Erik Karlsson Capitalizes for Penguins Win Over Canucks

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PITTSBURGH – It was a late night start for East Coast viewers, but the Pittsburgh Penguins squared off against the Vancouver Canucks for one of their toughest challenges of the season. The Penguins entered Vancouver down a pair of key forwards and needed a quality contest to keep their playoff hopes alive.

It wouldn’t be an easy road trip, but the Penguins wanted to get off on the right foot.

First Period

Both teams killed off early penalties, but it was the Canucks that took the early advantage. A mad scramble around the Penguins’ net froze Marcus Pettersson in the goal crease, and Tristan Jarry was left in a nearly impossible position. The Canucks gained an early lead forcing the Penguins into an uphill battle.

A Penguins penalty late in the opening frame opened up a chance for the Canucks to take a 2-0 lead. Noel Acciari blocked a shot and appeared hurt before the goal was scored and likely played a role in the Canucks’ second tally.

The first 20 minutes came to a close, and the Penguins could not secure a goal with little offense. Just nine shots to the Canucks 15 and pair of tallies.

Second Period

Jesse Puljujarvi returned to the lineup but took another penalty even later in the frame to give the Canucks a partial power play chance to open the second period. The Penguins killed off that penalty and showed signs of life soon after.

The Penguins are missing two of the three main faces on their first line, but they still managed production. Rickard Rakell kept possession, breaking through defenders for a nifty goal to cut the Canucks’ lead in half.

Rakell’s goal was assisted by Sidney Crosby, giving him 1,000 career even strength points. Crosby is just the ninth player in NHL history to reach that mark.

Almost a full two-minute 5-on-3 opportunity opened up for the Penguins, and they managed to take advantage for Rakell’s second goal of the night. Crosby again found Rakell, this time with a backdoor chance to tie that game at two.

The tie game didn’t last long, however, as just about 30 seconds later, J.T. Miller jumped all over a loose puck and beat Jarry clean on a breakaway.

The Penguins made sure not to dwell on falling behind and strung together a few quality shifts with multiple scoring chances. Jarry even got in on the action with big saves on his end.

Despite some attack, the second period came to an end with the Canucks leading by a score of 3-2. No matter how you looked at it, though, it felt like the Penguins were keeping up with the Canucks.

Third Period

Much like the first period, the Penguins took a late penalty, giving the Cancuks an abbreviated power play chance to enter the final period. The Penguins killed off the penalty and looked to once again climb out of their hole.

As the clock reached about 10 minutes remaining, the Penguins tied the game for the second time. Fresh off the bench was Lars Eller, who labeled his shot perfectly past Thatcher Demko to make it a 3-3 contest.

With seven minutes remaining, the Penguins were given a golden opportunity to capture their first lead of the night. An iffy penalty was called against the Canucks and were looking for a timely power play goal to find a late lead.

Despite a good look from the second unit, the Penguins couldn’t find their leading goal.

No one else would find the back of a net for the remainder of regulation, forcing the game to overtime.

Overtime

The Penguins were guaranteed to walk away with a point, but they could desperately use that second one for insurance.

Jarry made a huge save early to completely swing the momentum into the Penguins favor. After Jarry’s save, the Penguins managed a flurry of offense and it was finally wrapped up with a wide open cage for Erik Karlsson.

The future Hall of Famer didn’t miss his chance and sealed a massively important second point for the Penguins.

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