The Pittsburgh Penguins are 1-0 in the Alex Nylander era after defeating the Blues by a score of 5-3. Alex Nylander had nothing to do with the victory, but he is now a Pittsburgh Penguin after the team moved on from Sam Lafferty earlier in the day.
It was the ninth consecutive victory for the Penguins and a much needed ninth victory in a row. Despite the impressive win streak, the team is still four points out of third place in the division. It isn’t easy to make up points in this league and this streak is proof of it.
This was an impressive performance by the Penguins even if they had to come from behind to win. It isn't common for the Blues to lose when they are leading after two periods
#STLBLUES suffer first regulation loss since 1/5/2019 when leading after 2 periods (77-0-12) #NHL
— Eric Hornick (@ehornick) January 6, 2022
It was another clunker performance by Casey DeSmith while Jordan Binnington did his best to thwart the Penguins earlier in the game before they were able to break through. This was the only reason the game was close. Pittsburgh outshot the Blues 41-29 and out attempted them at 5v5 51-35. Strong performance.
We had some themes continuing with Evan Rodrigues continuing his remarkable season. He scored the game winning goal. Bryan Rust is officially out of his slump after two more goals. Sidney Crosby had yet another multi-point game. While Kris Letang continues to rack up assists.
It has been nice to sit back and watch Evan Rodrigues this season. He went from being a 13th forward last year on a team with depth issues to an absolute stud this year. Here’s his goal
EVAN RODRIGUES ARE YOU KIDDING ME pic.twitter.com/lqObJChKVu
— Danny Shirey (@DannyShireyPGH) January 6, 2022
As for Sidney Crosby he got into a dustup with another Blues player (Nkko Mikkola) and was cut
— Danny Shirey (@DannyShireyPGH) January 6, 2022
Let’s talk about Kris Letang. He is on pace for 67 assists this year. That would be a career high. What makes this more impressive is that his career high in points is 67. He might tie that just with assists this year. I had concerns heading into this season with Letang and his ability to drive play. Not only has he silenced those, but his tangible offense continues to be elite. He remains one of the most underappreciated star players of his era. I can’t really come up with many scenarios where you just don’t pay him what he wants moving forward even given his age. How in the world do you replace what he brings?
Tristan Jarry wasn’t scheduled to start, but after Desmith let in three goals on 16 shots Mike Sullivan saw enough. He put Jarry in even though he was already scheduled to start tonight’s game against Philadelphia. Jarry responded going 13 for 13 and keeping the Penguins in the game. The backup goaltender position is a position of need at this point. I have seen Jaro Halak get mentioned on Twitter and I don’t think somebody like that would be a horrible idea. In 8 games this year he has a .915 save percentage. A perfect veteran backup option. Given Vancouver’s place in the standings it would be in their best interest to deal the pending UFA.
Penguins and Flyers tonight. Should be the last game without Evgeni Malkin. Enjoy
Thanks for reading!