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Penguins excellent in first game back from bye week

January 9, 2017, 11:00 AM ET [77 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The long layoff did not appear to negatively impact the Pittsburgh Penguins. In their first game action of 2017, they comfortably defeated the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 6-2.


The above chart was created by Micah Blake McCurdy (@ineffectivemath). These charts are free at his Hockey Viz website after 2PM Atlantic time.

Here’s a rundown of the offensive production




Everybody wanted in on the scoring action last night.

Kris Letang had himself a game. The bye week was certainly beneficial to players who were recovering from injury and Letang would fall into that category of player. Letang led all skaters with 27:01 in ice time and dominated even-strength play. He even added a power play goal towards the end of the contest. Pittsburgh did a nice job without Letang in the lineup, but having him back and playing like he did last night totally changes the dynamic of the team.

Conor Sheary had a goal and an assist and with that, it extends his personal point streak to a career best four games. As Sheary’s sample with Sidney Crosby grows so has his success. He may not seem like your prototypical number one left-winger, but the results he is putting up speak to a player that is thriving in his role. Sheary’s 2.89 points per 60 at even-strength is only bested by Sidney Crosby on the Penguins and Sheary has also been very good on the possession front. He is making peanuts this year and will be due a nice raise in the offseason. He will be worth that raise (2.5-3.0M AAV).

The depth players for the Penguins got in on the offense last night as well. Eric Fehr and Scott Wilson both added a goal. The Penguins are a team littered with capable offensive players so when you are getting multiple goals from the fourth line they are going to be tough to beat. It’s been a rough year for Fehr, but the 2 on 1 sequence with Matt Cullen was very nice.

Chris Kunitz scored his fourth even-strength goal of the year. His shooting percentage hasn’t been where it usually is and his goal total has suffered as a result. Olli Maatta earned the assist on this play by activating down low and making a great feed.



Chris Kunitz’s goal total is really not that impressive, but it is in line with some of the other wingers on the team. That goal ties him with Carl Hagelin for goals at even-strength and puts him one ahead of Patric Hornqvist. Here is a snapshot of 5v5 goal scoring for the Penguins this year courtesy of Hockey Analysis:



If you told me that Eric Fehr would be struggling the way he has and still have the same amount of 5v5 goals as Patric Hornqvist, Nick Bonino, Chris Kunitz, and Carl Hagelin I’m not sure I would have believed it, but here we are. The big three are doing their part and both Sheary and Rust deserve kudos for chipping in the way they have.

Sidney Crosby had two assists last night, but he no longer has the scoring lead. It was unlikely that Crosby was going to hold onto the scoring lead during the bye week and he didn’t. He is now four points back of McDavid in nine games less played.

Derrick Pouliot scored a nice goal in the Baby Penguins victory last night. He finished the night with three points.




If Pouliot ever wants to make a dent in the NHL (wherever that is) he doesn’t necessarily have to make plays like the highlight above, but he does need to start playing more assertively. His latest NHL sample had him playing passive and that does nothing to utilize the skill set he has. Passive Pouliot is not going to be an effective Pouliot.

After falling short of the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins all-time winning streak the Columbus Blue Jackets returned to their winning ways last night. Despite giving up the tying goal to Philadelphia in the final 20 seconds of the game they were resilient in overtime and earned the victory on a Nick Foligno goal. That win keeps the Blue Jackets ahead of the Penguins for the time being in the division.

Winning the division is a good idea for Pittsburgh because it would probably mean being the #1 seed in the conference. That would secure home-ice advantage and it has been an advantage for the Penguins this year. They have been unreal at home.




It looks as though a member of the Bonino family took in her first ever NHL game




Don’t look for the Pittsburgh Penguins to be wearing their Outdoor game jerseys from the Flyers game next year. Don’t look for any team in the NHL wearing anything other than their home or away jersey




This will affect some teams more than others. Pittsburgh made the switch full time to their “Pittsburgh Gold” jerseys so no worries on that front. They will still look great on a nightly basis.

Pittsburgh will go on the road for their next game on Wednesday which will be in Washington.

Thanks for reading!


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