Josh Allen does not play for the Seattle Kraken and thus the Penguins path to victory was much easier than that of their Steelers counterpart. The Penguins do have Sidney Crosby and he scored not once, but another two goals leading his team to a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken.
The Penguins played a complete game against the hottest team in the league. The Kraken were on quite the winning streak heading into yesterday’s contest. Seattle had a nine-game winning streak while taking standings point(s) in 13 consecutive games. The previous five games they put up 23 goals. Tristan Jarry did not allow a single one. He now leads the NHL in shutouts.
New career high alert 🚨
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) January 15, 2024
Tristan Jarry's league-leading (…¼ï¸) five shutouts are a new single-season career-high mark. pic.twitter.com/yBgV4aM881
When Jarry has played well this year he’s been lights out. He did a great job coming in for Nedeljkovic the other night and followed it up with a terrific performance. The goaltending has remained a strength between the two goaltenders this year trading off hot stretches.
The Penguins got things going in the right direction with a Drew O’Connor goal very early in the second period. It was a nice quick hit strike where the Penguins got the puck north, got a clever touch pass from Malkin which led to a 2v1 opportunity for Rust and O’Connor
WHAT. A. PASS.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 15, 2024
Malkin, Rust, and O'Connor connect to give Pittsburgh the lead! pic.twitter.com/ABdDpb2TIm
The Captain scored one from distance with a one-timer. He’s brought a diversified attack portfolio this season and now has 26 goals at the halfway point of the season. He is on pace for his second career 50 goal season. He is on pace for 51 at the moment.
Hockey artistry. pic.twitter.com/9zxFJzTmlG
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 15, 2024
Today marks Sid's 98th career multi-goal game. Pens 81-12-5 in those.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) January 15, 2024
When Sid scores multiple goals in a regular season home GP, Pens are 43-3-2.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) January 15, 2024
Monday’s game was also the first time Brian Dumoulin has paid a visit to Pittsburgh since moving on.
Grateful for the 546 games and the lifetime of memories, @Du24theboyz 🥹 pic.twitter.com/3ik8hOr8Oc
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 15, 2024
Jesse Puljujarvi scored his first professional goal of the season for the Baby Penguins. He continues to work back from a double hip surgery. He seemed to be moving OK on this one
WELCOME TO THE PENS JESSE pic.twitter.com/3Cn5G1iv01
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 15, 2024
It seems plausible Puljujvarvi will be able to, at some point, get promoted to the big club and provide some functional minutes for a low price point. Exactly, the kind of thing they need with how they’ve allocated their cap money.
With the 3-0 victory the Penguins sit one point out of a playoff spot with games in hand on both the Red Wings and the Lightning. Up next they’ll face a shorthanded Vegas Golden Knights team on Saturday night. For now, they’ll have some time to prepare before heading out West.
Thanks for reading!