The Pittsburgh Penguins have undoubtedly been one of the unluckiest teams in the NHL for the last three seasons. Playoff heartbreak ended singlehandedly due to goaltending. In the past now, the Penguins are showing up doubters with a hot start to the season. With a record of 2-0-1, the Pittsburgh Penguins stars are dominating offensively. After three games, the Penguins are atop the NHL in stats central. A big change we’ve seen is in shot metrics. No doubt, Pittsburgh was a pass-first team using quantity over quality last season. The change is good! For the 17th season in a row, the stars have been nothing short of spectacular. No matter the roster, Mike Sullivan will always find a way to utilize every tool.
Pittsburgh Penguins Veterans Keep Shining as the New Season Starts
Nothing to Complain
Offence
Do the Pittsburgh Penguins stars ever age? Both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are on a mission, Jake Guentzel continues to up his value, and Danton Heinen might as well be the best signing of the off-season when it comes to pure value. The 2021-22 season for this team was centred around a single line. When the top line was quiet, there was a good chance they weren’t going to get two points that night. Monday the trio was on fire. In swooped the Penguin’s second line of Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, and a healthy Jason Zucker. Controlling 87% of shot attempts and 78% of expected goals, they didn’t skip a beat. Having a dependable producing top-six will be a huge factor for the Penguins this season. The bottom six of this team were just as excellent putting up over 50% in all metrics. You can’t ask for much more from this team after putting up 14 goals in three games.
Stop the count! pic.twitter.com/V7B4Yongpz
— Danny Shirey (@DannyShireyPGH) October 16, 2022
Defence
With a new-look defence, it was going to be interesting to see how this team evolved from the past season. In the first two games, the d core was dominant in their own zone being perfect in lanes, blocking passes, and making passes. The third game vs Montreal was not pretty at all with lots of blown coverages and an eventual preventable tap-in overtime winner by Kirby Dach. That game also featured the Dumoulin-Letang pairing with eight shot attempts for and 21 against. Not a key to success.
Overall, it’s going to take time for all these guys to analyze how to play with each other. That’s what the start of the season is for. In Montreal, the Penguin’s top defenceman was rookie and Quebec native PO Joseph who had a great game all around. This Pittsburgh defence on paper looks the best it has since the Cup runs. A factor to keep an eye on will be Brian Dumoulin who’s on an expiring contract and hasn’t looked the same since the 2019-20 season
Goaltending
Coming off a great season, Tristan Jarry was primed to take the Penguins on a deep run. That didn’t happen due to a broken ankle. Disappointment once again. An off-season has come and gone which saw Casey DeSmith re-up with the Penguins. In his first showing on Monday vs the Canadiens, DeSmith shined. He was very alert and followed the puck extremely well. A weaker goal was let in but it wasn’t entirely on him as the Penguins had four guys standing still watching.
Jarry on the other hand had a pretty easy start in the first two games. The Penguins limited chances on their end while pouring it on offensively which made it an easy low-risk game for Jarry. Pittsburgh has gotten great regular season numbers from this duo the past few seasons. The Penguins coaching staff should indeed focus on getting DeSmith in net for the purpose of continued development but most importantly, to limit Jarry’s workload.
