Happy December 27th which of course is the anniversary of one of the best Penguins moments of all-time
On this day in 2000, Mario Lemieux made his comeback to the NHL and posted three points (1G-2A) in a 5-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. pic.twitter.com/sCshgjC3Px
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 27, 2023
If there was any doubt about Mario’s place in hockey’s pantheon this stretch of hockey put that to rest. Three years retired, 35 years old, mid-season return, deep in the clutch and grab era and he put up a 1.77 points per game. It was the highest of any individual player until Connor McDavid’s 2020-21 season. If the big guy came back earlier in the year he would have won the MVP in a landslide.
This was an exclamation point on being the best to ever do it. He transcends eras. You could pick and place Mario and put him in any decade and he’s still going to run wild and dominate. Simply the best.
Back to today’s task at hand the Pittsburgh Penguins have a divisional matchup today on Long Island. They have a stretch right now with three divisional games in four. Two are against the Islanders, including tonight, and the third one is against Washington. St. Louis is sandwiched in the middle. This is one of those stretches where taking 7 out of 8 points would go a long way in making up some ground. They need a stretch like that due to the underwhelming results earlier in the year.
Some new lines
Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell Smith-Malkin-O'Connor Zohorna-Eller-Puustinen Harkins-Acciari-Carter
Puustinen and O’Connor are making the switch. I would keep O’Connor in the bottom six. He’s been given a decent sample of top six time this year due to injuries and he just doesn’t jive well in that role. Puustinen is closer to a top six skill set and a better dice roll for me.
It’s do it or don’t time for the Penguins. Only 72 days until the trade deadline. Not a lot of time to make up points and be considered a playoff hopeful.
Thanks for reading!