Over the past few days, a number of hockey fans at Wright’s Gym have asked me what I thought of our Penguins through the early going. I confessed that I hadn’t seen enough of them to form an opinion, especially since they were playing on the West Coast.
“I think it might be a case of smoke and mirrors,” I offered.
Well, after last night’s thoroughly convincing 5-1 thrashing of Vancouver at PPG Paints Arena? The Pens just might be making a believer out of me.
It has less to do with the Canucks, admittedly not being the second coming of the 1970s’ Canadiens dynasty, and more about the way we played. Fast, direct, north-south. Dare I say, relentless.
I almost felt sorry for the Canucks.
It’s a far cry from the past few seasons under Mike Sullivan. A lather-rinse-repeat of dump the puck in, retrieve it (or attempt to), cycle, then kick it back to the point.
Under Dan Muse, it seems we’re generating a lot more opportunities off the rush. Everyone’s getting into the act. In particular, at the ripe old age of 39, Evgeni Malkin looks reborn. Geno’s galloping up and down the ice like a frisky colt. Amazing what a (competent) set of linemates can do.
More on that in a bit.
At the opposite end of the age spectrum, I continue to be impressed as all get-out with Ben Kindel. In particular, his reads, the quick little plays he makes, the surprising bursts of speed and the details in his game for one so young. I don’t know if he’ll stick beyond his nine-game trial or return to junior. But I can say with unequivocal surety the Pens have themselves a player.
I could go on and on. Arturs Silovs, who stopped 23 of 24 shots and looks every bit like he deserves to be splitting the netminding chores with Tristan Jarry.
Our patchwork defense, where the sum of the parts adds up to a whole lot more than the individual cogs. Echoes of the Miami Dolphins “No-Name Defense” from the ‘70s.
And, of course, the “Mutants” or whatever you’d like to call them. Last night, they were pretty much dominated 5v5. Yet when the final tally was done, the trio combined for six points, including a goal and two assists by Justin Brazeau and a goal and a helper by Anthony Mantha.
How do you begin to match up with all that beef, not to mention skill? You can try to keep them penned up in the corral, but eventually they’re going to bust loose.
An irresistible combined force.
Kudos to Kyle Dubas for rolling the free-agent dice on Brazeau and Mantha.
Did I mention the job Muse and his staff are doing?
To sum up, yes, it’s only one game. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that our guys have yet to face a top-notch opponent.
Still, they’re giving this old hockey fan a reason to believe.
Puckpourri
Connor Dewar (deflection), Tommy Novak (snipe) and Sidney Crosby (snipe part deux) scored our other goals. With his tally, Sir Sid eclipsed “Le Magnifique,” Mario Lemieux for the most combined points (regular season and playoffs) in franchise history.
Kris Letang picked up a pair of assists to reach 600 for his career, placing him 20th on the all-time list for NHL defensemen. It should be noted, on the heels of an article where I suggested we play Tanger on a rotating basis.
Yes, I haven’t lost my touch…lol.
Following the big guy’s handsy goal, PP colleague Caleb DiNatale texted, “Is Brazeau our Tage Thompson?”
Dare we dream.
I’ve mentioned this before, but Caleb Jones can skate. Seems to make a lot of little, under-the-radar plays that can easily go unnoticed.
It’s not necessarily a shared opinion, but Novak impresses me with his combination of size, speed and skill. His goal was his first in nine games as a Penguin dating back to last season.
Former Pens Drew O’Connor, Marcus Pettersson and Pierre-Olivier Joseph dressed against their former mates and were a combined minus-4 on the evening. It was POJ’s first appearance of the season.
Up next, the Pens (5-2) visit Florida on Thursday night to take on the banged-up Panthers (4-4). The defending Cup champs are minus Aleksander Barkov, former Pen Dmitri Kulikov and Matthew Tkachuk.
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Rick
I’m not sure Justin Brazeau is the next Tage Thompson, but he’s certainly impressed me with his soft hands and strong overall feel for the game. If I were Muse, I’d seriously consider giving him a look on the first power-play unit and instructing the big man to establish himself in front of opposing goalies and stay there.
Tonight’s game will be a test—even with several of Florida’s top players out—but it’s a winnable one. HCDM should definitely insert either Dumba or Clifton into the lineup for this matchup.
Update on some former Pens:
Zucker score his 4th goal of the season last night - Conor Timmons added (2) assists
Matheson scored the OT winner as the Habs beat Calgary 2-1