*Photo from AP News*
Hopefully, this is a sign that they're starting to climb out of the hole. Bryan Rust had two assists, Jake Guentzel had a 3 point night, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 4-1 victory on Friday night in Pittsburgh.
Entering play having a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games, the Penguins showed signs of life, beating the Senators to hopefully break out of their funk. Rust and Guentzel were the multi point scorers for the Penguins, with Rust notching a pair of assists and Guentzel producing two goals and an assist.
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said of the game that "I thought there were momentum swings in the game. There were times where Ottawa had it, there were times where we had it. I thought the shots came in flurries. They tended to come in flurries when they did."
It was Rickard Rakell who started the scoring for the Penguins, giving them a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 11:14 into the game, scoring his 17th goal of the season with assists coming from Guentzel and Jeff Petry. Jason Zucker scored unassisted 43 seconds later, doubling the Penguins lead to 2-0 on his 13th goal of the season.
Late in the second period, Guentzel got on the board, scoring his 19th goal of the season at the 17:12 mark of the period, giving the Penguins a 3-0 lead with Rust getting the assist. Brady Tkachuk got the Senators on the board with his 17th goal, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Guentzel scored 6:13 into the 3rd period to make it 4-1, wrapping up the scoring.
Getting the start in goal for the Penguins was Tristan Jarry, who put together a stellar performance to get the win. Jarry saved all but one of the 47 shots he was tested with by the Senators, good for a stellar .979 save percentage as his record improved to 16-5-4 on the season.
Jarry said of what went right that "I think we paid attention to the details. I think we were getting pucks down deep, and when we do that, we're able to change and circulate through some guys. That helps us stay fresh, so if there is a rebound or an extended shift, guys are in the right spot. It helps a lot when we're defending hard."
Drawing the start for the Senators opposite Jarry was Cam Talbot, who took the loss to fall to 11-13-1 in 27 appearances. Talbot stopped 40 out of the 44 shots on goal the Penguins had on goal, recording a .909 save percentage.
Senators forward and former Penguin Derick Brassard said that " We're just trying to put our head down and play the entire game. We played a good team. We were expecting a big push from them. We beat them last game. The bottom line is they capitalized on their chances, and we didn't put the puck in the net."
Up next, the Senators wrap up a back to back on Saturday night with a home game against the Winnipeg Jets, with Anton Forsberg likely to start. Casey DeSmith is listed as the projected starter for the Penguins when they face the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon.
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