After a successful preseason where the Penguins went 5-1-1, they started the regular season off strong as well. Through the first 9 games they are 6-2-1, which is good for 13 points and second place in the metro. It’s safe to say so far, they have surpassed early expectations. With promising wins against teams like the back-to-back Stanley cup champion Florida Panthers things have looked good so far for the team. A nice change of pace was getting a home opening win which gave fans a different feeling compared to last year’s ugly loss to the Rangers.
What has caused this overflow of success as of late? Well, it is a mix of a lot of things, Dan Muse the new head coach has left his mark, the new youth in the lineup has been a big reason as well. Speaking of youth, the two new guys have stayed around so far in the season and both Ben Kindel and Harrison Bruincke are likely to stay for the rest of the season. They have been in and out of the lineup after every few games as part of their development plan for them. They both have scored their first NHL goals and Kindel just scored another goal the other night vs Florida.
Everyone likes to look at stats and the Penguins have some good ones. Evgeni Malkin as it stands currently leads the NHL in assists with 12. It was rumored this year could be his last year but with 14 points in 9 games the Penguins may have second thoughts. New faces such as Justin Brazeau, Anthony Mantha, and Arthurs Silovs have produced in big ways.
Silovs who has rotated with Jarry throughout the season, have 3 wins 1 loss, and 1 shootout loss in 5 games. During this stretch he has a 2.56 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Jarry as well as put up great stats early going 3-1, posting a 2.52 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
Justin Brazeau has been a nice surprise so far as well with 9 points in 9 games and 5 goals during those games. He has been a huge spark for the penguins and kind of came out of nowhere. The last guy to mention would be Anthony Mantha who has 4 goals and assists in 9 games for 8 points total. He has played with Justin Brazeau and Malkin together on that second line which is also known as the big man line. They have probably been the best line for the Penguins with the 4th line being a close second.
Sidney Crosby is doing his thing as always with 11 points in 9 games and on track to continue his historic point per game seasons.
Some bad news that came out the other day though is that star forward Rickard Rakell broke his hand and is suspected to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. It is a huge blow for the Penguins; however they have enough depth and youth options to hopefully make do in the meantime. One positive to this is now Ben Kindel at least temporarily will get the bump up to the first power play group which will allow him to showcase his skills with the legends on the team.
Looking down to the AHL, the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins are a perfect 7-0 to start the season and look like a serious contender for the Calder Cup. The team is being led by Danton Heinen who got sent earlier in the year. He has 12 points in 7 games. Another face that stands out is Ville Koivunen who has 11 points in 6 games. He recently got called up to the NHL roster and will get another chance to make the team long term after being sent down to begin the year. Despite these great stats someone stands out just a bit more than these two for Wikes Barre. Lone and behold Sergei Murashov who is looking like not only an AHL all star but a potential NHL super star. In 5 games he has a 1.40 GAA, 1 shut out, a .949 save percentage, and is a perfect 5-0 on the year.
The future looks bright for both Pittsburgh teams and has been a bright spot for Pittsburgh sports fans as of late.
The Penguins will look to continue their early season dominance tonight as they host the St. Louis Blues.
