And just like that we have Pittsburgh Penguins is back. There were no shortage of things to be happy about. The Penguins obliterated a truly pathetic Arizona Coyotes side who are going to scrape to hit double digit wins this year. If you missed this one shame on you for six weeks because all the players you tune in to watch did the things you want them to.
Six Penguins had a multi-point night including: Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Kris Letang, Jason Zucker, Bryan Rust, and Danton Heinen. Evgeni Malkin, Kasperi Kapanen, Jeff Carter, Jeff Petry, and Marcus Pettersson all added a single point. There was a lot to like.
Let’s start with Sidney Crosby entering his 18th(!) season for the Penguins, a new team record. In year 18 he did something he has yet to do, score the very first goal of the season. He scored two minutes into the season on a great feed by who other than Jake Guentzel.
A Sidney Crosby hockey first? You don’t see that every day.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 13, 2022
For the first time in Sidney Crosby’s career, he has scored the first Penguins goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/vJ5bfnYG1A
Sidney Crosby added two assists on the night and looked terrific throughout the game. It is a theme you are going to notice when talking about Penguins players. I think it would be irresponsible to point out just how bad I think the Coyotes are, but that isn’t on the Penguins. They can only deal with what is placed in front of them and the captain did just that.
Evgeni Malkin looked like his old self. Skating looked strong and he had the puck quite a bit. It was a perfect opponent to start with so he can get things going. It’s always nice scoring a goal, but I think the way he looked throughout the game was a great sign for how he is going to handle his business this year. Through two periods he had a 92.48 xGF% to go along with his goal and his 6.1M cap hit. Having Bryan Rust and Jeff Petry on a regular basis is going to help out quite a bit.
It was almost taken away from Malkin via a low bridge cheap shot from Shayne Gostisbehere.
Shayne Gostisbehere through a dangerous hit on Evgeni Malkin. Suspension worthy? pic.twitter.com/ajl7KY8nnZ
— CenterIceHockey (@CenterIcefb) October 14, 2022
Malkin’s other winger looked pretty good in his own right, last night. Jason Zucker scored the second goal of the season and looked like the player the Penguins thought they were getting when they made the trade. I feel strongly about his positive regression this year and while his cap hit of 5.5M was certainly a risk to carry into the season I think having Zucker playing to his ability will balance out the top six. Zucker is one of those players that can make or break the Penguins season. To get him back to giving quality top six minutes would be really helpful.
If you make milkshakes in the Pittsburgh area there was probably some PTSD going on. If the Penguins are playing it means Jake Guentzel is scoring goals.
milkshake factory employees when hockey season starts & it’s half off jake shake day every single shift pic.twitter.com/RDsImXfqhl
— ego (@notmalkinego) October 13, 2022
The bad angle shot was nice, but how about a shout out to Evgeni Malkin on that faceoff. It was Malkin, not Crosby, on the left side draw. Geno won it to himself and instead of pushing it to the point or down low which is what 99% of players would do he swung the puck far side to really open things up. Plays like that don’t always hit. The risk reward is usually pretty good with #71.
I haven’t brought up Rickard Rakell yet. He is the only member of the top six who did not register a goal. Don’t worry, he played really well up on the top line. He registered seven shots on goal. The goals and points will come. He certainly didn’t look out of place.
Jeff Petry looked the part and will be a nice addition to the back end. I wasn’t necessarily looking to trade John Marino and get more expensive on the second pairing. After things settled and Petry was acquired as the replacement it made more sense. Petry will be the best right-handed shot defenseman the Penguins have had in a number of years, not named Kris Letang. He will fuel things for the second line in a good way.
Things are going to get more difficult for the Penguins tomorrow. They are set to face the Tampa Bay Lightning and even if they aren’t the same Lightning team who has been one of the best teams of the cap era, they are light years ahead of whatever the Coyotes are.
Thanks for reading!