The Penguins are climbing back into the thick of things after defeating the Winnipeg Jets in regulation. It was their sixth and seventh point in the standings out of the last possible eight. This is the kind of run they needed and they went out and accomplished it.
The game started off normal for what my expectations were. The Jets are capable of scoring goals and somebody from Pittsburgh’s top six would get things going. Then the unexpected happened. The Penguins bottom six actually showed a pulse. They got goals from Riley Sheahan, Derek Grant, and Zach Aston-Reese. I felt like a month’s worth of contributions from the bottom six the way things have gone this year. Riley Sheahan cleaned up a rebound, Derek Grant got a gift, and Zach Aston-Reese found himself in an area of the ice he excelled at in college and ripped the puck home.
It was a quantity over quality night for the Penguins
That approach might not have worked in 2017-18, but in 2018-19 Connor Hellebuyck is not the goalie he was last year. That Derek Grant goal is probably exhibit A.
Tonight the Penguins will be up against the Colorado Avalanche who have been on the rise since getting rid of Patrick Roy and making some interesting front office hires, namely Arik Parnass Dawson Sprigings, and Adam Urback. They were all hired after Roy’s departure.
Roy was with the organization from 2013 until August of 2016.
The biggest problem the Penguins are going to have tonight is defending one of the very best lines in hockey. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog are destroying everybody they come across. Their 5v5 points per 60 are as follows:
Rantanen 3.58 MacKinnon 3.14 Landeskog 2.18
The Rantanen and Mackinnon numbers are Crosby and Malkinesque from some of their better years. This seems like a job for Sidney Crosby and the Dumoulin/Letang pairing whenever possible. The problem will be Colorado having the last change. If I were coaching the Avalanche I would do everything in my power to get that line away from Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin. They will feast on the other pairings.
Thanks for reading!