Is it the year of the Penguin? Some people are saying. After Thursday night’s 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils the Pittsburgh Penguins have now won six in a row, with the last four victories coming in the year 2026.
This stretch of winning has planted the Penguins right back into the thick of the playoff race. They are currently holding down the first wild card spot with 51 standings points with 42 games played. They are one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers (42 GP) for third place in the Metropolitan Division and two points behind the New York Islanders (44 GP) for second place.
Per Moneypuck the Penguins are at a 66.6% chance to make the playoffs after beating… the Devils.
Evgeni Malkin returns
One of the big storylines heading into the game was the return of Evgeni Malkin after missing 15 games. It was great to see him get back out there and I think he missed being out there as much as the team and fandom missed him.
To ease him back into the lineup Dan Muse elected to play Geno on the wing. He was centered by Ben Kindel with Egor Chinakhov on the other wing. Whether it was rust, or unfamiliarity with the wing position, it was an uneven start for Malkin.
His return started with a pass to the defensive slot intercepted by the Devils which was followed up by passes that missed their mark. Despite the errors I saw something positive early on that made me confident that it will only be a matter of time. His skating looked strong. He was swooping around with a noticeable jump in his gallop. To me, when he’s able to move like that, the positive results are just around the corner. So for this alone, I thought it was an encouraging return.
The cherry on top was getting to see Geno lay down an absolute missile on the power play via one-timer. It was an old-school Geno blast and a moment where you could say his shoulder looks to be healthy again.
I’ll never get tired of seeing Geno teeing up one-timers from his off wing.
Top player streaks
The Penguins best forward and the Penguins best defenseman are currently on some impressive streaks.
Erik Karlsson kicked off the scoring with a laser to the top corner from a tough angle.
The goal secured another point for Karlsson and he is now on a career best streak on home ice.
Given the fact he is one of the most prolific offensive defensemen of all-time and has an 100 point season on his resume, I find it incredibly impressive that he is still doing things he hasn’t done in his illustrious career, let alone at age 35.
Another fun fact is that Karlsson’s points per 60 on the power is 6.03. It is fifth best among defensemen in the NHL at the moment and the second highest mark of his career only bested by the 7.24 during his first year in San Jose during the 2018-19 season. He is cooking.
Sidney Crosby added two assists last night and he is currently on a tear. He is picking up points in chunks on this recent winning streak.
He’s up to 49 points in only 42 games played. He broke Gretzky’s record for most consecutive point per game seasons last year and now he is on pace to keep adding to it. He is 38 years old in a young man’s league. His super power is consistency and he still has it. It is such a treat to keep watching him do what he does.
Fourth line heater
The Penguins haven’t had a quality fourth line in some time. Hell, they haven’t had a quality third line in quite some time. This year’s fourth line is given tough deployment with defensive zone faceoffs and they continue to outperform their role.
Last night, both Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte found the back of the net. They have provided tenacious defensive work pestering the opposition and are also making them pay by putting up goals.
Dewar slipped behind defenders coming out of the penalty box and buried a breakaway goal. In what could have been a situation where the Devils tied the game at one, they found themselves trailing by two.
Later in the game the Devils scored to make it a 3-1 game. Given the Penguins December tendencies of blowing mult-goal third period leads there is still some anxiety to be had when this happens. Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari, and Connor Dewar took it upon themselves to give the team their three goal cushion back after a tenacious forecheck by Acciari and Dewar. Lizotte was the recipient of the hard work on the back door.
Getting nightly offensive contributions from your fourth line is such a game changer and lessen the burden of the top six. Something sorely lacking in recent seasons.
Look at these results, they are great.
It is a breath of fresh air to see this. Dan Muse has a lot of personnel available among the forward ranks now that the roster is mostly healthy. Even with that health, he has elected not to break up this line and who could blame him. They are a cohesive unit and play off of each other well. Not that the Penguins are anywhere close to being in cap trouble these days, but getting these results for under 5M combined is decent value.
Up next for the red hot Penguins will be hosting the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon at 3:30
