The Penguins were looking like they would be healthy heading into the game, but that lasted all of like 20 minutes. Jason Zucker has apparently been put back on injured reserve. It didn’t matter as far as the Senators were concerned. The Penguins had enough firepower to withstand the Senators comeback attempt.
Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Jake Guentzel were the usual suspects who scored goals for the Penguins. Mike Matheson scored twice for the first time since he was a Panther. And one of the rarest occurrences also happened with Dominik Simon finding the back of the net.
When Crosby and Malkin score it is not good news for the other team
It was a good thing the goals were coming because the Penguins didn’t have a great showing overall. They were outplayed for the most part losing the shot attempt battle 40-55 at 5v5 while only having a 45.85 xGF%. The Penguins top line and top pairing have seen better days on this front.
Even with the the flow of play working against them they showed why they are still hard to keep contained. Both Crosby and Guentzel had a goal. Bryan Rust had two helpers while Kris Letang had one.
Mike Matheson has really taken to his role this season.
All those numbers are impressive in a vacuum. I do wonder how many other players making close to 5M would flourish in a sheltered bottom pairing role, though. Regardless, the results speak for themselves, it would really be a problem if he was not taking advantage of the cushy minutes. He is and the Penguins are better for it at the moment.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record Evan Rodrigues makes the situation more palatable/possible than it could be because without it the Penguins would be scrambling to find another impact forward, but with no cap space or assets to do so.
The drop pass power play breakout has its critics, but when you have the talented players the Penguins do I find it to be one of the best tactical developments in the past five years or so. It creates a truly unideal situation for the penalty killers and if you have the talent to run it the ability to gain the zone with possession instead of dumping it in goes way up. Even if you are forced to dump it in you have the players coming forward with speed with the defense flat footed while waiting for their gaps to close again. While it is more useful on average to be a controlled zone entry. Sometimes it works great as an end to end rush.
Yes, it certainly helps when Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin are the ones accepting the drop pass. Not all teams have a luxury such as that, but the Penguins do and you can see what it does to the defenders. This was Crosby’s first power play goal in 30 games and it was a throwback to the times where he was more aggressive attacking on the rush. Nice to see.
Evgeni Malkin has played five games since returning. He now has three goals and five points. Many times in the past it takes Malkin a little while to get things going. Looks like this might be the exception to the rule, which is great.
It was only an empty net goal, but a goal is a goal and Guentzel is now up to 21 on the season. He has points in 21 of his last 22 games and now has goals in three straight games. It doesn’t feel like it yet the season is not even halfway over. Guentzel is on pace for a career high in goals even when you hold the games he missed due to injury against him. He is on pace for 44 goals. If he were hypothetically healthy that total would go up to 52 goals at an 82-game pace. He is certainly a worthy all star player.
The Penguins are right back at it against the Blue Jackets this evening.
Thanks for reading!
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