The Winnipeg Jets came into the game two points behind the Penguins for the league lead and they leave the game tied with the Penguins for the league lead. Things went south for the flightless fowl less than a minute into the game when a behind the net bank shot from Gabriel Vilardi went in. Brad Lambert’s first career NHL came before the game was three minutes old and Pittsburgh never got closer than that. They dropped the decision 5-2.
The Jets came into the game with a league worst xGF% at 40.81 and the second highest PDO at 1037. On the surface it would appear the Jets are an opportunistic team with very good goaltending. That is exactly what we saw today.
Kindel line continues to dominate
The Novak-Kindel-Koivunen line continues to be xGF% beasts. They finished the afternoon with a 100 xGF% (yes 100%) after putting up a 91.87 xGF% against the Minnesota Wild. This is the most effective third line the Penguins have had in forever. They are playing defense by having the puck and controlling territorial play, just the way it should be.
The next step for this line is going to be turning the expected goals into real ones. Despite all the zone time it hasn’t led to the puck going in the opponent’s net. All three guys on this line have really good puck skills. If they continue to win their shifts it theoretically should only be a matter of time.
Muse mixes up lines in the third
With the Penguins trailing 4-1 Dan Muse elected to switch up the lines. He bumped Evgeni Malkin up to play with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust in an effort to get something going offensively. Trailing in a game by 3 in the third period is a good time to start experimenting with things.
I enjoyed seeing Crosby and Malkin together at 5v5 with Karlsson. Having 87 and 71 get some 5v5 time together has been something I’ve wanted in doses for a long time.
Kindel stayed with Koivunen with Filip Hallander joining them. I don’t think Hallander can handle playing an extended period on the Crosby line so I think this is a more appropriate role for him.
Another route he can go with in the future is keeping Crosby and Malkin separate and using Kindel on the wing. Big picture, Kindel should be at center, and that is where he has been playing and will continue to play most of his minutes. I think it is totally fine to plop him on the wing in a top six scenario when game situations dictate it. For all the great xGF% work Kindel has done this year he only has three points to show for it. Having linemates with a larger track record of producing points at the NHL level would likely get him some more tangible offensive results.
I liked seeing Muse shuffle things up. There have been various points so far this season where I thought he could have done so, but did not.
Time is up for Tomasino
I’ve seen enough from Philip Tomasino. He isn’t ever going to be a player who makes a difference for the Penguins. He has decent skating and NHL hands, but is unable to do enough with them on a regular basis to keep a roster spot on this team. If Justin Brazeau is going to miss a few more games with an upper-body injury, I would put Tomasino on waivers tomorrow.
This would allow for a player like Avery Hayes are Tristan Broz to get some NHL minutes. I am way more interested in seeing what they can do. Tomasino is what he is
One more look at Brunicke
We may be only getting one more game from Harrison Brunicke this year. He was scratched four out of the last five games and his next game will be his ninth in the NHL. Meaning, the Penguins will need to make a decision on if they are going to keep him or send him back to juniors.
In his first game back it was his guy who was on the back door that scored to make it 2-0 less than three minutes in the game. He had a rough go of it defensively (so did Pickering).
Given the scratches and him not having a good game today the writing may be on the wall. Regardless of the choice the Penguins make he will still be an important piece in the Penguins eventually turning the corner. He’s 19 and his best hockey is ahead of him.
Pittsburgh will now head back east to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs on Monday. Will Leafs fans be in a celebratory mood from the Blue Jays or will they be grumpy as usual?
