The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Saturday with a chance to pull into first place in the entire league. Their opponent was also attempting to do the same thing. The Devils and Penguins ultimately settled their low scoring affair in a shootout with New Jersey climbing atop the NHL standings winning the game 2-1.
It was a really solid effort by the Penguins considering the lineup situation they find themselves in. Injuries have depleted their options on both forward and defense. Kevin Hayes made his season debut, as did Joona Koppanen. This is in addition to Ryan Graves getting a regular shift in the games now.
Despite not having their best lineup available they put together a complete effort from beginning to end. It was the definition of a “road” game. Getting a point was a good result even if they had opportunities to seize an additional one.
The Penguins are now currently a single standings point behind New Jersey for the league lead.
Silovs great until the real hockey stopped
Arturs Silovs put together an excellent showing against the Devils. He only allowed the single goal because of Kris Letang’s atrocious turnover at the end of the first period.
Silovs finished the game stopping 23 out of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage. None better than his save on Jack Hughes in the second period.
Without this save it would have been the second consecutive period the Penguins would have given up a last minute goal after controlling play for most of the 20 minutes.
Danton Heinen is going to catch some heat for the turnover which led to this chance, but I think Blake Lizotte did him no favors forcing the pass up the middle and behind Heinen.
For Silovs, his shootout woes continue. He is terrible at them. In the three shootouts this season he has one save in eight attempts. The majority of the attempts Silovs hasn’t even come close to making the saves.
The shootout used to be close to a guarantee for the Penguins to take the extra point. Those days are long gone.
In the future, we may be at the point where the backup goaltender is going to have to start stretching if the game gets to overtime so they can take over the duties for the shootout.
Kindel remains a bright spot
There hasn’t been anything the Penguins have thrown Ben Kindel he hasn’t been able to handle yet. Even the nights where he doesn’t find the score sheet he is still doing a lot of a great things.
I think the team should lean into Kindel once regulation is over. He looked tremendous in the 3v3 overtime. His skill set is perfect for tons of time and space, which 3v3 provides. Dan Muse should start the overtime sessions with Kindel, Crosby, and Karlsson.
Additionally, Kindel should be leading off things in the shootout. The younger generations grew up honing their skills with shootouts in mind. He is one of the more skilled Penguins and they should be giving him looks to showcase it. The shootout is one of the opportunities to do so.
Karlsson the best he’s been in Pittsburgh
Erik Karlsson’s first two years with the Penguins weren’t the Norris winning player he was with his last year in San Jose. This year has been his best in Pittsburgh. He wasn’t bad the past two years, he just wasn’t consistently great like he’s been in his long and illustrious career
Karlsson had some remarkable defensive plays in this one. He had a pass deflected by New Jersey in the offensive zone which led to the puck going the other way. By the time the puck made its way to the Penguins defensive blue line Karlsson had already backchecked the rush and turned the puck back over to the Penguins.
In overtime, he was the last man back and deflected what would have been a certain breakaway by having an active stick. He has been way better defensively this season.
I stand by what I said before the season. Karlsson has something to play for this year, unlike the previous two. He is playing for the Olympics and a potential trade destination. He’s motivated and it shows. It has been fun to watch. However, there’s probably another dynamic at play here, the coaching. From Josh Yohe’s latest in The Athletic
“We have good individual players,” he said. “And now we’re finally starting to feel good as a team. The roles are starting to slot in. You know what’s expected of you. You do the things you’re good at, and not the things that someone tells you to do, that you can’t do.”
The emphasis is mine. I have no doubt that Mike Sullivan was set in his ways by the time his Penguins tenure ended. His lack of flexibility was probably annoying while the team’s results weren’t great. I bet they were especially annoying to a megastar like Erik Karlsson who didn’t have the privilege of winning two Stanley Cups with Sullivan. Dan Muse seems to have a different approach and it is resonating with Karlsson. The evidence is Karlsson’s play so far in 2025-26
There isn’t any time to sulk about the loss. The team is back in action tomorrow afternoon when they host the Los Angeles Kings. There will be no excuse if they don’t bring the energy. They aren’t going to be playing again until Friday when they head to Stockholm Sweden to face the Nashville Predators in a back to back.
Furthermore, it is very likely it will be Sergei Murashov’s first NHL start. It would be a really bad look for the team if they laid an egg in front of him.
