Penguins Update: It…Could…Work!

In one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, Young Frankenstein, Dr. Froderick Fronkensteen (brilliantly played by Gene Wilder) exclaims, “It…could…work!” in glassy-eyed wonder after reading about how his grandfather brought the original creature to life.

After reading a glowing account on Pittsburgh Hockey Now of yesterday’s full-on intra-squad scrimmage, I’m feeling more than a twinge of excitement along with some hope that maybe…just maybe…this is a better Penguins team than I envisioned.

For the record, Team Gold (led by Evgeni Malkin) defeated Sidney Crosby’s Team Black by a score of 5-4. Malkin, Sam Lafferty, Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker and Kris Letang scored for the winners. Crosby, Mark Jankowski (two goals) and Mike Matheson struck for the losers.

Here are the lineups:

Team Gold (Forwards)–Jason Zucker, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Sam Lafferty, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sceviour, Drew O’Connor, Josh Currie, Nathan Legare, Jordan Nolan (Defense)–Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Juuso Riikola, Chad Ruhwedel, Cam Lee (Goal)—Tristan Jarry, Alex D’Orio

Team Black (Forwards)–Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby, Evan Rodrigues, Jared McCann, Mark Jankowski, Brandon Tanev, Sam Poulin, Frederick Gaudreau, Anthony Angello, Radim Zohorna (Defense)–Mike Matheson, John Marino, Marcus Pettersson, Cody Ceci, P-O Joseph, Kevin Czuczman (Goal)—Casey DeSmith, Maxime Lagace

Forward Sam Miletic and defensemen Josh Maniscalco and Zach Trotman and did not dress for the scrimmage. Neither did Zach Aston-Reese…still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery…and Kasperi Kapanen, newly arrived from Finland on Saturday and presently going through COVID quarantine.

Shining Stars

The top six forwards look impressive, creating all sorts of scoring opportunities. Lafferty has enjoyed an outstanding camp and looks to be a legit third-liner. Sceviour, one of two new dads (Rust being the other), has been noticeable while displaying good wheels. Jankowski has some positive momentum…perhaps he’s regaining his confidence. O’Connor was quiet yesterday but has enjoyed a good camp. And Legare is drawing attention with his shot and feisty, competitive nature.

On defense, Ceci (one of my chief worries) apparently has been solid and is skating better than anticipated. He’s been paired with Pettersson, who was an effective partner for Jack Johnson. Matheson has teamed with Marino on what has the potential to be a high-reward pairing, with the cool, efficient Marino covering the former’s tail a la Dumoulin-Letang.

According to a team insider, Joseph appears to be NHL ready. A nice problem to have.

In goal, Jarry is reading plays easily and naturally and could be poised for a monster season. He’s allowed only one goal (Matheson’s) in the training camp scrimmages.

Another positive. According to observers, the team is noticeably faster than they were last fall.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Express

The Pens placed four players on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to the Baby Pens…Currie, Gaudreau, Czuczman and Trotman.

Lid Lifter

The black and gold open the season in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and play a return match against the Flyers on Friday before returning to the ‘Burgh for a matinee game against Washington on Sunday.

I’m excited for the season to start. Go Pens!