The question heading into Saturday night’s game against the Calgary Flames was if they could build upon their impressive victory the night prior in Washington. In some regards they did and in others they did not.
For two periods the Flames controlled the bulk of the action and the Penguins headed into the third period trailing 1-0. When you have a good top six sometimes all you need is a period. The Penguins exploded for two goals the first minute of the third period and then added three others to defeat Calgary 5-2.
The top six is carrying the team right now. Every single goal this season has been scored by a top six forward. It shows there’s still bite on this roster and they can make team pays. It also highlights one of the biggest issues heading into the season, which is scoring depth. At some point they need to get contributions from the players lower on the roster. Prior to the goal explosion by the top six through two periods the Penguins had an xGF% of only 25.0. The best CF% by an individual player for the entire game was Erik Karlsson at only 37.84. It was ultimately a fun game, but not one where I would try and steal the blue print from.
Evgeni Malkin added another goal and an assist after his four-point performance on Friday night. He’s been terrific to start the season and looks like he still has enough juice in his legs to make life difficult for the opposition this year. Malkin is not only firing on all cylinders on the ice, he is off the ice as well
Malkin on his hot start to the season: "I hope tomorrow the season is over and I win Hart Trophy!" 😂
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 15, 2023
We love Geno interviews. pic.twitter.com/aIFi2a5cDP
Malkin’s third-period tally ties him for the third-most goals by a Russian-born player in NHL history after Alexander Mogilny (473).
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 15, 2023
More jokes from Geno: "I didn’t think about that. I try to catch Ovechkin, maybe!"
One thing I loved seeing last night was Malkin ripping one timers from the right circle on the power play. It has been an underutilized asset for some time. A big change is going to be Erik Karlsson. Teams key on him more than they will Kris Letang and it is no slight on Letang. All options are on the table with Karlsson. He scored 25 times last year. They have to respect his shooting lane, thus opening up others. I’m willing to bet Karlsson is going to consistently put the puck in Malkin’s wheelhouse and we will see an uptick in those kinds of goals. Last night we saw one ripped off the post. It could easily be a goal the next time out.
Overall, I thought the power play looked decent enough. There were multiple close calls. The players are shooting pucks and it is creating chaos for the penalty killers. It causes them to leave their formation and when that happens the lanes the Penguins want will open up. You have to create the chaos first because NHL penalty killers are very disciplined and the systems are more aggressive in pursuing the predictable passes.
Reilly Smith is starting to hit his stride. He has goals in back to back games and looks dangerous multiple times a game. As advertised, he is a quality player in transition. Both goals so far this year have been quick strikes.
Bryan Rust won’t be getting a lot of power play time this year. Rickard Rakell is the first option as far as right-handed forwards go. His goal scoring is going to come at even-strength and he has three of those goals so far this season. In the very first game of the season he was skating into heavy traffic in the form of 1v3’s. That isn’t a good strategy, but the thing I noticed was his skating. He was getting it in gear when he was attempting those fruitless attempts. If he has his legs he is going to cause trouble out there. Looks like he has his legs.
We went from thinking Jake Guentzel was going to miss a few weeks to start the season to Guentzel having six points in the first three games of the season after a goal and two assists last night. What a fortunate development. He’s been such a huge part of the team’s success since he joined the team full time. The scary thing is I don’t even think he’s got his timing right, yet.
Alex Nedeljkovic did a great job in his Penguins debut. He faced a decent amount of rubber and kept most of it out. He stopped 34 out of 36 shots for a .944 save percentage. Given the fact Jarry is coming off a season plagued by injuries it is important for Mike Sullivan to be able to trust his backup goaltender to not overload Jarry with starts. This was a great start to the year in that regard. Both goaltenders have played really well and the team save percentage is at .934 in all situations.
The Penguins only have two games this week and should be well rested. They don’t play again until Wednesday when they visit Detroit and then Saturday when they visit St. Louis. Overall, the Penguins have been given a favorable schedule to start the season. There are no heavy hitters on the schedule to this point. These are the kinds of points they have to take. Things will ramp up in both opponent difficulty and a compact game schedule.
Thanks for reading!