It has been a trying couple of weeks for the Pittsburgh Penguins which culminated with the medical emergency Ben Kindel suffered on the team plane. Kyle Dubas took to the podium to give an update on the situation and quite frankly it seems like a best case scenario.
A vasovagal episode is essentially in the same ballpark as fainting. There are a lot of reasons someone can faint. People who are afraid of needles, blood etc…, and also things like dehydration. Being on an airplane while something like this happens when you don’t know why it is happening had to be terrifying for everybody involved. There are a lot of really negative outcomes it could have been. The diagnosis appears to be one that should have Kindel back to skating in the near future with a positive prognosis long term. Again, it sounds like a best case scenario. I know I let out a deep exhale when I read the update. Be well, Ben. See you soon.
Another Penguins injury
While the Kindel news was encouraging there was another injury update that was not so much. Bryan Rust will be out for at least six weeks.
Whether you are someone who wants the Penguins to keep pushing hard to be competitive or want them to lean more into the rebuild, this is not good news for either of those situations. Rust remains one of the Penguins better forwards. He is a ferociously hard worker and does the little things for other players. It is what makes him so valuable on the ice and potentially on the trade market. This news puts a pause on both.
Given where the Penguins are in the standings it is a tough blow to Dan Muse’s ability to construct his lineup. And where they are isn’t great
At the ten game mark the Penguins were at seven standings points. They are going to have to get hot in the near future to give it another go for the playoffs.
We also had a surprise scratch last night with Egor Chinakhov missing the game. He continues to be labeled as day to day, but something is clearly nagging him to be going in and out of the lineup like he has. They desperately need him to get going to have success. Part of his issue is clearly whatever this injury is and the other part is Dan Muse not making him a priority when creating the lineups.
Bouncing back from the road trip
The road trip was terrible for the Penguins. The Blackhawks game set the tone for the entirely of the trip. They went 0-4 and didn’t pick up any standings points. A brutal stretch for a team that can’t afford to have brutal stretches.
Last night, they bounced back in impressive fashion in a victory over the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-0. The Panthers had visited the Ottawa Senators the night before and lost 5-1 to Brady Tkachuk’s former team. In 24 hours they were outscored 9-1. You really hate to see it.
For the Penguins they had a skeleton lineup and the players stepped up in a big way to earn that result. Here is what they went with
It was a very different look and for at least one night, it worked quite well. They were led by the Koivunen-Lapierre-Malkin line who had an 88.76 xGF% with each player finding the score sheet. Hendrix Lapierre has been a healthy scratch for a while and made the most of his opportunity playing on the second line.
Malkin continues to more than justify his contract extension. He scored again and is tied with Nick Robertson for the team lead in goals with six.
I think he has been very good, and it is early, but he is on pace to justify another one-year deal if it were something he wanted to pursue. His power play work has slipped so his production has been mostly 5v5. He is third best on the team with a 5v5 points per 60 of 2.49.
His two linemates are the ones directly ahead of him with Lapierre at 2.53 and Koivunen at 2.29.
Speaking of Koivunen
I’m hoping the anxiety about his long term deal is starting to dissipate a little for those were sketchy on it. He has the tools to be a very effective NHL player. He has NHL hands and vision. His speed, in both skating and decision making, was a touch off last year and it rendered him ineffective. I think both of those issues have improved and still can. By having more jump it gives him just a sliver of more time to make cerebral plays.
His assist last night was really nice
He had a few other really slick plays. I think his most clever play didn’t even count. He delivered a deft alley-oop backhand pass that was going to spring another Penguin for a breakaway. The problem was Malkin got called for a tripping penalty behind the play with the whistle going right as the puck landed. It had nothing to do with the play moving up the ice. These are the kinds of things that make me confident with his prospects long term.
The forechecking has been better and he wins more puck battles. He is currently at a 60.59 xGF% for the year and when combined with quality linemates you have a recipe where he can be a hell of a third piece on a solid line. Koivunen is a distributor. He needs players to take advantage of those distributions. We are starting to see more consistent glimpses of what that can look like. It is encouraging.
Up next the Penguins host the Nashville Predators, one of the few teams who have fewer standings points than them. They can’t run back the Blackhawks effort. This is a must have two points for the flightless fowl.
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