By the time the Saturday slate of games ends the Pittsburgh Penguins will be sitting back in a playoff position. This is on the back of a four game winning streak where they’ve won the past three against division leaders (CAR, DET x2). The team has now won five out of the last six and are back in the thick of the playoffs race.
Much like Thursday’s game the Penguins jumped out to a multi-goal lead. The difference this time is that they shut things down and didn’t allow the Detroit Red Wings to mount a comeback. It was an impressive performance by the Penguins
Quality defensive effort
The Penguins have had no shortage of defensive clunkers throughout this season. They’ve blown multiple goal leads way more often than a team should. This performance was a step in the right direction.
How good was this defensive performance? It was the lowest number of total shots the team has ever allowed on the road.
The Red Wings were held without a shot for over half a period to start the game. At the halfway point in the game they had six total shots.
A lot of times when teams are up multiple goals you start to see the trailing team start to mount some shot volume, not today. The Penguins had a 72.11 xGF% in period two and then cranked it up to 91.11 xGF% in the third period. The Wings had .08 xGF in the third.
Impressive all around for the Penguins.
Newcomer scores first as a Penguin
It didn’t take too long for Yegor Chinakhov to earn his first goal as a Pittsburgh Penguin. In his second game with the team he got to show off his great wrist shot after being sprung on a breakaway.
It came from a gorgeous feed from way back in the defensive zone by Ben Kindel
This is exactly the type of thing Kyle Dubas was looking for when trading for Chinakhov. He has finishing talent and it is something that has been lacking with Ville Koivunen’s minutes. While Koivunen had a 58.58 xGF% on the year there wasn’t a lot of tangible offense resulting from it.
Given Ben Kindel’s vision and passing ability it makes sense to add some shooting talent to his line. This goal is one example of how it can look like.
Home cooking
The Penguins kicked off their scoring with a Pontiac, Michigan native. Bryan Rust scored his 16th goal of the season by a feed from who else, but Sidney Crosby.
I’ve been critical of Rust in this space recently, but it was never about his offensive ability. He is still someone who is very viable as an offensive threat. He has points in six straight games with four goals and four assists during this stretch.
Last year Rust set a career high with 31 goals. With 16 goals in 38 games he is on pace for a new career high of 34. His 36 points in 38 games is on pace for a new career high of 76.
It is easier to overlook any defensive deficiencies when the offensive output is humming along like it is right now.
Punitive punishment for new Penguin
Egor Zamula hasn’t been a Penguin long and he may not be a Penguin long at all. He has refused to report to WB/S after the trade that brought him to Pittsburgh.
Honestly, who cares if he didn’t report to WB/S. The trade, in my estimation, was a favor to Philip Tomasino to not keep him stuck in an organization with no path back to the NHL. It was a nice gesture by Kyle Dubas to give a player he had no intention of giving any more looks to go somewhere else.
Zamula was just the random player the Penguins got back in the deal for making that gesture. If Zamula doesn’t want to show up, whatever. No harm, no foul. Neither player is going to be a difference maker at the NHL level.
The Penguins go right back to it tomorrow when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets at 3PM. The team will be looking for a season best five wins in a row.
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