The Penguins can’t replace Jake Guentzel for however long he is sidelined due to a presumed head injury.
And they certainly weren’t able to do that during a road contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.
Literally.
With fourth-line center Teddy Blueger also absent due to an undisclosed malady that has hobbled him since Sept. 28 and the paltry sum of $83,158 of salary cap space (per Cap Friendly), the Penguins were unable to make any kind of corresponding transactions that would have allowed them to dress a traditional lineup of 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders in the Buckeye State’s capital.
Instead, they bucked convention by deploying an irregular group including 11 forwards and seven defensemen as veteran reserve blueliner Chad Ruhwedel appeared in his first contest of the season.
That motley crew claimed an impressive 6-3 comeback victory in the Penguins’ first meeting against a Metropolitan Division foe this season.
Guentzel was struck near the right ear by a puck during a 6-1 home win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. The All-Star’s absence was considerable given that he had scored the game-winning goal in all three of the Penguins’ victories this season prior to Saturday.
But not insurmountable.
“He’s a great player, does a lot of stuff for us,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said of his longtime linemate on Friday in Cranberry. “Not an easy guy to replace. When you get injuries, you have to make ways to make up for the guys that you lose and what they bring. We’ll try to do that collectively.”
The Blue Jackets collected the contest’s first goal 7:13 into regulation thanks to a turnover by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang.
Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist dumped the puck from the center red line to the net, where goaltender Tristan Jarry gloved it and then set it down for Letang. Swooping behind the cage, Letang forced a pass toward the left wing boards, but Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau, applying light pressure, ended up blocking the puck with his right shin, causing it to carom above the crease, where Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner settled it and ripped a wrister past the glove of a helpless Jarry for his first goal of the season. Gaudreau had the lone assist.
Another charitable moment by Letang led to the Blue Jackets’ second goal at 18:44 of the opening frame.
Working on a power-play opportunity, Letang fed an ill-conceived backhand pass off the right wing boards of the offensive zone that missed whatever target it was intended for and slid aimlessly to the neutral zone. Blue Jackets forward Jack Roslovic chased down the adrift puck, claiming it in the high slot of the Penguins’ zone, and attacked on a breakaway. Approaching the cage, Roslovovic snapped a wrister past Jarry’s glove for his first goal. There were no assists. It was the first short-handed score the Penguins had allowed through the first five games of their season.
Fourth-liner Josh Archibald’s first goal put the Penguins on the scoreboard 3:43 into the second period.
Lugging the puck up from behind his own left circle, Penguins forward Ryan Poehling surged through the neutral zone, gained the offensive blue line then offloaded a pass to Archibald on the left wing. Coasting up the boards into the left circle, Archibald lifted his left leg and then lifted a far-side wrister that beat goaltender Elvis Merzlikins’ glove. Poehling earned the only assist.
Whatever momentum that score generated lasted briefly as the Blue Jackets responded only 14 seconds later when rookie forward Kent Johnson scored his first career goal.
After Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov beat Penguins forward Bryan Rust in a puck battle on the Penguins’ left wall, Roslovic emerged with possession and slipped a soft backhanded pass from the left circle to the left of the cage for Johnson. Surging to the front of the crease, Johnson avoided a poke check attempt by Jarry and tucked a backhander through the goaltender’s five hole. The lone assist went to Roslovic.
The Penguins’ fourth line helped create another score at 10:04 of the second period.
After Archibald hit Nyquist and knocked the puck loose in the Blue Jackets’ right corner, Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen claimed possession in the right circle and slid a backhanded pass to the right point for Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta, who stroked a one-timer that toasted Merzlikins’ glove on the near side for his second goal of the season (and second in as many games). Kapanen and Archibald had assists.
Guentzel’s replacement on the top line, Danton Heinen, tied the game at 14:19 of the second with his second goal.
Corralling a loose puck at the center point, Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson chucked a wrister toward the cage. Merzlikins made the initial save but could not settle the rebound. From the slot, Crosby backhand swatted at the puck, causing it to carom to the right of the crease where Heinen – in a Guentzelian fashion – swept in the rebound with a forehand shot. Crosby claimed the only assist.
A one-timer by Crosby supplied the Penguins with their first lead 5:38 into the third period.
After Crosby lost a faceoff to Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly on a faceoff in Columbus’ left circle, ex-Penguins defenseman Erik Gudbranson tried to clear it off the near boards, only to have his attempt intercepted by Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Surveying the offensive zone for a moment, Dumoulin astutely located Crosby in right circle and slipped a pass to his wheelhouse, allowing the Penguins’ captain to swipe a shot to the far side past Merzlikins’ blocker for his third goal. The only assist went to Dumoulin.
Heinen scored again at 14:07 of the third.
Crosby won a faceoff against Roslovic in Columbus’ left circle and got the puck back to the left point for Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph, who snapped off a wrister. Merzlikins aggressively punched the puck away, only to have the rebound hit off the backside of Blue Jackets defenseman Andrew Peeke. The rebound bounced to the right of the crease where Heinen, like a scavenger, lifted an easy wrister over a sprawling Merzlikins. Joseph and Crosby had assists.
The scoring was capped 44 seconds later by Penguins forward Brock McGinn’s first goal.
After Kuraly failed to keep a puck in the offensive zone at the left point, Kapanen overwhelmed him with speed and chased down the puck, claiming it in the Blue Jackets’ zone. From the right circle, Kapanen pushed a pedestrian shot — which was more of a pass-off-pads tactic — that Merzlikins kicked out with his left leg. McGinn followed up on the sequence by beating Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski to the rebound above the crease and lofted a backhander over Merzlikins’ right shoulder. Kapanen and Rutta registered assists.
Jarry made 29 saves on 32 shots as his record remained perfect at 4-0-0.
Notes:
• Archibald’s goal was his first score in his second tenure with the Penguins, snapping a “slump” of 2,025 days between goals for the franchise. After being traded to the Arizona Coyotes in December of 2017, he rejoined the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent this past July.
His last goal with the Penguins came in a 7-4 road win against the New Jersey Devils on April 6, 2017. Forwards Scott Wilson and Carter Rowney had assists.
• The Penguins did not record their first shot of the contest until 10:46 of the first period when Letang fired a 50-foot wrister that was rejected by Merzlikins.
• Ruhwedel logged 9:28 of ice time on 12 shifts.
• Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth left the game in the first period due to an undisclosed injury.
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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