sullivan has specifically recognized Grzelcyk for his puck-moving ability which has been on display. Furthermore, his game in neutral and defensive zones has improved considerably as has his playing alongside Karlsson or Kris Letang; though being less obvious may not always be desirable. So long as Grzelcyk doesn’t become noticeable for negative reasons, he’s doing his job out there. Grzelcyk’s current production on defense ranks second for the Penguins with seven points; therefore, their defensive play would benefit greatly if this version of Grzelcyk stays with them throughout this season – something the Penguins so desperately needed this game and win to do! – It was evident in the air, with everyone hoping to avoid another long losing streak like their six game loss streak earlier in the year. Of their 15 playoff teams from last season, only the Penguins hadn’t defeated until this past Friday.Carbery noted how Washington “underestimated how competitive” the Penguins would be this game; she added this quote from her Instagram feed after playing three more times over six days against Detroit, Columbus and San Jose before hosting Dallas Stars Monday at home before two away tilts against Columbus, San Jose and Detroit on either end. Pittsburgh will need to continue their recent trend of more consistent play to get back into contention going into next week when they start competing against some of the league’s elite, such as Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. Pittsburgh must carry some momentum forward from their recent win and carry it over into next week. Rakell noted, “On this trip we played better hockey even though our score didn’t reflect it last game in Carolina; but now we are beginning to find our rhythm and play our desired brand of game.” Perhaps teams “underestimating” them may provide them with just what they need as motivation to excel further.