Penguins Tame Wild in OT

Exciting. Thrilling. Riveting. Exhilarating. And oh-so rewarding.

These are just a few of the adjectives that popped into my head in the wake of the Penguins’ pulse-pounding 4-3 overtime victory over the Wild last night at Excel Energy Center.

There are so many story lines, I hardly know where to begin. A pair of goals from Rickard Rakell, who’s quickly gaining folk-hero status in the ‘Burgh. A gritty if imperfect 28-save effort by Casey DeSmith. Jason Zucker’s storybook homecoming marred by injury. And, of course, Evgeni Malkin’s refuse-to-be-denied game winner.

In between, there was enough meat on the bone in terms of action to fill a week’s worth of doggy bags.

The clubs entered the fray headed in opposite directions. While the Pens had waddled through a pot-hole strewn 1-1-1 stretch (9-7-2 since February 17) the streaking Wild were on a 7-0 run. Yet our boys took the initiative and snatched the lead just 66 seconds, thanks to the recast second line. Zucker smartly lugged the puck down the right wall in the Wild zone, in the process taking a defender with him to open up some space, before reversing it to John Marino at the point.

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