What a difference a day makes. Scarcely 24 hours after a no-show, 4-2 loss to Calgary on home ice, the Penguins turned on the jets and walloped the overmatched New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center by a score of 6-1.
“Obviously this was the response we were looking for,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We believe in our leadership group. We knew they would play the right way and I thought we played hard and it was a solid team effort. We got contributions throughout our lineup.”
Evgeni Malkin paced a balanced attack with two goals. Other scorers included Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, and rookies Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson. Captain Sidney Crosby chipped in with two assists. Bonino (two) and Rust (three) also enjoyed multiple-point games.
The game marked the black-and-gold debut of defenseman Justin Schultz, who arrived in a pre-deadline deal from Edmonton on February 27. If yesterday’s performance was any indication of his abilities, Penguins fans are in for a treat.
A fast, fluid skater with a flair for offense, the former University of Wisconsin star jumped into the play on several occasions and set up Rust’s goal with a deft shot/pass into the slot. Schultz played surprisingly effective defense, too (plus-2).
“He was on the right side of people,” Sullivan told Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He has a good stick. We’ll continue to work with him on that aspect of the game, but for his first game with us, we were real pleased.”
Between the pipes, ultra-cool rookie Matt Murray snuffed out 17 of 18 shots to record his third win.
Sestito Plays
The Penguins welcomed a very large addition to their lineup yesterday—6’5” 228-pound left wing Tom Sestito. The hulking 28-year-old heavyweight made an impression, literally, on his very first black-and-gold shift, rattling the end boards with a booming check on New Jersey defender John Moore.
Although cut down to size moments later by Devils buzz saw Jordan Tootoo, who jumped the Rome, New York native following a prolonged squabble, Sestito goaded Tootoo into an extra penalty. One that led to a Pens power play and Malkin’s first goal.
“I thought Tommy did a real nice job,” Sullivan said. “You can see the physical presence he brings to our team. He brings a dimension. He had an impact on the game.”
Hagelin, Pouliot Out
Left wing Carl Hagelin didn’t play yesterday. The speedy Swede was cut and knocked to the ice in a first-period collision with Calgary’s Josh Jooris on Saturday. Although Hagelin received stitches and returned to action against the Flames after passing the concussion protocol, the medical staff held him out of yesterday’s game as a precaution.
The Pens also sat defenseman Derrick Pouliot to make room for Schultz. Given Pouliot’s level of play since his January 18 recall (six assists and a plus-3 in 18 games), the move was a bit of a surprise.
Still, the smooth-skating Saskatchewan native figures to see plenty of ice time down the home stretch as Sullivan and the coaching staff sort out the defensive tandems.
Sheary Up, Archibald Down
In a shuffle of right wings, the Penguins returned Josh Archibald to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton following Saturday’s game and recalled Conor Sheary. The undersized forward skated on a line with the burly Sestito to form a classic Mutt-and-Jeff pairing.
Shaking off the effects of a recent upper-body injury, Sheary saw 7:57 of ice time and was a plus-1.
