The Pittsburgh Penguins put forth exactly the kind of effort they needed to snap their six-game losing streak and secure a much-needed win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
And the tone was set early by the top players on their blue line.
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The pairing of Marcus Pettersson and Erik Karlsson was nothing short of spectacular, which is something that rings familiar when tracing back to last year. In this season’s earlygoing, the pairing struggled a bit and were separated for a handful of games, but they seem to have found momentum again since being reunited.
When they were on the ice in Thursday’s game, shots were 19-9, shot attempts were 46-14, and they produced a 77.2 percent expected goals share. They also had a team-best on-ice expected goals-for of 2.72, which topped the output of the Penguins’ dominant top line of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Rickard Rakell.
Aside from a few miscues late in the game – which Pettersson acknowledged – the pairing was also sound defensively all night. Defensive execution is something that the team, as a whole, had struggled with in games prior, and doing that allowed them to get to their game yesterday.
#LetsGoPens defenseman Marcus Pettersson acknolwedged a near-costly mistake late in Thursday’s game, which resulted in him playing goaltender for a few seconds. He used his stick to swat a puck out of danger in the blue paint.
“I was mad that I had a turnover, so I felt like I…
— Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) November 1, 2024
“I think it started with decisions we made with the puck,” Pettersson said. “We didn’t turn as many pucks over and let teams get easy offense that way, and I feel like we controlled more of the game then. I always think that offense is the best defense, but we played tight. (Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic) was great when he had to be, but we controlled most of the puck. I think that helped us a lot, and we made good decisions with it.”
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Karlsson alone had six shots on goal and registered an absurd 21 shot attempts. He was everywhere in a good way during the game, and head coach Mike Sullivan talked about how much of a difference-maker Karlsson is when he’s playing at such a high level – as well as thinking the game well in all three zones.
“He’s a major difference-maker,” Sullivan said. “I thought it might have been Karl’s best game that he’s had with us. He’s a dynamic player offensively, and when he plays the game at the level that he did last night, you can see the influence that he has. I thought he had the puck an awful lot. He was also calculated with his decision-making. He recognized when he had to make simple plays. I thought he defended hard when he didn’t have the puck, and that’s what’s required for us to win.”
Pettersson also had high praise for his defensive partner’s effort against Anaheim.
“He’s an elite player. I think we understand the game in a similar fashion, and we can talk a lot about different plays out there,” Pettersson said. “So, when the puck’s finding him like that, he can create offense with his shot, and I just feed him the puck. So, it was great to see. When he’s in a shooting mood and he doesn’t overcomplicate things, he’s a great player.”
Pittsburgh has a tilt against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday before playing three consecutive division matchups against the New York Islanders, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the red-hot Washington Capitals. They have struggled against the Metropolitan Division so far this season, getting outscored 10-1 in their two games against the Hurricanes and the New York Rangers.
The Penguins – as well Karlsson, Pettersson, and the rest of the defensive corps – look to build off of their tight, possession-dominant performance on Thursday and keep that same energy heading into matchups with some of the league’s better teams.
After all – as Karlsson said after Thursday’s game – the best teams in the league are the ones controlling the puck throughout the course of a game.
“Same goes for me as it goes for everybody else,” Karlsson said. “When we have the puck, we’re going to be the better team, for the most part. And it doesn’t only help me out, it helps everybody out and makes it a little bit easier to know what you’re supposed to do out there and just trust your instincts, not overthink stuff.”
Related: Karlsson Settling Into Second Season With Penguins
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