Penguins Rise from the Dead, Annihilate Islanders, 8-3
I’m not gonna’ lie.
When Brayden Schenn scored off the rush at 9:17 of the second period last night to make it, 3-1, Islanders, I began preparing the Penguins’ obituary in my head.
Not only were we on the short end of the score, following a solid first period to boot, but the game had all the makings of the latest in a long (long) line of crushing failures against the Isles, right down to the power-play goal scored by long-time nemesis Anders Lee.
No way we win this one. Especially with Vezina candidate Ilya Sorokin guarding the Isles’ net.
Then we came back from the dead.
With Noel Acciari serving a tripping minor, Rickard Rakell worked a give-and-go with Bryan Rust to perfection, culminating in a shorty at 11:01. In the process, lighting the fuse on a black-and-gold powder keg.
At 13:29, Ryan Shea walked into a perfect feed from Anthony Mantha at the top of the left circle and drilled one in off the iron.
Three-three!