So Close and Yet So Far: Penguins Fall Just Short in 3-2 Shootout Loss to Panthers
I thought we had this one. I really did. Not just when Evgeni Malkin beat Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with a Lemieux-esque, sharp-angle shot from the goal line to tie the game at 2-all with 41.5 seconds left. But also when goalie Alex Nedeljkovic sprawled to the ice to poke the puck off Brandon Montour’s stick as the Panthers’ defender flew in on a breakaway with roughly 1:45 left in overtime.
Heck, even in the shootout we appeared to be destiny’s child when Bobrovsky thwarted Jake Guentzel, only have the puck magically squirt out of his glove and flutter into the net.
Then it all came crashing down when sharpshooter Sam Reinhart cruised in and caromed an iron shot past Nedeljkovic. In the process snatching the vital second point from our grasp.
But, oh, how we battled. Tooth-and-nail. Eye-for-an-eye.
The Pens may not be a playoff-caliber bunch. But they sure fight like one.
In addition to being a very good hockey team, the Panthers are also extremely tough, boasting the likes of marauding Matthew Tkachuk, hard-nosed Sam Bennett, feisty Ryan Lomberg and heavyweight Jonah Gadjovich, who laid a pretty good whuppin’ on Marcus Pettersson last season as a member of the Sharks.