Proper bounce back (Penguins)

Penguins

Proper bounce back

By Ryan Wilson

Oct 11, 2024 • 11:45 am

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The Penguins could not afford to follow up their very disappointing opening night with another lopsided loss. They avoided the ten-alarm fire two games into the season. What they did was put together a quality performance in a 6-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. A team who will likely be fighting for the same playoff spot the Penguins would have their eyes on.

Now things didn’t start great. Detroit had the early advantage in play and cashed in on an Alex DeBrincat goal and had me feeling like here we go again. To Pittsburgh’s credit they were able to answer with one of Anthony Beaulivier’s two goals on the night. When the second period hit the Penguins poured it on with five goals in the remaining two periods. The game chart did a 180 from the night prior

Erik Karlsson led the way with a quality performance with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin not far behind. When things go well for the Penguins on most nights this is what it is going to look like. The big stars are going to have to be near the top of these kinds of charts and some depth players are going to have to come along for the ride.

Evgeni Malkin finished the night with two* assists and the the second one was a milestone. He now has 800 career assists to his name.

*Malkin had an assist nullified by a video review for… a hand pass. It was a hand pass on review, but I was unaware you were even able to challenge such a thing and I’m not really sure you should be able to. Replay in hockey has overwhelmingly had a negative impact on goals and a lot of times for things that don’t really impact the authentic flow of the game.

Malkin did end up earning that assist and here is some context to showcase just how impressive it is for Malkin to earn 800 assists in his career.

That is pretty cool company to be keeping. While he isn’t going to catch Jagr I think he has a decent chance to catch Lidstrom in the next two years and if the current contract isn’t his last NHL contract he can certainly catch Mikita.

Now while that is impressive, I find this context to be even more impressive

I’m also happy to report that Evgeni Malkin still got that gallop

And finally, a big congratulations Joel Blomqvist who earned his first career win in his first career start stopping 29 out of 32 shots. He made some big saves while the game was still in the balance and allowed the Penguins to keep pushing forward. He’s a huge variable in the future of the goaltending position for the Penguins. For now, he can provide a depth role when needed and shouldn’t have to feel the pressure of an every night starter. This was a nice start to what could be a long career.

Thanks for reading!

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