It was not the prettiest win. It was probably not the way head coach Dan Muse would want to draw it up. But the Pittsburgh Penguins found a way to go on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and walk away with a baffling 4-3 regulation win. They let another three-goal lead slip away, somehow regained the lead late in regulation, allowed a game-tying goal, caught a huge break when an NHL-initiated replay review overturned it due to a missed hand pass, and then somehow gave up a clear breakaway to Nikita Kucherov in the closing seconds only to have Tristan Jarry stone him and secure the two points. Hilariously stupid and funny game. All that matters is two points. All that matters is the Penguins are now 14-7-5 on the season and, by points percentage, own the sixth-best record in the NHL and the third-best record in the Eastern Conference as of Friday.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh area experiencing unprecedented tornado season
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A wicked week of weather has left residents picking up the pieces throughout the region after multiple tornadoes touched down, including the first in Pittsburgh city limits since 1998.
It’s been an active and unprecedented tornado season for Southwestern Pennsylvania, and according to experts, storm season began a bit early this year.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen storms and high winds create a path of destruction throughout the region, including last weekend in Washington County, before it started again yesterday in parts of Westmoreland, Washington, and Allegheny counties.
The National Weather Service confirmed 19 tornadoes in the tri-state area this year, with 10 in Pennsylvania.
Fourteen happened this month alone, the most we’ve seen in May since 1985. Four of those twisters happened across the Pittsburgh region on Friday.
These numbers are abnormally high. The average number for the entire year is six.
The Pittsburgh Zoo did not take a day off Saturday after a tornado came through on Friday. Parts are a bit messy with leaves and tree limbs strewn about.
On people’s minds was just how rare it was that a tornado was in the city itself.
Tornadoes and Western Pennsylvania don’t typically find themselves in the same sentence.
“It’s not something that usually happens; it’s like a Kansas thing,” Mat Georgetti said.
Or so Georgetti thought. He spent his day at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
“It’s kind of wild because we have a bunch of mountains here.”
Over in Westmoreland County, National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Kramar was assessing the damage of what was determined to be an EF0 tornado.
“People are very lucky. It moved over highly residential areas. This is a crisis adverted in a way that the damage was as minimal as it was. The tornado was not very strong, but still enough to cause damage to trees, siding, shingles,” Kramar said.
He got a look at a trampoline that was mangled.
“All of a sudden, I saw the wind going crazy behind me,” Matt Kaninberg said.
Kaninberg says it all happened quickly.
“I didn’t think anything of it. My wife calls me and says you need to get outside now. I look[ed] out, and my trampoline was two houses down; it was crazy.”
Kramar says we average four to six tornadoes a year. We’ve had 19 this year, including 14 in May alone.
“We are well ahead of schedule on our tornado season,” Kramar said.
Zoo employee Christopher Haro experienced the storm on his way home.
“It’s a bit scary,” Haro said. “It’s a real shocker, I mean, the hot and the cold weather, especially this late in the season already, it’s a lot of devastation going on, so we’re worrying driving home, being inside the house or even with the dogs at home, it’s a lot.”
Everyone is hoping the weather simply calms down.
Coming into this week I said if the Penguins could get three points out of this difficult three-game road trip it should probably be looked at as something of a success given the injury situation and the competition in front of them. They already have four points going into their game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.
As chaotic as Thursday’s game was, there is still a lot to like about it.
Evgeni Malkin had a vintage Evgeni Malkin performance with two outstanding goals.
They showed some toughness and bounced back from letting a lead slip away and still found a way to dig in and get the lead back and win against a top-tier team on the road.
Tristan Jarry made some huge saves.
Young guys Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen scored goals.
There was some concern a couple of weeks ago that maybe reality had been starting to set in for the Penguins after their strong start, and that perhaps the strong start is over. Now they have wins in four of their past five games and are still extremely high in the standings.
It is not just a strong start.
It is one of the better starts in recent franchise history. Perhaps the entire franchise history.
Let’s just look at some numbers for context on this.
With Thursday’s win the Penguins are now 14-7-5 with 33 points through their first 26 games.
In the now 58-season history of the franchise the Penguins have….
- Only had 17 seasons where they have won at least 14 games through their first 26 games.
- Only had 13 seasons where they won MORE than 14 games through their first 26 games.
In terms of total points and points percentage, their .635 mark through the first 26 games of the season is the 11th best start through 26 games in the history of the franchise. The 10 starts ahead of it, as well as the two starts immediately after it, all produced playoff berths.
There are certainly still flaws on the roster and with the way they play defensively. They are winning a lot of games due to the power play and goaltending, and there is definitely a ceiling to what a team like that is capable of, and maybe even a smoke-and-mirrors element to a lot of it. But the reality is this: The Penguins are still a team capable of generating a lot of 5-on-5 offense, they still have high-end players on the roster that are playing at a high level, and their power play success is simply finally matching its talent and the expectations.
The goaltending was always going to be a wild-card (as it is for every team), and so far it is holding up its end of the bargain. After so many years where it did not, I think the Penguins will take that and not apologize for it.
They are also still scrapping out points despite being without a forward that opened the season on each of their top-four forward lines (Rickard Rakell on the first line, Justin Brazeau on the second line, Filip Hallander on the third line, Noel Acciari on the fourth line).
They are winning games and collecting points through the first quarter of the season at a pace that historically, for both them and the league as a whole, has a high probability of producing a playoff berth.
At some point it stops becoming a good start and starts becoming a good team.
I am not sure if we are at that point just yet. We are definitely getting close to it.
It might not be a Stanley Cup team, but it still might be a very good team. It might be a very good team in a season where nobody expected it, while also seeing real development from key players they are going to be relying on for their future seasons where they might be able to become a Stanley Cup team again.
It appeared Nikita Kucherov had tied the game 4-4 with 55 seconds remaining on a one-timer from the right circle, but a video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room determined that Brandon Hagel made a hand pass to start the scoring sequence.
“That was a bang-bang play,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “There were tons of guys around it, we got it first, a lot of the game developed after that, and the puck went in the net. So, is that a frustrating one for me? It is.”
Ville Koivunen and Ben Kindel scored for the Penguins (14-7-5), who are 4-1-1 in their past six games. Jarry made 37 saves.
“I think we battled right until the end, obviously we got a call there at the end, and I think the guys … we just never gave up from there,” Jarry said. “They really held it down for the last 50 seconds. They were doing everything in their power throughout the game. There was a lot of back and forth and we’re happy to come out on the right side.”
Hagel scored twice, and Kucherov had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (16-9-2), who came back from 3-0 deficit but lost their second straight. Jonas Johansson made 27 saves.
“It’s a little frustrating, but that’s the way hockey is sometimes. You’re not going to get the breaks, you’re not going to get the bounces,” Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh said. “We got away from our game in the second period, and they took advantage.”
Detroit Medical Center tightens visitor policies as Michigan flu cases surge
Cause of death for Claude, San Francisco’s albino alligator, revealed
Dallas sidewalks are by the people, for the people
Antonio Brown wants Miami attempted murder charge dropped under ‘Stand Your Ground’
The groups are set for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and we’re a step closer to knowing which teams will play in Foxborough – The Boston Globe
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
FBI director suggests ‘sheer incompetence’ or ‘negligence’ in Biden admin handling of pipe bomb case
Russian gas and oil in Europe are done for good, Energy Commissioner tells Euronews
The World Cup draw is here. Here’s why it matters — and how it will work
Ex–New York State official accused of spying for China called Hochul ‘more obedient’ than Cuomo, trial reveals
Putin challenges US pressure on India over Russian oil during state visit
-
Politics3 days agoTrump rips Somali community as federal agents reportedly eye Minnesota enforcement sweep
-
News3 days agoTrump threatens strikes on any country he claims makes drugs for US
-
World3 days agoHonduras election council member accuses colleague of ‘intimidation’
-
Technology1 week agoNew scam sends fake Microsoft 365 login pages
-
Ohio1 day agoWho do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
Politics1 week agoRep. Swalwell’s suit alleges abuse of power, adds to scrutiny of Trump official’s mortgage probes
-
News1 week ago2 National Guard members wounded in ‘targeted’ attack in D.C., authorities say
-
Ohio1 week agoSnow set to surge across Northeast Ohio, threatening Thanksgiving travel