It was the Pittsburgh Penguins and not the Toronto Maple Leafs who were terrible on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. The home side found themselves chasing the game early on and never were able to find some traction. The end result was a 7-2 blowout.
It was an unfortunate result considering only the Buffalo Sabres were lower in the Eastern Conference standings than the Leafs heading into this game, and it was only by a single standings point. They only had two wins in their last ten games
Strong start is in the rear-view mirror
The Penguins had a wonderful start to the year. They were among the league’s best teams record-wise through the ten-game mark at 7-2-1. Since then, things have come back down to earth with a 5-4-5 record. Right now, they are hanging onto the last wild card spot based on a tiebreaker.
Need some reinforcements
I’m not down on the team for the rest of the year, but they probably cannot sustain success with their current lineup. They are going to eventually need some help and they may be getting it.
This upcoming Saturday will be the six-week mark from when Rickard Rakell broke his wrist. It was originally diagnosed as a 6-8 week time frame. He should be back with the team at some point in December. This would be a huge benefit to the top line as they have been running through players like Connor Deward and Kevin Hayes in that spot. It is asking too much of those players. It needs to be a proper top-six player like Rakell, and it will be soon.
Another player who is on track to help the Penguins at the NHL level is Rutger McGroarty. He has been terrific since coming back from injury with WB/S. This was his latest goal
In his five games played this year he has four goals and seven points. By all accounts, he has some jump in his step and is looking the part of an NHL player. Here’s a great example of him getting his feet moving on the power play
McGroarty could easily come into the lineup and replace someone like Joona Koppanen, who hasn’t moved the needle at all since being recalled. I don’t imagine it will be long before McGroarty gets that call. They likely have a plan for him to get his footing, and it is going really well thus far.
Given all the noise the insiders are making about Tristan Jarry, I imagine we will be getting a trade at some point this year. This would open up a direct path for Sergei Murashov to be a full-time NHL goaltender.
No sophomore slump
Will Horcoff entered his second college season as a first-round pick of the Penguins. Pittsburgh selected him 24th overall in what felt like it could have been a reach. I was among those people who felt that way.
There were high expectations entering this season for him, and he is smashing through them. He is currently leading the NCAA in scoring. He is tied at the top with 26 points, but holds the tiebreaker because of his league-leading 18 goals on the year. He’s been awesome.
He is still only 18 years old and is dominating the NCAA, which has become one of the prime destinations for aspiring NHL prospects, given the new NIL agreement.
It isn’t looking like Michigan is going to get Horcoff as a junior at this rate. Playing in the NCAA allows Horcoff to jump right into the AHL if the player and organization feel that is the best place for his development.
Sid continues to climb all-time lists
While the game was wretched, Sidney Crosby managed to score his third goal in the past two games. He did so on his backhand, and it joins the many, many other goals that were also scored on his backhand
This goal moved Crosby past Dave Andrechyuk for 15th all-time in goals scored.
He is now within nine points of Mario Lemieux on the all-time career points list. Even if it has been a forgone conclusion for a bit, it is still really crazy to read that sentence and what it means. Mario won’t be the Penguins all-time leading scorer. Crazy.
Being 38 isn’t going to stop Sidney Crosby from doing Sidney Crosby things. Consistency is his superpower
I imagine the goal production will fall back somewhat due to his current 28.1 shooting percentage, double his career average. I do think the point production will continue when Rakell returns to the lineup, and Sid has more people who can finish off his passes.
Free agent should be on Pirates radar
It is no secret that the Pirates are a terrible organization, and they are going to have to start showing signs of progress if they want Paul Skenes for the long haul. Perhaps, they don’t have to look far to get some hitting help. They have some right across town.
Could it possibly be worse than what the Pirates already use in their lineup?
Up next for the Penguins will be a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night on the road.
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