Checking in with some random thoughts on the Pittsburgh Penguins this week.
The Pittsburgh Penguins continued their maddening inconsistency on Thursday night with disappointing 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, failing to build on any momentum that might have come from one of their most impressive wins of the season earlier in the week in Los Angeles.
It was also a costly loss as top forward Bryan Rust was lost to an injury.
As the road trip continues this weekend and the week wraps up, let’s check in with a few random thoughts on the team at at the moment.
Time to give Joel Blomqvist a run
I say this not necessarily because Alex Nedeljkovic has played poorly over his past few starts — he actually played really well against Buffalo and Los Angeles — but because it’s just simply time to start finding out what Joel Blomqvist can do in an extended run.
We know what Nedeljkovic can and can not do.
We know that as he gets asked to play more games and take on a bigger role that he’s probably going to struggle more and show that he’s not a No. 1 goalie.
We know the playoffs, or any realistic change of them, is rapidly slipping away.
Despite all of that Nedeljkovic has started three of the first four games since Jarry was sent down to the American Hockey League, including Thursday’s game in Anaheim.
Maybe the Penguins are trying to get Ned an opportunity to get a bit of a run in the hopes he can build up some trade value. But even if he does play well for a stretch I’m not sure how much that changes what rival teams think of him. He is what he is, and quite honestly, I think a scenario where you play him more often ends up hurting his value more than helping it.
Or maybe Mike Sullivan just doesn’t want to give up on the season and wants to ride with a veteran that almost got him into the playoffs a year ago thanks to an end-of-season hot streak.
Either way, it’s not doing Blomqvist much good to sit on the bench. He needs to play. And until he proves otherwise he still might be the best goalie that has suited up for the team this season.
Bryan Rust missing time would be a problem
Sullivan had no immediate update on Rust after he left Thursday’s game and did not play in the third period, and that’s probably not a great sign for his short-term availability.
And that would be a problem for the Penguins offense. Especially during 5-on-5 play.
Rust is having one of the best seasons of his career, and as of Friday is averaging 2.49 point points per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play.
That is the best mark on the team, while only Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell are the only two players on the team averaging more than 1.81 points per 60 minutes.
He is on a 36-goal pace over 82 games and has been one of the few consistent bright spots on the roster.
Marcus Pettersson is doing the Penguins a favor with his recent play
While Kyle Dubas pushes back on the idea of a total fire sale, it is pretty much a given that a handful of players on the roster are going to have a new home by the first week of March.
Marcus Pettersson is at the top of that list, and he is currently doing the Penguins a pretty big favor with his recent play.
Over the past 10 games the Pettersson-Kris Letang duo has been one of the most productive duos in the NHL, outscoring teams by a 10-4 margin at even-strength and coming out on the positive side (better than 52 percent) in expected goals share, scoring chance share and high-danger scoring chance share, despite getting heavy defensive zone start usage.
In simpler terms: They’ve been great, and Pettersson is far from a passenger on that pairing.
He also has four assists over that stretch and playing some of his best hockey of the season.
I don’t expect him to bring back the same type of return that Jake Guentzel did as a rental at last year’s deadline, but if they can get a first-round pick, or a second-round pick and B-level prospect that would be more than fair.
Quick rapid thoughts
- Erik Karlsson only has one point over his past seven games, but I don’t necessarily have a problem with the way he’s played. He has still moved the puck well and he has played some of his best defensive hockey of the season.
- They had a terrible game on Thursday, but the Owen Pickering-P.O. Joseph pairing has, for the most part, done well. There are going to be some inconsistencies there with Pickering being a rookie, and they are getting some favorable matchups and sheltered minutes, but I have no problem with easing Pickering into the NHL and putting him into positions to succeed.
- Michael Bunting has nine power play goals. Aside from the actual goals themselves, his entire presence on the power play has been a huge game-changer for that unit. If only they could have gotten that level of production from the power play a year ago when the rest of the team was playing better.
- Rickard Rakell is currently on a 38-goal pace. Only six Penguins (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Jaromir Jagr, James Neal and Alexei Kovalev) over the past 25 years have scored 40 goals in a season. Rakell is not far off from joining them. I do not expect the Penguins to move him at the deadline, but a 40-goal season and term remaining on his contract could really up his trade value if they wanted to move him in the offseason.