How about those Pittsburgh Penguins? It was an offensive outburst akin to the early 90-’s Penguins/Sharks battles. After the long layoff due to COVID they tried scoring all the goals they missed out on during their hiatus in the first period. In fact, they tied a franchise record.
The @penguins scored six goals in the opening frame and matched their franchise record for the most in a first period achieved just once, on Feb. 21, 1976 (vs. CHI).#NHLStats: https://t.co/ewnNXbLFx9 pic.twitter.com/jLM5ICO68z
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 2, 2022
Here’s a breakdown of all the offense from the first period bonanza
Penguins points recap (so far) 🤯:
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 2, 2022
Rust 2G-1A
Rodrigues 2G
Heinen 2A
Pettersson 2A
Guentzel 1G
Bjorkqvist 1G
Crosby 1A
Simon 1A
Letang 1A
Dumoulin 1A
Zohorna 1A
Lafferty 1A
Marino 1A pic.twitter.com/tmtcNXFBsv
Nothing is stopping Evan Rodrigues this year. He scored another three goals and now has 13 on the year after a career high of nine. He’s having a career year and it is no fluke. Great underlying numbers? Check. Great offensive totals? Check. Normal PDO? Check. It has been an amazing season. Even when you looked at the things Rodrigues did well before this year nothing pointed to what he is doing right now. As a result, I’m starting to contemplate Rodrigues playing the third line center role and using Jeff Carter as a complementary winger in the top six. If Rodrigues is going to be an animal offensively, he may be the key to trying to recreate the 2015-16 vibe with three strong scoring lines. Spread the wealth. Nobody can say Mike Sullivan doesn’t have options if the team is healthy.
As for Rodrigues and his next contract? I’d rather pay him than Kapanen.
Congratulations are in order for Kasper Bjorkqvist after scoring his first NHL goal in his first ever NHL period of play. Always nice to see a callup have that kind of moment because you never know how much time you’ll have in the league.
Bjorkqvist: “Probably going to take [the puck] home; I have all the pucks from big games/big goals at my parents’. It’s a dream to play in the NHL; very appreciative of everyone who’s helped me so far.…
— Angie (@acarducci) January 2, 2022
Jake Guentzel might not technically have a point scoring streak anymore because of his injury, but he has points in his last 14 games he has played
Jake Guentzel scored in his return to the @penguins line-up and now has a point in each of his last 14 appearances (13-7—20 dating to Nov. 13, 2021).#NHLStats: https://t.co/ewnNXbLFx9 pic.twitter.com/YvPx4x46tY
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 2, 2022
Jake has been tremendous this year and it is nice to see the injury and layoff haven’t slowed him down.
Not to be outdone by Rodrigues’ hat trick Bryan Rust decided to score one of his own. He’s had a rough contract year. The three goals today is more than his season total (2) prior to this game. He now has five. Also
This is the first 5-point game of Rust's career (3-2-5).
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) January 2, 2022
Kris Letang had three helpers in the cause. He now has seven points in his last four games. Much like Malkin he is a must re-sign.
So while all of this is good it only takes one player to undo a lot of success and that is the goaltender. Casey DeSmith was pathetic and looked to be in early season form again. The Sharks stormed back into the game and at one point had five goals on only 20 shots. Thankfully, Evan Rodrigues stopped the bleeding late and gave the Penguins a 7-5 lead.
The Penguins would probably love to get back into action, but they’re going to have some more time off again. They don’t play again until they host the Blues on Wednesday.
Thanks for reading!