Blake Comeau has had an unbelievable start to the year for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He already has 11 goals and 8 assists for 19 points which is way more than the 5 goals and 16 points he had in nearly twice as many games last season in Columbus. Comeau should be able to crack the 20 goal mark this season, assuming he stays healthy, which is something he hasn’t done since he was with the Islanders. He may also be able to break his career high of 46 points. So why is Comeau having such a stellar year in Pittsburgh?
Plays with Evgeni Malkin: Anytime a player gets to play with one of the best players in the world, they’re going to benefit on the stat sheet. That’s exactly what has happened for this year. Malkin has set him up with so many goals and I’m sure that will continue as the season goes on if they both stay healthy.
The good news is that they’re probably going to be playing with each other a lot throughout the season since the Penguins are just decimated with injuries. The bad news is that once the Penguins start to get a lot of their players back from injury, it could force coach Mike Johnston to move Comeau down to the 3rd line to play with Brandon Sutter. But as long as he keeps playing with Geno, he will continue to get offensive opportunities.
Plays on power play: Anytime a player plays on the top power play unit, they get an opportunity to score a lot of points. When players such as Chris Kunitz or Patric Hornqvist have been hurt for the Penguins this year, Comeau has stepped up for them on the top power play unit and has gotten some points because of the fact he’s been able to show some chemistry with Sidney Crosby and Malkin. He adds size, grit, and skill to the power play and he will be missed on the power play because now he was the latest Penguin to get hurt.
A Great Penalty Killer: The Penguins penalty killing unit already took a huge hit when Pascal Dupuis went down with a blood clot but now it takes an even bigger hit because their third best penalty kill guy is hurt for several weeks in Blake Comeau. He has unbelievable speed on the penalty and works well with Brandon Sutter. Now that he’s hurt, the Penguins will really miss his presence as he and Sutter have been the only two forwards who have consistently been part of the Penguins penalty kill unit all season long.
Hopefully Comeau will not miss much time with this injury as he’s been one of the most important players to the Penguins this season.
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