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Someone old and someone new lead to Penguins victory |
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Coming off a pretty lame loss to the Carolina Hurricanes the Pittsburgh Penguins found a way to dispose of their rival Washington Capitals. Pittsburgh was on the second game of a back to back on the road and all signs logically pointed to a Capitals result, but that’s the NHL in a nutshell. Even the struggling teams can throw a wrench in that logic.
All eyes were on the latest chapter of the Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin rivalry as they should have been. We are running out of these matchups and it remains special. It was fitting for Evgeni Malkin to remind everyone he’s also an all-time great. It was his primary assist to Karlsson and his goal later in the game which guided the Penguins to victory. Malkin continues to look like he has some gallop left in his legs and I think giving him minutes on the wing has helped in this regard.
Here’s the assist to Karlsson
Erik Karlsson scored his first goal in 14 games and it was after Mike Sullivan called him out even if he didn’t mention his name. I think Karlsson has had some really disappointing moments this year and I don’t think things overall have gone the way many people thought they would. I don’t think he’s been as bad as some have said, but he needed to be more consistent with his top end play. Personally, I think he is resigned to the fact the Penguins aren’t going anywhere and he really didn’t have a lot of flexibility on where he was traded due to his contract. I think you’ll get his best when he feels like it, nothing more and nothing less. Certainly not ideal. I do believe if he was on a legit contender these mistakes would get cleaned up. That’s the reality of how I perceive the situation.
Last night was a good example of the full Karlsson experience. Great goal and great assist to Michael Bunting followed up by defensive lapses for goals against. Some nights when it all shakes out it isn’t a net gain. Yesterday, when it was all tallied up he was one of the bigger net positives for the Penguins which was obviously driven by his offensive output.
The #1 star of the game was Evgeni Malkin, but I think the #2 star of the game was the saving grace for the Penguins. Joel Blomqvist is the Penguins best goaltender at the moment and I’m not sure it is particularly close. He is very assertive with his angles and backs that up with very good athleticism. He competes on every shot and has had a really nice start to his NHL career. He was completely peppered in this game and stood tall. He stopped 32 out of 34 shots including 12 out of 13 high-danger attempts.
On the year he has six starts to his name and an overall save percentage of .913. He is third best in the NHL in high-dangers saves above average at 5.52 which is a great stat to have on such a miserably inept defensive team. I would treat him as the clear cut starter moving forward while being mindful of giving him proper rest. The wrench in this plan is that Tristan Jarry’s AHL visit is close to ending. Jarry has played well down there, but I have no appetite to see him and if he can bounce back. I suppose you have to hope he plays well and increases the pipe dream of moving his contract out.
Pittsburgh will have a couple days to gear up for their contest on Monday night against a very good Dallas Stars team.
Thanks for reading!
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