Mark Arcobello and Chris Kunitz celebrate David Perron’s third-period goal on the Jets’ Ondrej Pavelec. — GETTY
“They came right at us. No, actually, they went right through us.”
Those were the words of Bryan Little, the Jets’ No. 1 center, in an otherwise vacated Winnipeg locker room late Tuesday night at Consol Energy Center, and nothing could have better summed up the relevance — in the short and long terms — of the 5-3 victory the Penguins had just pulled off without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.
For the home team, I mean.
Because for all else that went their way — Kris Letang’s five assists in his return from the Zac Rinaldo assault, the officials allowing the Penguins to score a goal with one too many men, the Jets blindly choosing to start Ondrej Pavelec in a city where he’s historically good for a touchdown a game, Winnipeg as a franchise failing in Pittsburgh for the 14th consecutive time, etc. — the Penguins’ restored passion for the hockey stratagem known as the center drive took center stage.
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January 28, 2015
Column: Penguins reclaim the center lane
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Penguins
Mark Arcobello and Chris Kunitz celebrate David Perron’s third-period goal on the Jets’ Ondrej Pavelec. — GETTY
“They came right at us. No, actually, they went right through us.”
Those were the words of Bryan Little, the Jets’ No. 1 center, in an otherwise vacated Winnipeg locker room late Tuesday night at Consol Energy Center, and nothing could have better summed up the relevance — in the short and long terms — of the 5-3 victory the Penguins had just pulled off without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.
For the home team, I mean.
Because for all else that went their way — Kris Letang’s five assists in his return from the Zac Rinaldo assault, the officials allowing the Penguins to score a goal with one too many men, the Jets blindly choosing to start Ondrej Pavelec in a city where he’s historically good for a touchdown a game, Winnipeg as a franchise failing in Pittsburgh for the 14th consecutive time, etc. — the Penguins’ restored passion for the hockey stratagem known as the center drive took center stage.