Penguins/NHL
Takeaways from the Penguins 3-0 win over the Rangers:
Defensive Clinic, Competitiveness against a lethargic Rangers team was the story of the game.
— Pittsburgh got a dominant game from the second line of Anthony Mantha – Evgeni Malkin – Justin Brazeau. No line from either team was close to controlling play the Malkin line did. Anthony Mantha might have been the best player on the ice. His explosiveness for a player his size has been really good since camp and coming back from ACL surgery. Justin Brazeau has been a questionable fit for obvious reasons; his career has never been one of a top-6 player by any means but what a debut for him. 2 Goals on the night, played big in the tough areas, while Evgeni Malkin was skating really well. Don’t discount the time and space he had. “It’s size but both of those guys can make plays,” Dan Muse said of Mantha/Brazeau.
| Penguins Lines | 5 vs 5 Key #’s |
|---|---|
| Koivunen-Crosby-Rakell | 52 CF% | 50 SCF% | 40 HDCF% |
| Mantha-Malkin-Brazeau | 66 CF% | 80 SCF% | 67 HDCF% |
| Novak-Kindel-Tomasino | 42 CF% | 50 SCF% | 50 HDCF% |
| Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari | 50 CF% | 50 SCF% | 33 HDCF% |
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— What the Penguins did so well was neutralize the Rangers best players. Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, JT Miller, Alexis Lafreniere all under 40% in driving possession. The top pair of Fox and Vladislav Garikov were playing in their own end all night. Major win for the Penguins on how that game went.
— Analytic charts will have Ben Kindel near the bottom of the Penguins forward group, but he was one of Pittsburgh’s five or six best forwards on the night. Has talent you can’t teach with the puck on his stick and what’s led to this opportunity for him is how well he gets to open spots. That’s a Jake Guentzel type trait for a smaller player. Among the group of Kindel, Harrison Brunicke, and youngster Ville Koivunen who has some NHL games under his belt, Kindel was the better of the three by a wide margin. Koivunen struggled for much of the game but almost got one past Igor Shesterkin in tight that would have iced the game with how poor the Rangers were playing. The good thing with Koivunen is let’s say he struggles to the first couple weeks, his development is not top-6 or bust. He can still develop and help you in a third line winger role once Bryan Rust returns and the second line is still hemming.
— Friday’s performance by Tristan Jarry held significant weight on the coaching staff starting Arturs Silovs who will surely now also start the home opener or get two of the three starts this week. Key veterans in Penguins room all expected Jarry to start until whispers To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
— Praise continues in the organization of how good To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
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