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No reason to get caught up in style points with this team

March 8, 2023, 4:29 PM ET [66 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
There are a few ways one could look at the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. One focus would be the five unanswered goals which led to a much needed two points. Another would be falling behind 4-0 to the worst team in the Eastern Conference. The two extremes are the reality of this very flawed team. This is the Penguins situation. They are a playoff caliber team, but not a good one. You’re going to get high highs and low lows. The most important thing is the Penguins did get two points against a lowly team. Given the stretch in the schedule they have coming up it would have been a horrendous loss to take.

Tristan Jarry started this contest and exited after allowing four goals on 12 shots. It is a deflating performance from the Penguins #1 guy, especially against the opponent they played. Casey DeSmith came in and fortunately stopped all 15 shots he faced. A typical DeSmith performance would not have been good enough. He was on it and it allowed the Penguins to claw back. He saved the game later in the third period with a great pad save




Alex Nylander played his first NHL game in 3 years and did a decent job. He’s had a long road back and he earned the difficult road through uninspired play at the beginning of his career. The fourth line Alex Nylander on the Rochester Americans was a real bad player. This year in WB/S he has 50 points in 54 games. Given the Penguins bottom six scoring issues he makes sense as a call up. I’m willing to see what he has to offer at the NHL level for a sample of games. The issue is the Penguins cap situation. He was recalled on an emergency basis.


Bryan Rust will be back shortly. He and his wife are expecting their newborn (perhaps could have been born already) so his absence was not injury related.

Jason Zucker had two goals and now has 21 on the season. He has six goals in his last six games. This team would be in a world of hurt without Zucker’s contributions. He’s been healthy and he’s been very effective. Prior to this season Zucker’s goal total with the team was 23 goals. It is going to be a very interesting contract negotiation in the summer. The Penguins aren’t just going to replace a healthy Zucker easily. Zucker could be one of the cap casualties as a result of the Mikael Granlund trade.

Sidney Crosby capped off the comeback with a great one-timer goal on the power play in overtime. He finished with a goal and two assists for the first star of the game. He’s got 76 points in 63 games. He’s sitting on 28 goals now and is on the cusp of hitting the 30-goal mark for the 11th time in his career. It’s a real shame we are still getting amazing Crosby seasons and the supporting cast is likely not close to being good enough.

Evgeni Malkin added three helpers and has 66 points in 63 games. His outstanding season continues, too.

Up next are the New York Islanders. The current placeholders of the #1 wild card spot with 74 standings points. The Penguins are right behind them at 73, but with three games in hand. The Islanders won last night although it might have actually helped the Penguins. They beat the Buffalo Sabres who I feel are a more dangerous and interesting team.

Much like the Columbus game the Penguins need to take two points against the Islanders. Style points be damned.

Thanks for reading!
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