PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins did to the Chicago Blackhawks what good teams are supposed to do against bad teams on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
Following a sluggish first 10 minutes, the Penguins found their legs and left the Blackhawks in the dust in a 6-2 rout. Connor Dewar scored twice for the Penguins while four other players — Ben Kindel, Anthony Mantha, Egor Chinakhov and Ryan Shea — added goals.
The Penguins have won five consecutive games and host the struggling New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon, when the franchise will be honoring its 2016 Stanley Cup championship team in a pregame ceremony.
It’s not time to anoint these Penguins as Stanley Cup contenders just yet, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that this team is capable of qualifying for the postseason. They currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division and have earned at least one point in 14 of their 16 games since the Christmas break.
The Penguins are seven points clear of being caught for a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. Their plus-21 goal differential is now tied for sixth best in the NHL.
The Penguins have four games remaining before the Olympic break and are now on pace for 103 points. This marked the first time since January 2022 that the Penguins have won 10 games in a month.
10 postgame observations
• I will acknowledge before we go any further that the Blackhawks aren’t a particularly good team. Still, what the Penguins did in the final 50 minutes of this game was simply superb. Chicago registered the first five shots. The Penguins outshot the Blackhawks 44-15 the rest of the way.
In their five-game winning streak, the Penguins have outscored their opponents by a rather ridiculous 25-10 margin. This is the best hockey the Penguins have played all season and it’s not debatable. The first home game after a lengthy road trip typically doesn’t lead to sharp performances, but that wasn’t the case.
• That’s 13 goals on the season for Dewar. For much of the season, center Blake Lizotte has received most of the accolades, and he’s been terrific. But perhaps we need to spend some more time discussing his linemate.
Dewar’s game is beautifully, almost painfully boring. And that’s OK. To use a lame hockey cliche, he plays an honest game, and he’s playing it so well. There has been far too much style and not enough substance in the Penguins’ game for so many years. Dewar brings so much substance.
Since joining the Penguins last season, the team’s record is 36-19-13.
The bottom six became instantly better the second Kyle Dubas acquired Dewar from the Maple Leafs in the moments before the trade deadline last season.
• Anthony Mantha finished with three points against the Blackhawks. That’s 17 goals and 38 points in 52 games for Mantha. While he does go through quiet stretches in terms of the eye test, his productivity has been quite consistent all season. The Penguins wouldn’t be where they are without this guy.
Do they bring him back next season? I’m not sure. He’ll be 32 before next season starts and is probably going to command a raise, given the season he’s having. I don’t know that Dubas is necessarily going to be eager to give a guy in his 30s a raise.
I also doubt the Penguins will be eager to part ways with him. He’s been outstanding and, remember, this is a guy who tore his ACL last season. It seems to me his skating is actually getting better as the season elapses. Something to keep in mind.
• We talk regularly about Chinakhov’s shot, and for good reason. It’s lethal. But perhaps we should be talking about his hands.
The play he made on his second-period goal, simply put, was the kind of play that only an especially gifted player can make. This guy’s untapped potential is difficult to measure. In a word, he’s a game-breaker. There are only so many of those.
I haven’t a clue how good this guy can be, but I know he’s a legitimate top-six forward already, his overall game is better than I expected, and his hands are clearly above-average. So is his skating. And then there’s his shot. The Penguins are a different, better team with him in the lineup.
Egor Chinakhov is becoming a game-breaker for the Penguins. (Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
• Shea is not what I’d consider an offensive defenseman. And yet he makes some awfully good plays with the puck on his blade. He has 21 points in 52 games this season, which isn’t half bad for a third-pairing defenseman. He’s also a plus-21, by the way. This has become a highly reliable NHL defenseman, the kind of guy winning teams require.
• This was another step forward for Arturs Silovs. While he is starting to see his playing time decline a bit, the fact of the matter is that his quality of play has dramatically improved in recent weeks. He’s allowed only 10 goals in his past five starts and has stopped 90 percent or more of the shots he’s faced in four of those five games.
Silovs isn’t allowing bad goals and is simply playing a more clean style that what we witnessed earlier this season. It’s hard to see where he fits in moving forward because of the looming presence of Sergei Murashov, but it’s important to note he’s only 24.
• Sidney Crosby didn’t have a point against the Blackhawks and was quiet most of the night. I bring this up merely because it’s been my conclusion that Crosby is negatively affected by having too many days off, and the Penguins had three days off before this game.
Crosby now only has three goals in his past 27 games when playing on three days of rest or more.
• Bryan Rust served the first of this three-game suspension against the Blackhawks following his high hit on Brock Boeser.
Do I think Rust deserve to be suspended? Yes. Do I think three games was a bit excessive? Given the way we’ve seen the league punish, or not punish, similar hits this season, I disagree with the decision to give him that many games.
• Rutger McGroarty replaced Rust in the lineup and he played well. He was a plus-3 and enjoyed a game-high five shots on goal. He also dished out three hits and was a positive presence throughout. It’s a matter of time before he figures things out at the NHL level. We saw some good signs in this one.
McGroarty’s center, Ben Kindel, scored his third goal in two games and finished with two points. His confidence is suddenly peaking.
• It wasn’t a great night on the scoreboard for the Penguins, as the Hurricanes, Islanders, Capitals and Devils all won. The Penguins didn’t gain ground on anyone in the Metropolitan Division despite earning a win.
But that’s OK. I’ve spoken with a number of Penguins fans in recent days, and they all agree that it’s pretty nice to be scoreboard-watching in a season that wasn’t expected to produce such behavior from fans.
Things are looking up.