Observations from the Penguins’ 8-4 win against the Sabres:
Four goals in a game isn’t exactly the be-all, end-all achievement for an NHL player. After all, the record is seven, as established in the earliest days of the NHL by Quebec Bulldogs star Joe Malone in a 10-6 home win against the Toronto St. Patricks on Jan. 31, 1920.
And within the realm of the Penguins, Mario Lemieux getting five goals five different ways in an 8-6 home win against the New Jersey Devils Dec. 31, 1988 remains the standard for individual brilliance within a game for the franchise (and perhaps all of hockey).
But four goals is still pretty special.
Let’s put it this way. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have never done it.
But Lemieux has done it 13 times, including three five-goal performances.
Joe Mullen and Kevin Stevens each have done it twice.
Meanwhile, the likes of an all-time great such as Jaromir Jagr and a journeyman like Randy Cunneyworth have each done it only once.
In terms of regular season play, it has been eight years since the last time a Penguins player reached that mark. Chris Kunitz pulled it off in a 6-3 road win against the Washington Capitals, Feb. 3, 2013.
Overall, the Penguins have had a player reach four goals in a game 25 times.
“It’s hard,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference. “It’s hard to score goals in this league, never mind four in a game. It doesn’t happen very often. It’s a huge accomplishment. He had a terrific game for us. His line had a terrific game for us. We know he can score goals. I asked him after the game in front of the group if he ever had a four-goal game. … And he said no, he hasn’t. This was his first.
“It’s hard to score goals in this league. To score four in one game, I think is just a huge accomplishment.”
What happened
The Sabres took a lead 2:45 into regulation. After a neutral zone turnover by Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman, Sabres forward Drake Caggiula took the puck into the offensive zone in transition up the left wing and toasted a wrister from the left dot past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker on the near side for his second goal of the season. Assists went to forwards Jeff Skinner and Riley Sheahan.
Two goals by Carter put the Penguins in the lead.
First, off a two-on-one, Penguins forward Jared McCann fed a pass from the right circle of the offensive zone to the left circle for Carter who fired a one-timer. Goaltender Michael Houser got a piece of the shot with his glove but the rebound fluttered behind him before Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen swept it away. Play continued until a stoppage at the 10:51 mark when off-ice officials initiated a video review and quickly confirmed Carter had scored his 13th goal of the season at the 9:57 mark. McCann and forward Frederick Gaudreau collected assists.
Carter scored again at the 11:39 mark on a power-play chance. From the right wall of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen fed a pass to the right of the cage for forward Jason Zucker who one-touched the puck to the right circle. From there, Carter swiped a quick one-timer past Houser’s blocker on the far side. Zucker and Kapanen had assists.
The teams exchanged goals at a furious pace in the second period.
At the 3:32 mark of the middle frame, Sabres forward Tage Thompson tied the game, 2-2, with his eighth goal. After stealing a stretch pass in the neutral zone by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Sabres forward Casey Mittlestadt worked his way up the left wing and slipped a pass past Letang and defensive partner Brian Dumoulin to the front of the crease for Thompson who tapped in a forehand through Jarry’s five hole. Mittlestadt had the lone assist.
The Penguins responded at 4:36 when Carter completed his eighth career hat trick. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Gaudreau cut to the slot and dished a little pass to defenseman Marcus Pettersson streaking through the left circle. From the left of the crease, Pettersson shuffled a quick shot on net that Houser’s left skate rejected. Carter was hovering above the blue paint and jabbed in a quick forehand shot to restore a lead, 3-2. Pettersson and Gaudreau tallied assists.
The Sabres persisted as Caggiula scored again at 5:13. Taking a pass in the slot, Caggiula initially lost it on a stick lift by a backchecking Malkin but was able to reclaim it in the left circle. As Jarry slid out of position, Caggiula plunked in an easy forehand shot to tie the contest, 3-3. Defensemen Colin Miller and Rasmus Ristolainen netted assists.
Dumoulin got in on the act with his fourth goal at the 6:26 mark. After Crosby beat Sabres forward Dylan Cozens on a faceoff in Buffalo’s left circle, Letang corralled the puck on the left wall and set up Dumoulin at the left point for a one-timer that beat Houser’s blocker on the near side. Assists were recorded by Letang and Crosby.
A goal by McCann put the Penguins up by two at 7:25. After Gaudreau stole a puck in Buffalo’s zone off of Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju, McCann, using Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as a screen, wired a wrister from the slot past Houser’s blocker for his 14th goal. The only assist went to Gaudreau.
Carter scored again 3:02 into the third. Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson tried to skate a puck off his end boards but was hounded into a turnover by McCann. Carter settled the puck in the right circle and flung a backhander by Houser’s glove on the near side. McCann had the lone assist.
Crosby got in on the act with his 24th goal at 6:25 of the third period. Taking a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Letang backpedaled to the center point and chucked a wrister. Battling above the crease with Miller, Crosby deflected the puck with the shaft of his stick past Houser’s blocker. Letang and forward Jake Guentzel collected assists.
Sabres forward Jeff Skinner got his seventh goal on a power-play chance at 9:45 of the third. Curling above the left circle of the offensive zone, Thompson slipped a pass to Skinner to the left of the crease. From there, Skinner went forehand to backhand to forehand and lifted a snazzy shot over Jarry’s right skate on the near side. Thompson and Ristolainen tallied assists.
The scoring finally came to an end at 13:05 of the third. Off a defensive zone steal by Zucker, Malkin gained the offensive zone on the right wing and slipped a backhand pass to the left circle for Kapanen who fired a wrister past Houser’s right shoulder on the near side. Assists went to Malkin and Zucker.
Statistically speaking
• The Penguins dominated shots, 34-23.
• Carter led the game with five shots.
• Caggiula and forward Sam Reinhart each led the Sabres with four shots.
• Letang led the game with 24:46 of ice time on 22 shifts.
• Dahlin led the Sabres with 24:05 of ice time on 23 shifts.
• The Penguins had a 26-24 edge in faceoffs (52%).
• Crosby was 11 for 20 (55%).
• Sheahan was 7 for 13 (54%).
• Ristolainen led the game with four blocked shots.
• Dumoulin led the Penguins with two blocked shots.
• Jarry made 19 saves on 23 shots.
• Houser made 26 saves on 34 shots.
Randomly speaking
• The biggest area of concern out of this for the Penguins was the fact they gave up four goals to a pretty bad team. Additionally, they’ve allowed 14 goals in their past three games. That’s not a good way to be trending into the playoffs. It’s one thing to outscore the Sabres or Philadelphia Flyers. It’s another thing to try that against the Boston Bruins or New York Islanders.
They have one more game to finish the regular season, against the Sabres on Saturday, to button this up.
• Carter’s success was his line’s success. Carter was careful to laud Gaudreau’s contribution on his first goal. McCann and Gaudreau have really found something with Carter in the handful of games they’ve been together.
Sullivan likes to find a pair of forwards who work together — Carter and McCann, in this case — and supplement them with a complementary piece — Gaudreau, in this case.
• Speaking of lines working well, the Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen line continues to look cohesive. The goal they combined for was late in the game and didn’t have much of an impact but the passing was very precise off the rush. It was the second consecutive game that line has produced some offense off of defense.
• The Penguins’ power play scored for the third consecutive game. And in all three games, they’ve gotten offense from the second unit.
• Pettersson got involved in the offense by going deep on Carter’s third goal. He’s been showing some confidence in getting active off the rush as of late.
• The Michael Houser fairy tale became a horror story in this game. The local kid from Wexford had won his first two career games after finally getting a shot at NHL action at the age of 28. Any hope he could stymie his hometown team was strangled immediately by the reality of the Penguins’ overwhelming talent.
Even if Houser’s 15 minutes are over, it was a heck of a story.
Historically speaking
• Jarry (59 wins) surpassed Les Binkley (58) for seventh place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.
• Malkin (1,104 points) surpassed Hockey Hall of Fame forward Frank Mahovlich (1,103) for 62nd place on the NHL’s career scoring list.
• Gaudreau established a career high for points with three assists.
• The Penguins set a season-high with eight goals. Their last eight-goal game was an 8-6 home win against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 27, 2019.
Publicly speaking
• After the game, Carter was still trying to process what he did:
“I don’t know what happened out there, to be honest with you. The puck kind of was following me all night, really all three of us (including linemates Gaudreau and McCann). Just a lucky day. We get that first one to go in and then it just kind of snowballed from there.”
• Letang on Carter:
“Tonight was pretty incredible, what he did out there. It shows how pure of a goal scorer he is. I had the chance to play against him for 15 years. I know what he does well. He’s a guy with a lot of speed, really intelligent with the puck. He has a certain IQ to find areas on the ice to score goals. It’s good to have him on our side.”
• Gaudreau was thrilled to have a front-row seat to the Carter show:
“It’s great. This guy played so many games in the NHL. He’s a big veteran and he was saying it’s his first four-goal game. It happens rarely but it’s always exciting. It’s so fun. It feels like the more you score, the more you feel like another one is coming. It was awesome to be a part of.”
• Carter is high on Gaudreau:
“Freddy’s been awesome. Just a real consistent steady player. If you look back on that first goal there, that goal doesn’t happen without his wall play. He’s a guy that’s hard on pucks, competes on pucks, wins puck battles. He’s made life pretty easy for myself and Jared.”
• Letang spoke well of Gaudreau:
“We knew right away when he came to our team, that we were getting a really good player. We saw him play in (the 2017 Stanley Cup Final) for Nashville and he’s a special player. He can fit anywhere in your lineup. He brings tons of speed, he’s got a lot of skill. Also, he can play power play, (penalty kill). And he brings a great attitude in the room. Everybody likes to spend time with him.”
• Carter knows the Penguins’ defense needs to better:
“You obviously want to tighten things up. These games are hard to play sometimes, especially when you’re playing a team that’s out of the playoffs. They play pretty free. That said, we have one game left. After that game on Saturday, we need to be firing on all cylinders. It’s definitely something that’s been talked about. Hopefully, we can come out Saturday and really lock things down and create offense off our defense.”
• Sullivan on the defense:
“I don’t think we gave up a lot of scoring chances but they converted on the ones that they got. I think we’ve got to do a better job at limiting some of the quality of the chances. That’s an area where we could have been better tonight. That just boils down to details and stopping on pucks and awareness and things of that nature. … We certainly want to be a team that puts a team game on the ice where we’re hard to play against and we’re stingy defensively. I think we can improve in that area.”
Visually speaking
• Highlights:
Seth Rorabaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Seth by email at srorabaugh@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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