The first game in the Rickard Rakell era was a strong one for the Penguins. They absolutely dominated the Columbus Blue Jackets and finished with a 5-1 victory. All the big guns got in on the action. Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and Bryan Rust were responsible for four of the five goals with Sidney Crosby adding three assists.
New Penguins Rickard Rakell made his debut and he was not with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. He started his Penguins tenure with Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen. This is not the long term plan according to Mike Sullivan.
Mike Sullivan says he doesn't see Rickard Rakell being left wing with Jeff Carter in the big picture.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) March 23, 2022
"If we had put him in the top-6 tonight, it may have been a tough and unfair challenge." Said they'll move people around as Rakell and the Penguins build familiarity.
It coincided with one of Kapanen’s better games. I think Kapanen has gone over the numbers in his head and realized if he doesn’t get it together he isn’t going to be one of the 12 forwards Mike Sullivan is going to go with when the roster is completely healthy. The issue with Kapanen isn’t the talent. It is the unreliable nature of how he goes about his business. A game like last night makes the games where he is a dud more frustrating. He is clearly capable of playing well and utilizing his raw skillset. It’s just been few and far between this year. A lot of times his only value is if he scores a goal while the rest of his game is empty. Last night he almost scored, but was doing other positive things throughout the game which makes not scoring fine. He has to show this is the new standard through multiple games.
I can’t stress enough how great it is to see Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby getting some run together at 5v5 after the Penguins kill a penalty. I’ve been pleading for this for years. Mike Sullivan has never been a big fan of utilizing one of the best duos in the sport at 5v5. It has been puzzling and disappointing. A true blind spot for a coach who does so many other things well. Are things changing? They might be.
With Dan Bylsma from 2008-14 the duo played 881 minutes together at 5v5 for an average of 146 minutes per year. From 2015-16 to 2020-21 Malkin and Crosby only played 103 minutes of 5v5 time together, a pathetically low number. It only amounts to about 17 minutes per season. This year the duo has only played 15:46 together at 5v5, but the good news is 10:54 of it has come in the last four games. This is a new development. One that needs to continue. If you extrapolate their usage the last four games together it would amount to 225 minutes of 5v5 time in an 82 game season. Back in line with Bylsma's usage which was one of his strengths as a coach. I had given up hope this was going to be a thing with Mike Sullivan. It would be a great development for the team if this continues to happen. It has to continue. Why wouldn't you do it?
Jake Guentzel scored his 30th goal of the season. I have nothing unique to add. I love watching him play and his chemistry with Crosby is through the roof. Given this chemistry is unflappable I would strongly consider playing Jason Zucker up on the top line. Zucker wasn’t playing bad this year. Zucker played well in his sample with Sidney Crosby when he first arrived to Pittsburgh. There’s nothing to lose by trying it out.
Bryan Rust is up to 21 goals on the year. It doesn’t matter if he is with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. He is going to add the speed and tenacity to help free up time and space for those two centers. His finishing ability has developed impressively well throughout his career. I think the Penguins have to just give him his 6x6 (or somewhere in the neighborhood) contract and figure out the cap in other areas. The chances of replacing his production from outside the organization are very low. Just buck up. I think he has at least three more decent years in him. Who cares about what happens after that.
The Penguins are right back in action tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. We’ll see how Mike Sullivan constructs his lines. He might be waiting for a full practice to put Rakell with one of the big guys. He might not. Will be interesting to see if he sticks with the lineup which found great success yesterday.
Thanks for reading!