By Brian Metzer
If nothing else, this season is looking like it’s going to be a blast!
While the Penguins are giving up opportunities, they are creating a ton for themselves. That offensive creativity helped them score enough to hold off a late comeback bid on Saturday and they managed to beat the Monreal Canadiens 6-5 in overtime.
Those six goals push their season total to 13 in just two games, and they are among the highest scoring teams in the league through week one. If they can maintain this kind of offensive production, they’ll likely be in most games, but to become a strong playoff contender, they’ll have to improve their defensive play.
Don’t get me wrong, they have done a lot of good things, but there are too many breakdowns and odd man rushes – including breakaways. This game could have gone a lot differently had Arturs Silvos faltered early on chances by Josh Anderson, Jake Evans and Nick Suzuki.
However – as Erik Karlsson said postgame – “but we won, so it’s all good!”
Here are five things to consider coming out of the Penguins home opener victory!
- Geno Machino, Chinny and Novak
These guys have been outstanding to start the season, and they have the look of a line that could dominate on a nightly basis. They combined for 7 points this evening and could have had another goal if Chinakov’s great individual effort wasn’t overturned due to the play being offside. Evgeni Malkin is healthy and is galloping around the ice like he used to do in the glory days. Egor Chinakov is far from the one-dimensional player many in the Columbus organization thought him to be. He can skate, stick handle, pass and shoot. His feed to Tommy Novak on a two-on-one was a thing of beauty. The aforementioned individual effort was even more beautiful. He danced down the wing and into the goalmouth before finishing with a quick backhand forehand deke. It’s also worth noting that Malkin is working hard and getting to the dirty areas. He did just that in scoring his power play goal this evening. He essentially dove to knock the puck in… we’re seeing a hungry Malkin.
- Man-Kindel
Ben Kindel returned to the lineup and looked to be shot out of a cannon. His skating is noticeably better. He looks bigger and stronger and seems primed for a breakout. He came close to scoring on a great individual shorthanded effort that saw him speed after a puck and into the Habs’ zone. He got behind the defender enough to open himself up for a shot. He scored a power-play goal by tipping an Erik Karlsson shot in the high slot and managed five shots on goal. Sadly, his line was on the ice for a handful of goals and he finished minus-3 and he needs to work on his faceoffs a bit, but overall – this is a guy he looks ready to take the next step.
- Faceoff Woes
Some of the Penguins biggest issues tonight popped up due to their inability to win faceoffs. They managed to win only one of the final seven draws in regulation, lost the only one in OT and finished the evening winning only 44 percent (30 of 68). This followed a game in Philadelphia where they won only 38 percent of their draws (22 of 58). It’s worth noting that Sidney Crosby has taken 49 of the 126 faceoffs in their first two games. Roughly 39 percent. He has won 49 percent of them. The rest of the team has won just 41 percent of their draws (52 of 126). This is one of the areas that suffered by losing Noel Acciari. This has got to improve moving forward or there will be a lot more lost leads.
- D to O
The Penguins got two goals from defensemen tonight and have already seen their blueline account for 14 points in two games. Their defense has rolled up 25 shots on goal in their two games and they’re activating often. Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson have accumulated six assists between them but what’s even more impressive is that they Sam Girard and Kaeden Korczak have also accounted for six points (1G-5A). I’m not sure I anticipated this sort of production from the Penguins blue line this season but it’s going to be a big catalyst for any successes they have moving through the year. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the play of Declan Carlile again too – he has been solid as a rock and he managed a pretty goal in this game.
- Super Mario World
He’s baaack! Or so it seems. Le Magnifique – Mario Lemieux – joined Owner and Governor, Geoff Hoffman and Doug McGregor, son of late Penguins founder Jack McGregor, at center ice for a ceremonial faceoff before the game. Lemieux, who’s appearances at PPG Paints Arena were few and far between while FSG owned the team, started to pop up a bit more last season once word broke that the Hoffmans were close to taking over. He received a huge pop in the building and as Josh Yohe put it during an interview with me during the first intermission this evening – Penguins fans just feel better when Mario is around. I think we all do, if I’m being honest. Let’s hope that this appearance tonight is the first of many this season and a renewed connection to the team fostered by the Hoffman family.
