The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Wednesday night's contest against the Anaheim Ducks well rested and it showed. Two players who haven't played in a while had successful returns to the lineup.
Matt Murray played in his first game of the NHL season and was good. He stopped 32 out of the 33 shots he faced. Having Murray back is a great thing for the team as it should give proper rest to both he and Fleury moving forward. Both goalies are going to see their share of game action and when they do they shouldn't be overworked. Goaltending should be a positive for this team under the current setup.
Kris Letang didn't miss a beat. He and his partner Brian Dumoulin were on the ice for a team most 23 shot attempts at 5v5 and Letang also had a goal and an assist. Letang is one of the top players at his position in the league and with him back in the lineup we should be able to learn more from the team moving forward. Trying to analyze this team when it was missing Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, or both wasn't ideal in learning about what the 2016-17 Penguins can do. With the big three in the lineup we can start to get an accurate picture of this year's team.
Here is the kind of play that only Letang can make for the Penguins from the back end
The Penguins top six looks different than it did during the Cup run. HBK is no more and we have a line of Kunitz-Malkin-Kessel. It's a good line and does things like this
Everytime Phil Kessel makes a good pass we hear about his underrated passing skills. Folks, it isn't underrated. He's good at it. He's rated properly at this point. He displays this skill on a nightly basis.
Evgeni Malkin held the fort down and has played great in the absence of Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. The team overachieved in the standings and Malkin played a big role in that.
A look at how Malkin has attacked in the offensive zone this year since he has the most assists by a wide margin. #Pens pic.twitter.com/c5knZF1ksl
— Corey Sznajder (@ShutdownLine) November 3, 2016
Malkin to Kessel is Pittsburgh's most common shot combo at 5v5 this year and they've only been a line for a few games.
— Corey Sznajder (@ShutdownLine) November 2, 2016
Malkin leads the Penguins with 57 primary shot assists at 5v5 play. Next closest player has 23.
— Corey Sznajder (@ShutdownLine) November 2, 2016
There will always be people that nitpick Evgeni Malkin's game but he remains elite at the things that matter. He creates as much as anybody in the sport. The stuff posted above matters more than any perceived shortcomings. Malkin has six goals and 11 points in ten games this year.
Sidney Crosby continues to play excellent hockey. He is playing so well that he could have had two assists on the same sequence.
Sid has a 5v5 points per 60 of 3.83 so far this year. That is only with a four game sample but it shows how great he's playing so far.
You'll notice that Scott Wilson is no longer on the top line. Carl Hagelin was bumped up to that spot in the lineup and the thought of Crosby getting that kind of speed on his line should make other teams worried. Patric Hornqvist remains with Crosby to complete the trio.
Pretty much everybody got in on the offensive action for Pittsburgh last night
Pens Points →
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 3, 2016
Malkin 1G
Cullen 1G
Rust 1G
Letang 1G
Hornqvist 1G
Kessel 1A
Kunitz 1A
Sestito 1A
Fehr 1A
Schultz 1A
Crosby 1A
Hagelin 1A
Tonight the Penguins play against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are still very good at tilting the ice against their opponents but they are terrible at scoring goals. They are the second worst team in the league and average 1.9 goals per game. Only the lowly Canucks generate less at 1.6 per game.
Their goalies aren't stopping the puck either. They have a even-strength save percentage of only .914 so far this year. Injuries are certainly playing a role (Gaborik, Quick), but Dean Lombardi's roster management is also starting to catch up with the team as well.
The Kings started the year 0-3, won their next four games, then lost another three in a row. With Pittsburgh having all of their impact players in the lineup they could be looking at their fourth loss in a row.
Thanks for reading!