The Penguins did what they had to do. It wasn’t flashy and it wasn’t a dominant performance. It was two points earned in the standings against a bottom feeder. The only acceptable result, really. It was a comfortable 5-2 win for the most part. At times it looked like a preseason game. Was Dustin Jeffrey going to get some power play time?
The good from the game is the same as it has been. Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen continue to create offense. Malkin has officially turned the corner and looks like his former self. He is on a six game point streak where he has nine points. His points per 60 at 5v5 has climbed to 2.27. The concerns about him can be put on the back burner for now.
Tristan Jarry not only got the victory, but if not for a Buffalo player’s glove he just might have scored a goal. Jarry is known for his ability to play the puck and I think he has as good of a chance as any goalie in the league to score a goal in his career. He already has one in the AHL. He earned an assist on the play anyways. With his assist he now has three on the year which is the same number of points as Mark Jankowski, Colton Sceviour, and more than Marcus Pettersson. Jarry’s attempt on goal was closer to going in than anything Jankowski has done in 22 games.
Anthony Angello scored against his hometown team which is always a great moment for a depth player with a small NHL sample.
WHAT. A. BEAUTY.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 12, 2021
Angello gets his first goal of the season and the second of his career. pic.twitter.com/qeyHhvFs0y
#SidDownLow on the power play is undefeated. Keep him away from the left half please and thank you
JAKE GUENTZ-GOAL! 🚨
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 12, 2021
Guentzel has six points in his last six games (2G-4A)... And you have half off Jake's Shakes tomorrow at @MShakeFactory. pic.twitter.com/q4KyDGYGeZ
This is torture for a goalie. Running the power play from below the goal line with a player of Crosby’s caliber creates so many issues not only for the goalie, but for the penalty killers as well. Look at all the eyes on Crosby. They lose their marks behind them. The goalie can’t track the puck. You have Guentzel, who is an elite shooter, wide open and has time to pick his spot. I would love to see this look more often and see some variations of movement working off of this look.
What I didn’t like in the game was Zach Aston-Reese’s BS hit on Dylan Cozens.
Dylan Cozens has not returned to the game since this hit by Aston-Reese early in the third, which went unpenalized. Hard check at a dangerous distance away from the boards pic.twitter.com/wEHZIMkkUZ
— NHL Safety Watch (@NHLSafetyWatch) March 12, 2021
There was absolutely no need for it. The play was over and the puck was gone. If Tom Wilson through that hit on a Penguin people would be livid. They should have the same reaction when a Penguin does it. Furthermore, the larger point here is that while Zach Aston-Reese is a fine depth player I don’t really care or go out of my way to watch him play hockey. I'd rather watch Dylan Cozens play hockey any day of the week than see a 4th liner like ZAR be legally able to make a hit like that. That is for sure. Cozens left down the tunnel wobbly and did not return.
Chad Ruhwedel followed the Aston-Reese hit up by kneeing Rasmus Dahlin less than ten minutes later.
Dahlin takes a hit from Ruhwedel #LetsGoBuffalo #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/ah4U1AoegO
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) March 12, 2021
We’ve all watched the Penguins this year. They haven’t gone out of their way to hit anybody. To have two hits like the ones we saw so close to one another was a weird look and not a good one. A knee to knee hit is obviously considered dirty, but I find it more of an accidental reaction a lot of times. You get beat and you reactively try to get a piece of the player. The Aston-Reese hit wasn’t reactionary. It was just flat out bad. That said, I have no issue suspending players for the hit Chad Ruhwedel gave last night. Dahlin fortunately returned to the game and avoided what could have been a terrible injury.
There is huge NHL news from the other day I wanted to touch on. ESPN is getting back into the NHL business and I think it is a great thing. The exposure is going to be amazing for the league. ESPN is still the gold standard for mass sports consumption. The NHL was flat out ignored for close to 15 years. Think about the ESPN personalities using their massive social media outreach to promote the game. Sure, I don’t particularly care for Stephen A Smith, but he was tweeting about the NHL yesterday. That is a good thing for the league. They will be able to create a footprint in markets that were previously untouchable for them.
In the please don’t get my hopes up only to crush them department…
Could Gary Thorne return as ESPN's NHL voice?
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) March 10, 2021
“I’d love to talk about it with ESPN and see what direction they’re going to take with it, " Thorne said.
Read the full interview with @richarddeitsch here ⤵ï¸https://t.co/i5wYK3jVjL
Sign me the hell up. It is so deflating Gary Thorne has been out of hockey for so long at the NHL level. Think about all the amazing Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr moments that have Thorne on the call. He elevated the moment every single time.
One of the negatives is it will be a lot harder to ignore John Buccigross and his middle school lunch table babble. Hopefully they lean into Greg Wyshynski more than Buccigross for NHL coverage.
Last, but certainly not least, this legend returns