The holiday break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The ten games prior to break saw the Penguins comically blow big leads and resulted in them losing nine out of those ten games. The team needed a mental reset. The season was spiraling.
Tonight, they got that reset and came out incredibly strong in the first period, scoring four times on only 11 shots in the first period. With Spencer Knight allowing four goals on only seven shots.
It was the best start Pittsburgh could have hoped for, but lingering in the back of everybody’s mind were the blown leads of recent memory. Tonight, they finally closed one out and earned the victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. It was eventful and successful. The final score ultimately landed at 7-3 with the Penguins outscoring the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Even with the nine losses in ten games the Penguins find themselves one point out of the final wild card position after the win over Chicago.
Brazeau with the hot hand
Justin Brazeau had the best start of his NHL career earlier this season when he had 6 goals and 12 points in his first 12 games of the season. His hot start was unfortunately derailed by injury and since coming back in December things had slowed down considerably.
In his first ten games back he only registered three points. Tonight he matched those three points by scoring three times for the hat trick. It is the first one of his career.
At times I think it is tough for Brazeau to keep up and make impact plays because of his lumbering skating stride. However, when the puck is near him and he is in position he can be a handful. He has nifty hands for a big guy and is clever in how he deploys them. He has very slick deking ability and isn’t shy about getting to the front of the net for tips. His second goal showcased his crafty hands.
So with the three goals tonight he is back on track and in some elite company
A returning Evgeni Malkin isn’t going to hurt Brazeau’s cause, either.
Injury updates
Evgeni Malkin has been practicing on his own lately and appears to be working towards a return
Things have been kept pretty close to the vest on Malkin’s injury and it is pretty obvious the impact it has had on the team. The next step for Malkin will be to rejoin his teammates at practice and be cleared for contact.
The Penguins are returning home for a game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. If they hold a practice tomorrow we might see Malkin show up at it. It still wouldn’t make for a likely return Tuesday, but perhaps he has an outside shot at home versus the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. I imagine with the team in Pittsburgh there is a good chance of them holding a practice Wednesday.
Blake Lizotte returned from his injury tonight to play against the Blackhawks. His speed and feistiness was missed. The early returns on the Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari line this year were positive, but between Lizotte and Acciari’s injuries they haven’t been together a whole lot.
As a line they have a 47.11 xGF% which on the surface doesn’t jump out, but when you consider they only have an offensive zone starting percentage of 12.82 it makes it very reasonable. They have done a nice job and now they are together again. We’ll see how long it lasts
Other goal scorers
Bryan Rust showed none of his namesake in the first game back after Christmas. He popped two goals in against Chicago.
On the first he took a nifty pass from Crosby and fired a laser beam to the top corner of the net
On the second goal Rust received a pass from Ryan Shea who embarrassed the Chicago defenders before dishing. Rust snuck a puck through Spencer Knight who was temporarily chased from the game after the goal
This was the good. The bad is that Rust was CF 6 and CA 17 on the night for a CF% of 26.09. His xGF% was 20.30. His results have been fine, he has four points in his last three games. The process is concerning. He remains the third worst player in the league among those who have played 250 5v5 minutes. He has a 3.46 xGA/60 which puts him at 562 out of 564. If the points dry up his perceived value is not going to look as good as it is right now.
Anthony Mantha kicked off the scoring within the first two minutes of the game. It is his 12th goal of the season and it now puts him on the best pace of his career.
Mantha has been a really nice signing by Kyle Dubas. Mantha’s value was low because of the serious knee injury he had to come back from. Mantha has come back strong and made the most of his opportunity so far in Pittsburgh. Depending on where the rest of the season goes Dubas will have a really enticing trade piece at the deadline or a scoring winger for any potential playoff games. It has been good for both Mantha and the Penguins.
Up next for the Penguins will be a difficult matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
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