The dog days of the NHL season aren’t the least bit stagnant for the Penguins. Rather, they’re playing their finest hockey of the season.
The Penguins’ January dominance carried on in the first leg of their western road trip as they rolled their way to a 6-3 victory against the Kraken.
“We just kept playing,” Dan Muse said. “There wasn’t too much in terms of those heavy momentum shifts. We just kept responding. It was a good, business-like approach.”
Connor Dewar scored twice in the victory alongside two goals from defensemen Brett Kulak and Parker Wotherspoon. Rickard Rakell and Justin Brazeau also scored and Sidney Crosby set up two of the Penguins’ goals in a game that never saw the Penguins trail. Stuart Skinner stopped 20 of 23 shots to earn his fifth victory in his past six starts.
The Penguins managed to earn the victory despite not getting a goal from their vaunted power play, which went 0-for-3 in a fairly disjointed performance. Still, the Penguins’ five-on-five play was dominant and the special teams ultimately were a wash, thanks to Dewar’s first period shorthanded tally.
The Penguins’ reset over the Christmas break was a resounding success. They entered the break having won only once in 10 games, their playoff dreams seemingly on the brink after a feel-good start to the season. A few days off, and a quality practice on Dec. 27 that some members of the Penguins still reference, and whatever was ailing the team was fixed. Since then, the Penguins are 8-2-2.
They temporarily caught the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division and are now three points clear of Washington — with two games in hand on the Capitals — in what could ultimately a battle for the final playoff spot in the Metro.
10 postgame observations
• This was a professional performance from the Penguins. No, it wasn’t perfect, and they did have a lull in the second period. It wasn’t a great day for the power play, either. Nonetheless, I liked their game. They were clearly the better five-on-five team most of the afternoon in Seattle, they didn’t make many glaring errors and they outworked the Kraken.
The Penguins are now a very impressive 12-7-4 on the road this season. Only seven NHL teams have more road wins.
• Don’t overlook Skinner’s performance. On the surface, there’s nothing special about stopping 20 of 23 shots. However, Skinner made two fantastic saves in the game’s opening minutes, including one on a breakaway.
He’s not allowing any bad goals right now, and there’s something to be said for that. There’s also something to be said for allowing 10 goals in his past five games. Much like his team, Skinner’s performance was workmanlike and effective.
• Crosby was quiet most of the day but ended up with two points anyway. Great players are funny that way.
He made a sensational play late in the third period to set up the Rakell goal that put Seattle away. Part of this play merely showcases Crosby’s brilliance. But I also point it out because this is a wonderful example of a team not sitting back with a one-goal late. It’s late in the third period, yet the Penguins, led by their captain, were intelligently but fiercely forechecking.
Perfect. That’s how you draw it up.
• Crosby now has 55 points in 48 games. He needs only 27 points in final 34 games of the season — that’s if he plays all 82 games — to conclude 21 straight NHL seasons with better than a point per game.
Let’s not take this for granted. What he is doing right now is utterly staggering: Crosby is averaging 1.15 points per game at age 38. He’s currently on pace to finish with 44 goals and 94 points.
Given what Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini are doing, I don’t know if Crosby is capable of finding himself in the Hart Trophy race. The numbers those three are producing speak for themselves. I will say, however, that if Crosby gets to 100 points and carries the Penguins on his back to the playoffs, a case will be made for him to receive legitimate consideration. Where on earth would the Penguins be without him? That’s the very definition of the award.
Sidney Crosby had two assists against the Kraken for 55 points this season. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
• Dewar has 15 goals in 65 games with the Penguins. And he’s played almost exclusively on the fourth line during that time.
He’s also one of the Penguins’ more reliable defensive players and penalty killers. His two goals on Monday give Dewar 11 on the season, which ties a career high.
The acquisition of Dewar very, very late on trade deadline day last March went under the radar at the time, but he’s a very important player for this team. This is a very intelligent, trustworthy hockey player.
“He plays those hard minutes,” Connor Clifton said. “Our fourth line, they’re special. So consistent. The play so hard, so honest. You’re getting the most honest effort.”
• Wotherspoon’s goal in the first period came largely as a result of Anthony Mantha’s net-front presence. More of that, please.
Mantha is a good player and he’s having a good season. He does, however, have a tendency to play too much on the perimeter. Mantha simply isn’t as effective when he does this. This is a 6-5, 230-pound player. When he goes to the net, goaltenders don’t like it. The more he does this kind of thing, the better.
• We’re seeing some serious depth from the Penguins right now. They’re 2-0-2 with Erik Karlsson out of the lineup.
“Obviously we miss him whenever he’s not in,” Clifton said. “But we’re getting pucks on net. Our forwards are doing a good job of taking the eyes away.”
The third pairing on Monday was comprised of Clifton and Ryan Graves. Those two played quite well together. Both players were a plus-1 and played more than 15 minutes.
With a fully healthy blue line, Graves and Jack St. Ivany (or Clifton) could be the Penguins’ No. 7 and No. 8 defensemen down the stretch. That’s not bad. It’s a reasonable amount of blue line depth and doesn’t even account for the injured Caleb Jones.
• Brazeau now has 14 goals in 34 games. Did anyone see this happening? As I’ve been saying all season, he’s got a legitimate pair of hands.
• Kris Letang is an entirely different player right now.
Karlsson’s absence has definitely paved the way for a different version of Letang. He had been playing better in recent weeks since Kulak became his defense partner, yes. But his play is clearly elevated with Karlsson out.
Perhaps he’s simply more comfortable being the guy. I don’t know. That’s just a guess. But it’s hard not to notice how good he’s been over this stretch.
• Up next for the Penguins is a game in Calgary on Wednesday against the Flames. It will mark their penultimate game in the Saddledome, which will make way for Calgary’s new building in the fall of 2027.
This was a wonderful start to the Penguins’ Western swing. On paper, games against Calgary and Vancouver certainly give the Penguins what would appear to be excellent chances to earn points. But playing on the second night of a back-to-back set in Edmonton on Thursday is a nightmare matchup. The coin-toss game, at least on paper, was the trip opener in Seattle.
In the end, it was no coin toss at all.