It has been a while since the Pittsburgh Penguins were in game action. All the way back on February 5th they defeated the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 5-2. It feels like forever ago. Coming back from the Olympic break Pittsburgh has a new look. They, of course, will be without Sidney Crosby for the next month due to the injury he sustained against Czechia in the quarterfinals. Additionally, the Penguins traded Brett Kulak to the Colorado Avalanche for Sam Girard.
These new look Penguins will be tasked with trying to maintain their playoff standing without their leader. Last night, they got off to a great start by defeating Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils 4-1. The win takes Pittsburgh to 72 standings points on the year. They remain in an advantageous position to make the playoffs.
Way back in October before the regular season opener I made some predictions for the Penguins season. One of them was to take the over on Pittsburgh’s standings points. I never believed they were going to be a bottom dwelling team like the general consensus. Admittedly, I didn’t think they would be where they currently are, either. Well, that over/under was set at 74.5 points and Pittsburgh has 72 at the moment. There are 25 games left in the year. I’d like to think they’ll accomplish that feat.
Life without Sid
Losing Sidney Crosby for approximately four weeks is tough. Losing a player of his caliber is going to negatively affect any roster in the league. I like the way Dan Muse has approached “replacing” Sid in the lineup.
Muse left the other three lines alone to let them continue to work together. I like the continuity for those lines. Things were working quite well before break. To replace Crosby the Penguins gave a much deserved promotion to Avery Hayes. The promising Hayes had a terrific NHL debut against the Sabres, scoring his first two career goals. He was sent back to the AHL during break so he could keep playing, and keep playing he did. He put up multiple hat tricks and continued to play at a high level with WB/S.
Hayes was thrown on a line with Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust with Rakell providing the center duties. I think Hayes can fit in this role and last night we had a number of examples why. He’s fast, he’s tenacious, and his offensive hockey acumen is plenty good enough. He had a number of good opportunities to score in the game and despite not doing so it is encouraging that he keeps earning those chances.
Hayes’ ability to jump into this role allows the rest of the forward group to stay with what they’ve been doing and that will be beneficial while the team continues to push without Crosby.
Much needed rest
The Olympic break came at a great time for both the oldest Penguin and the youngest. Evgeni Malkin and Ben Kindel have both had terrific seasons to this point. They both also started showing signs of the wear and tear of an 82 game season.
With Malkin, it is because he’s old. It isn’t normal for 39 year olds to play in this league, let alone do so at a 1.09 points per game pace. His career points per game is 1.10. It has been an incredible season for Malkin. However, it is tough to get that frame moving at 39 and he missed time for injury. The break gave him time to heal up his wounds and gave him time to regenerate his legs. Last night, he looked like he had the same jump he had at the beginning of the year. He finished the game with two assists. He now has 46 points in 42 games, unbelievable.
Ben Kindel will also benefit from the break. It is incredibly tough to make the jump to an 82 game season against full grown men as a fresh faced 18 year old. Junior hockey is a grind too, but he would have been playing against players of his own age group.
I have had the luxury over the years of having freshman players for my high school team being able to jump into bigger roles right away. Even in a much shorter high school season (20 games + playoffs) you can tell skating six days a week takes its toll on the players who have never done it before. Adjusting to an NHL full-time schedule is hard for anybody, especially so for an 18 year old who was a surprise addition to the roster.
Even with the Penguins smartly giving him some maintenance days along the way you could tell Kindel was losing just a little steam.
The Olympic break not only allows his body to recover, but it provides a much needed mental reset.
I thought Kindel looked amazing last night in both his skating and his assertive decisions with the puck. We might see the best version of Kindel we’ve seen this year heading down the stretch. He now has all the wisdom he’s taken in with his prior 53 games played and can combine it with a rejuvenated mind and body. I’m excited to watch this play out in Crosby’s absence.
Dad powers
Egor Chinakhov missed practice the other day because of the birth of his baby daughter. When NHL players welcome a new child to the world they usually wield their new dad powers with a goal in the next game. Chinakhov was no exception
He got that Dad goal and it was a beauty
I absolutely love old school five-hole dekes. Pulling it off is a lot tougher than it used to be given that the goaltender’s modern pads cover more surface area than they did. So I get pretty excited to see a slick finish like Chinakhov’s.
Chinakhov continues to be a game changing player for the Penguins. You can hear all the groans 185 miles away in Columbus.
By using some simple arithmetic we know that Chinakhov was on a 13 goal pace with Columbus and is now on a 39 goal pace with the Penguins. Dubas hit Don Waddell’s hanging curve ball into the Allegheny River. What a trade.
Up next for the Penguins will be a visit to New York City and Madison Square Garden. It will be Mike Sullivan, fresh off a Gold Medal, taking on his old team at 12:30PM. The Rangers have three wins in their last 19 games.
