News Penguins Team Notes

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Is it about to get tougher for the Penguins?

Christmas is over, it doesn’t look like Santa was able to bring the Penguins a favorable schedule for the rest of the season. Per Dom Luszczyszyn’s model, Pittsburgh has the fourth most difficult schedule remaining schedule in the league this season.

Strength of schedule pic.twitter.com/fJdoSTiGeE

— dom (@domluszczyszyn) December 24, 2025

The Pens will be hoping this break serves as a strong reset for what turned out to be a rotten December. Pittsburgh has only won one out of their last 10 games (1-5-4) in defeats ranging from the aggravating in blowing multi-goal third period leads to the straight depressing of getting dominated and failing to compete.

One piece of good news for the Pens is that some help could be on the way. Evgeni Malkin has been out since December 4th, not so coincidentally when Pittsburgh started their downward trend. Malkin was starting to get his legs back under his prior to the Christmas break on the ice in individual workouts, he should be that much closer to returning.

Given the formidable expected strength of schedule ahead, Malkin’s return looks like it will be necessary for the Penguins as they make their way into the second third of the season and see where they come out on the other side as March’s trade deadline approaches.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/70780/is-it-about-to-get-tougher-for-the-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Putting Ben Kindel’s rookie season in its proper context

The 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins might not be particularly good as a team. Especially when it comes to their defense and current level of goaltending. But they do have some good players, and they have some really intriguing young players that could be really good players in the coming seasons. The best of that group is 18-year-old center, and 2025 first-round pick, Ben Kindel.

If you did not watch any Penguins games and simply looked at his numbers you probably would not be overly impressed.

Eight goals, 14 total points and 74 shots on goal in 33 games probably seems fine for an 18-year-old rookie, but not anything that would really wow you. Mostly because we only tend to get truly wowed by the players that instantly step into the NHL and dominate (which are very few and very far between), or the No. 1 overall picks that naturally get the most eye balls on them.

The thing is, Kindel’s production is outstanding for an 18-year-old and is giving him a pretty good first impression in the NHL. Especially since it is not just about his actual offensive production.

First, let’s just look at some basic numbers comparing him to other 18-year-olds.

Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Kindel is one of just nine 18-year-olds that have reached eight goals and 70 shots on goal through the first 33 games of their career. The other players on that list are Patrik Laine, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Andrew Svechnikov, Matthew Schaefer, David Pastrnak, Matt Duchene and Jeff Skinner.

Pretty good list to be a part of.

There have been more than 61 18-year-olds that have played at least nine games in the NHL since the start of the 2007-08 season. Many of them did not get beyond the nine-game cup of coffee to start the season, and of the ones that did, most of them did not produce big numbers, or even what Kindel has done so far.

So to make it this far into the season and still be productive, that is an encouraging sign for what Kindel is capable of.

But let’s take it one step further.

Let’s just look at ANY teenager performance. Among all players in their age 18 or 19 season, regardless of rookie status (so this includes second-year players as well), Kindel is one of just 33 players under the age of 20 to have at least eight goals and 70 shots on goal through the first 33 games of their season. And that is out of 176 players that played at least 33 games in their age 18 or 19 season over that time period.

Again: Good company to be a part of, especially since the overwhelming majority of players his production lines up with went on to be legitimate top-six or first-line players.

Goal-scoring and generating shots on goal, however, are just part of the story with Kindel.

He is also already one of the Penguins’ best play-drivers from a possession standpoint. He has a 55.1 percent shot attempt share. That is one of the best marks on the Penguins. He also has a 57.3 percent expected goals share. That is also one of the best marks on the Penguins. Every line he has been a part of players better territorially with him on it. When he is on the ice, good things are generally happening for the Penguins. That is crazy good and advanced play for an 18-year-old center.

So with that in mind, let us expand our comparison search another level.

With eight goals in 33 games Kindel is on a 20-goal pace over 82 games. He is averaging around .250 goals per game. He also has that 55 percent shot attempt share.

Since the start of the 2007-08 season only six teenagers (18 or 19) scored at a 20-goal pace (.250 goals per game) and had a shot attempt share of better than even 52 percent over 50 games. That list includes only Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Dylan Larkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Patrick Kane and Seth Jarvis. If Kindel can maintain his current pace in both areas, that would again put him into some pretty good recent company.

The Penguins obviously had high hopes for Kindel when they picked him. Otherwise they would not have been ecstatic to take him with the No. 11 overall pick. I am not sure they counted on him being this good all over the ice so quickly. He might not be their franchise-changing player in the future, but he still has a chance to be a top player (and important player) on the next contending Penguins team. The start of his career certainly paints that picture. Especially if he can keep building on this rookie season performance.

[Data in this post via Natural Stat Trick and Hockey-Reference StatHead database]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/70785/putting-ben-kindels-rookie-season-in-its-proper-context

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Christmas Standings: How the Penguins sit after a December fall

The Penguins got to Thanksgiving holiday and the end of November with the fourth best points percentage and similar spot in the division. December didn’t go as smoothly, they leave in seventh place in points, and barely sixth in points%, thanks to a 1-5-4 slump that saw losing every which way you can go.

We’ll bring in the conference at this point, sorting by points% in this instance. The overall point ranking can be seen at left.

(Not pictured: 15th place Toronto and 16th place Columbus)

The Penguins are towards the bottom, which is a shame because they’re not actually doing that badly in the big scheme of things. Their 39 points in 36 games puts the on track for an 89-point pace on the season, and we’re nearly halfway in! For reference, Pittsburgh tallied 80 points last season, and 89 points would have put them two points away from making the playoffs. Not too many folks out there aside from the terminally optimistic would have envisioned the Pens targeting for a number that high this deep into the year, which deserves a mention.

Unfortunately for them, that kind of pace is not cutting it and really even nothing special this year. Every team in the NHL, except five Western Conference teams, have at least a .500% points% to this point of the year. Even then, no one is under .444% and everyone else is .450%+. (The red dot below in Seattle’s position, so it can be mostly ignored).

The above graph shows a startling grouping of the majority of the league clogging up the middle of the graph of points%. There have been no bottom-dwellers dragging far behind the rest of the pack to this point, and (save Colorado and Dallas) that there are very few breakaway .700+ points% teams racing out either. It’s just a big pack of average to above-average clubs at this point, which is a fairly astounding phenomena w.

One reason for this has been overtime games. And, of course, Unforgiven and The Wire taught us that deserve got nothin’ to do with it, but here’s an interesting outlook of where teams would be if every game played out where a team won if they out-chanced the opponent on a given night.

Based off MoneyPuck's "Derserve-to-Win O'Meter" standings, the Utah Mammoth would be 8th in the league with a 22-11-6 record and 50pts. As usual, analytics love the Mammoth but they can't consistently match it in reality. Also, this is just for fun #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/ZhFWSkiN86

— 99.6 The Howl (@996TheHowl) December 26, 2025

In a nutshell, this is a large part of the Penguins’ problem in the conference. The Flyers (9), Bruins (11) and especially Islanders (19) have been collecting a lot more points than perhaps they ‘should’ have been expected to. Be it luck, good fortune, incredible timing and game sequences of goals (and saves), they’ve found ways to get results despite the process.

Whether or not these teams can keep performing like this for a full 82 games is anyone’s guess, and a true question that the process vs. results debate has grappled with since advanced stats have been tracked. Some models are not yet believers. (This, for instance, is a good chunk of the reason The Athletic currently projects NYI with a 36% chance at the playoffs, and Philadelphia at 32%, despite those teams statistically being on pace for 97 and 102 points based on simple points per game, respectively. That model is baking in some right-sizing with their results in the second half of the season, though it will swing into believing the longer that either can keep it going).

If you’re inside the Penguins’ room and the hopes still remain to keep pushing forward, the next stretch of games from Christmas to the start of the Olympics (Feb 6 for them) is a six-week stretch where two things will count. One they can control, and one they can’t. For starters, and to state the obvious, Pittsburgh needs more months like October (8-2-2) and less like November (4-5-3) and no more December’s (3-5-4, pending the last two games coming up).

The less controllable aspect that Pittsburgh could really use is fewer overtime games on the out of town scoreboard. That would be one way to help, a team like Philadelphia for instance is 7-7 in games that go beyond 60 minutes. Turning some of those 60 minute ties into 60 minute losses would go a long way towards bringing them back to the pack with a shocking 14 out of their 36 games on the year (almost 40%) going beyond regulation. Similarly, the Islanders are 6-4 in post-regulation games and owe the two-pronged attack of A) getting to OT and then B) getting two points fairly frequently. (Of course, Pittsburgh with a 2-9 OT/SO record could also help their own cause by finding a way to get the victory point more often in their own right, though that of course is a different topic for a different day).

The natural alternative to all of this is that the Penguins might not be a team that keeps up with the pack much longer, as the November and December results are pointing towards perhaps a more true level of team talent and ability. It looked like Buffalo might have been the first team in the East to truly drop way off the pace, until they’ve found a way to reel off seven-straight wins. Needless to say, about now would be a very fortuitous time to string together a long winning streak, just as it would be at just about any time of the season.

If that’s not in the cards, the picture might well be developing by the Olympic break in early February. The Pens will have played 58 games by that point, with only about two weeks to go from resumption of play in late February to the NHL trade deadline this season on March 6th.

There’s been very little separation — especially in the Eastern Conference — however this next six-week sprint to the Olympics will truly be setting the stage for which teams are contenders and the other ones who will have to take an honest look of where they’re at an consider downshifting for the season in terms of positioning themselves at sellers.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...gs-how-the-penguins-sit-after-a-december-fall

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: Merry Christmas to All…

There won’t be much to talk about from the Pittsburgh Penguins until later this weekend when their season resumes following the NHL Christmas break. The entire league is on hiatus until Saturday, but the Penguins will enjoy an extra day off before returning to action on Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Windy City.

Based on what we have seen from the Penguins leading into the break, this time off might be coming at the perfect moment, giving the players a chance to get away from the rink for a few days to rest and recuperate with their families and put hockey on the back burner for a bit and hopefully reset.

Pens Points…​

There’s been both good and bad from the Penguins so far this season and their current standing reflects that. The same case goes for the roster itself, which has a handful of surprises along with some guys who need to step up. [Pensburgh]

Penguins 2025 first round selection Will Horcoff will represent the United States at the upcoming World Junior Championships slated to begin on Friday in Minnesota. [Penguins]

NHL News and Notes…​

If you have some free time after Christmas and need your hockey fix before the NHL resumes, the 2026 World Junior Championships begin on Friday and run through the end of the month and into the new year. [NHL]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/70772/pens-points-merry-christmas-to-all

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: Back to Canada

After getting back in the win column on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins will look to head into the Christmas break on a win streak when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs this afternoon. This will be the third and final meeting between the two sides this season with both teams currently trying to save their suddenly floundering seasons as the new year approaches.

Please note that today’s game will begin at an unusual start time with puck drop scheduled for 4:00 PM. TNT will have the broadcast.

Pens Points…​

For a short time during Sidney Crosby’s rookie season, the Penguins future all-time points leader shared a locker room with the man he just passed. While their time together as players was short, Crosby and Mario Lemieux will forever be connected as Penguins legends. [Penguins]

With the Christmas holiday upon us, it will be a relatively quiet week for the Penguins as they take some time away from the ice. The NHL Christmas break begins after the Penguins take on the Leafs later today and they will not return to action until Sunday in Chicago. [Pensburgh]

In terms of stats and trophies, Crosby has either equaled or surpassed his predecessor Mario in about everyway on the ice. Off the ice, the comparisons only continue with their affect on the community and city leaving a lasting impact that will endure forever. [Trib Live]

In partnership with US Steel, The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation is creating a new program called Free Little Library, a series of library boxes throughout the city where residents can access books free of charge. To get the program started, several members of the Penguins have donated their favorite reads to libraries. [Penguins]

NHL News and Notes…​

A slew of injuries hit the NHL last week and will force some stars out of their respective lineups for the time being. Tristan Jarry and will be out week-to-week for the Oilers while Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin will miss extended time for the Hurricanes with upper body injuries. [NHL]

For a second consecutive week, Connor McDavid is crowned the NHL’s First Star of the Week. McDavid has been the hottest player in the league for a few weeks now and he posted another 10 point week to take home the honors once again. [NHL]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/70681/pens-points-back-to-canada

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Blackhawks Recap: Big Braz’s big night helps Pens to win

Pregame​

The Penguins come out of the break with some happy news to get Blake Lizotte back from the IR. Arturs Silovs is in net.

Ts

First period​

Quick start for the Pens to get on the board just 1:38 into the game. Anthony Mantha spins around and his off-speed five-hole shot just slips through the goalie for no reason. Not a great goal for Spencer Knight to allow, it wouldn’t be the last one like that for him on the night.

MO GETS US GOING pic.twitter.com/J7YmQsF7Mf

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

Bryan Rust gets in on the action a little later on. Really nice backhand pass from Sidney Crosby (that sentence has been uttered a time or two before) and Rust’s shot is…well, it’s a goal to the far side. Is Knight still on Christmas break?

MILKSHAKE MODE: ACTIVATED

Thanks, Rusty! pic.twitter.com/n1YqbuOPQM

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

Pittsburgh takes their dreaded 3-0 lead 1:01 later. Can’t blame Knight on this goal starting with a pass from Mantha behind the net that goes right through Matt Grzelcyk and is an easy one for Justin Brazeau to slam home from close range. Aaahh, a classic Grzelcyk disaster class!

THE BOYS ARE BUZZIN' pic.twitter.com/wvrO8p6zwJ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

Rust takes the game’s first penalty, the Penguins kill it off. Rust steps out of the box and ends Knight’s night early with another very weak shot to allow (although a nice, patient hold and pass from Ryan Shea on the setup). Pittsburgh’s fourth on the night on just seven shots. 4-0 game, just like that.

IN RUST WE TRUST x2 pic.twitter.com/mNSuNXJ9dE

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

Kris Letang heads to the penalty box, Pittsburgh survives. Chicago isn’t invisible though, they try to break through but nothing is going their way in the first 20.

Late in the first, Noel Acciari and Connor Murphy get tied up in front of the net, exchange a few words and drop the gloves. A couple little shots but a quick affair that ends with Acciari wrestling the larger Murphy down to the ice.

Shots in the first are 10-7 Pens, a big outburst of four goals in the first 12:03 of the game leads to a lopsided 4-0 score.

Second period​

It takes a while but Chicago gets on the board with 9:10 left. Nick Foligno is all alone in front of the net, he isn’t even facing the goal when he hacks in a rebound backwards and it gets by Silovs. 4-1 game.

welcome back, Captain pic.twitter.com/Pf6XcmpIwa

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 29, 2025

After a terrible and completely dreadful early period power play, the Pens get another for a too many men call on Chicago and Pittsburgh opts to start out with their second group. It scores in eight seconds, Ben Kindel gives the puck down low to Brazeau and he power moves to the front of the net with his backhand shot just barely sliding into the back of the net. 5-1 game.

A PPG for PGH and Brazeau's second of the game pic.twitter.com/yRlmSUBaCS

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

Less than a minute later, Brazeau completes his hat trick with a slight deflection of a Connor Dewar shot. Go crazy people! 6-1.

JUSTIN BRAZEAU, FOLKS pic.twitter.com/6fvJBSaG86

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

The game is going crazy, Chicago answers 13 seconds later, a bouncing puck jumps in off Silovs and in. 6-2.

we know #wkfc is going to love this pic.twitter.com/OpcJzX3FMR

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 29, 2025

Chicago nearly scores when Tyler Bertuzzi goal hangs for a breakaway, Silovs stops him. Down at the other end, Jack St. Ivany’s shot hits the end wall and pops out to Acciari in front. Acciari punches the puck in as Arvid Soderblom does his Spencer Knight impression and just kinda watches it happen. 7-2 game.

Gordie Howe watch for Cookie pic.twitter.com/TRJINeH7HA

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 29, 2025

Wild one in Chi-town, the Pens wind up extending their lead in the second period by one and take a commanding five-goal lead after 40 minutes.

Third period​

Knight back in the Chicago net for garbage time, why not!

Jack St. Ivany gets called for tripping, the Pens’ PK makes easy work of it.

Not much going on until Bertuzzi finally gets his goal with 0:00.8 left. Not as much consternation this time from the last time the Pens allowed a last second third period goal given the cushion.

Some thoughts​

• The fickle fate of hockey in terms of sequencing: Chicago’s Ryan Greene hit a post early in the first period. If that goes in, the whole game might just have unfolded differently. Alas, it did not. The Blackhawks hit another post later in the period and couldn’t score courtesy of a Silovs save on a 3-on-1 rush.
• That little unknowable luck factor was smiling on the Pens all night long in ways that wouldn’t stand out just from reading the final score and surmising it was an easy or comfortable night. (Of course, if you know the Pens this season, you know that no lead is easy or comfortable). On one play in the second period the ref’s skate accidentally stopped a puck from getting to Andre Burakovsky in what would have been a rush chance for Chicago. Minutes later, a puck rolled off the stick of a Blackhawk and straight to Crosby for a breakaway. Sometimes it goes your way, some nights it doesn’t. The Pens certainly had a lot of those uncontrollable moments break in their direction in this game.
• That said, hey, a 5-goal third period lead seems to be the magic amount of cushion to coast a game home for the Pens.
• Looking just at the stat sheet a 21 save on 24 shot performance (.875%) doesn’t read that well for Silovs, but dear reader please believe he was pretty key for the win tonight. Moneypuck had Chicago with 3.5 expected goals, the one at the very end crushed Silovs but was one that he could more than afford to give up after the first 59:59 of steady play. There might not be that much reason for confidence or faith in him with the way the better part of the last two months have gone for him, don’t look now but it’s two wins in a row for Silovs.
• It was mentioned on the SN Pittsburgh broadcast that Knight, as Chicago’s starting goalie, has been in net for every first-half of the back-to-back’s this season. The Blackhawks played last night against mighty Dallas and opted based on strength of schedule to save their starter for the more winnable game on night two against the Pens tonight. For one reason or another, it backfired to where coach Jeff Blashill only played himself with that decision. Good in theory, didn’t work in execution, Knight gave up four goals on seven shots (and a total of 0.57 expected goals, per Moneypuck). It’s been a great season for Knight so far, tonight was one of those strange ones for him.
• The broadcast made a big deal about Crosby passing Gordie Howe for ninth place in most road points (777). At first that didn’t read right with Crosby sitting at 1,726 points now – meaning he has 172 more home points than road points. Would have guessed that was a closer split, are they counting games in Philly as home games?
• On a night Gordie Howe made the broadcast, shame that Acciari just missed an assist to honor Howe with his so-called hat trick (even though I think the legend said that Gordie Howe only actually ever had one career ‘Gordie Howe hat trick’ game). Wrap this into the Bob Grove stat of the night that the Pens will still be waiting for their first goal+assist+fight game since Evgeni Malkin did it in March 2017.
• Tonight was about seeing old combos coming through for the Pens. Crosby+Rust, Mantha+Brazeau, reunited Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari ‘best fourth line the team has had all season’. Also looked like an October version of Silovs to keep the puck out of the net. A lot of those elements have been strong when the team has had good stretches, after a down four weeks (or, well really maybe eight weeks..) it’s nice to see a lot of those familiar themes stepping back into the spotlight.
• Nice to be on the receiving end of a good ol’ dash 3 Matt Grzelcyk on the ice for a bunch of goals againstnight. Allan Walsh and agents skip the rest of this note: Grzelcyk’s continued NHL employment is a sign the league’s 32-franchise configuration is over-shadowing the talent pool as it is.
• Other end of that spectrum was Ryan Shea at a +5 through two periods in just 12:06 and a career-high three assist game. St. Ivany had a two-assist night — he only had two total assists in the first 37 games of his career entering tonight, a career assist and point total that St. Ivany nicely doubled up in an evening’s work.
• That Justin Brazeau, what can ya say!? Used a similar stat before in these recaps so excuse me to bring it up again: the Pens improve to 4-0-3 when Brazeau scores a goal. A couple of those OT losses (like the Utah and Anaheim blown leads) should not have been losses at all. Bottom line; it is (or at least it truly should be) a very, very good sign when Brazeau scores a goal. When he scores three goals? Forget about it. Well, that’s never happened before tonight, what a big time game.

First game back was a successful one to feel proud about. The Pens will need to carry those good feelings back for the next game on Tuesday night against a Carolina team that typically feeds Pittsburgh their lunch.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...s-recap-big-brazs-big-night-helps-pens-to-win

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins add Yegor Chinakhov from Columbus for Danton Heinen, two picks

The Penguins have made a trade to add forward Yegor Chinakhov from Columbus for Danton Heinen and two future draft picks.

Yegor Chinakhov is being dealt from Columbus to Pittsburgh for draft picks

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 29, 2025

Along with Heinen, the Penguins sent a 2026 second-round pick that originally belonged to the Blues and a 2027 third-round pick that originally belonged to the Capitals.

The Penguins have built up a sizeable stock of future picks through the myriad of wheelings and dealings under GM Kyle Dubas.

Chinakhov, 24, was a first round pick (21st overall) by the Blue Jackets in 2020. He had found trouble fitting in a role with Columbus and had asked for a trade. His hockeydb card:

Other than that one season in 2023-24, it was a lot of spinning wheels with Columbus, including this season where Chinakhov averaged just over 10 minutes per game.

Trade call pending between #CBJ and #LetsGoPens regarding Yegor Chinakhov. Waiting on the specifics of the picks.

Chinakhov has enormous potential, but was a lost soul here, it seemed. Perhaps a change of scenery will set him free. If so, #CBJ could lament trading in the Metro.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 29, 2025

Chinakhov has been fairly well-regarded in the advanced stat community, especially when it comes to some finishing ability. His downside, and cause of issues finding a solid spot in the lineup up to this point, has been one of consistently putting the raw tools to use and translating that into a steady, even effort. He carries a $2.1 million cap hit and is scheduled to be a restricted free agent after this season if he receives a qualifying offer.

Yegor Chinakhov, acquired by PIT, is a scoring winger. Has flashed skills including a terrific shot, slick hands, quick straight-line speed, and some reasonably well-rounded play, but consistently delivering has been a challenge. Needs to generate more quality looks. #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/Wkb5GWHbiO

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) December 29, 2025

The Penguins have been seeking answers among depth forwards, it looks like they’re going to take a chance and see what the left-handed shooting winger might have to offer.

With the two draft picks dealt in the trade, Pittsburgh still holds 34 selections over the next three NHL Entry Drafts.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/70928/penguins-add-yegor-chinakhov-from-columbus-for-draft-picks

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Yegor Chinakhov an expensive but worthy gamble for Penguins

When you are a rebuilding team that has stockpiled more draft picks than you would ever have a reasonable need for, you have the flexibility to take some chances on talented players that have not worked out in their previous stop. If you are a contending team short on assets, you are not trading two draft picks for Yegor Chinakhov as the Pittsburgh Penguins did on Monday.

You are going to use those draft picks for somebody that is a more well-known commodity, or somebody that you know is going to contribute without much risk.

You are not really in a position to take a flier on somebody and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.

The Penguins kind of are, and they have not been shy about taking those swings over the past couple of years.

Especially since Kyle Dubas arrived.

I am also not overly concerned about the draft picks the Penguins gave up. Even though that 2026 St. Louis Blues pick has a chance to be a relatively high second-round pick, the Penguins still have their own second-round pick and the Winnipeg Jets second-round pick (which is also looking mighty nice right now, and perhaps the most valuable of the three picks) and will almost certainly be able to get a comparable pick back when they inevitably flip Anthony Mantha and his 20-25 goals at the deadline. If Anthony Beauvillier landed you a second-round pick a year ago, I don’t see why Mantha won’t do the same this year.

Maybe it will not be as valuable as the Blues pick, but the difference between pick No. 38 and, say, pick No. 50 in most draft classes is pretty insignificant from a big picture perspective.

It’s probably worth taking a chance on a talented player with a good shot to see if a fresh start and a change of scenery can help them put it all together. Especially when you are still loaded with draft picks and have the means of acquiring more at any point between now and March.

The question is will this chance and roll of the dice pay off.

The Penguins have made a lot of these moves in recent years with mixed results.

Chinakhov joins a list of recent reclamation projects that already includes Philip Tomasino, Jesse Puljujarvi, Emil Bemstrom, Connor Dewar, Arturs Silovs and Vladislav Kolyachonok. I will also include Tommy Novak in that group, even though he was a better and more established player when he was acquired in the Michael Bunting trade.

Some of them have turned out better than others in terms of success.

Novak is talented, but at times frustrating. Also at times productive.

Dewar is a good fourth-liner.

Silovs is …. I am not sure what he is at this point.

Tomasino, Puljujarvi, Bemstrom and Kolyachonok never amounted to anything in Pittsburgh.

That brings us to Chinakhov.

While most of the players mentioned here were acquired for relatively little (Novak excluded), the Penguins paid a pretty steep price for Chinakhov. But he is also arguably the most talented of the bunch with the highest potential upside, and he also might be the best pure finisher out of that group.

The table below looks at all of the aforementioned forwards and their production in terms of 5-on-5 play per 60 minutes in the three full seasons before the Penguins acquired them.

Chinakhov has clearly demonstrated that he has the best finishing ability and goal-scoring ability out of everybody in that group. It is actually pretty good relative to the rest of the league.

Player	Goals/60	Points/60	Shots/60	iXG/60
Yegor Chinakhov	1.00	1.95	7.53	0.62
Tommy Novak	0.76	2.12	5.87	0.63
Connor Dewar	0.48	1.14	6.33	0.58
Philip Tomasino	0.60	1.70	7.01	0.76
Emil Bemstrom	0.55	1.49	7.37	0.71
Jesse Puljujarvi	0.59	1.40	8.21	0.90

The book on Chinakhov at this point is that he has great offensive talents, including his shot, and that kind of tracks here. He does not generate a ton of chances, but he has at least shown some ability to finish. That is way more than can be said about some of the previous projects the Penguins have taken on.

His 1.00 goals per 60 minutes between 2022-23 and 2024-25 ranked 57th out of 575 forwards that played at least 250 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey. It is a small sample size, but he still did that over 1,375 minutes and at least showed SOMETHING. An injury slowed things down for him, he obviously did not see eye-to-eye or match well with head coach Dean Evason and he and the organization obviously needed a split. Especially after he asked for a trade.

My immediate reaction to seeing this transaction was, “well, he is this year’s Philip Tomasino.” But that’s probably doing a disservice to Chinakhov and boosting up Tomasino a little too much.

Overall your expectations should still be low. The chances of the Penguins — or any team — catching lightning in a bottle with a trade like this are low. If you get a 20-goal season out of him at some point consider it a major win. But I still think it is a worthy gamble for a team in need of some finishers. Is the price high? Maybe. But again, you have potentially more valuable picks in the same round and the means to acquire more if needed. He has also shown more goal-scoring ability than some of these previous projects have. Roll the dice and see what happens.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...guins-latest-reclamation-project-will-it-work

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Hurricanes @ Penguins

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/70906/gamethread-hurricanes-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Wilkes Weekly and WJC Mashup: Exciting times beyond the NHL level

The Wilkes-Barre Penguins remain in first place in the Atlantic Division after a week that saw them go 1-1-1. Nick Hart recaps the games here:

Saturday, Dec. 27 – PENGUINS 5 vs. Hershey 2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton came roaring out of the holiday break, burying five goals in the first period of its first game back. The scoring started early, with Nolan Renwick potting his first of the season two minutes in. Raivis Ansons lit the lamp 92 seconds later, followed by a pair of strikes by Gabe Klassen and a late power-play goal from Phil Tomasino.

Sunday, Dec. 28 – PENGUINS 3 at Lehigh Valley 4 (SO)
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard had a day, but the Penguins ultimately fell in a shootout to their turnpike rival. Harvey-Pinard tucked in a slick feed from Valtteri Puustinen three minutes into the game, then went coast-to-coast for a snipe on the rush early in the second period. David Breazeale notched his first AHL goal swiftly after the Phantoms took the lead in the third period, where Harvey-Pinard picked up an assist. However, Lehigh Valley scored on both of its shootout attempts, whereas Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton was shut down.

Harvey-Pinard was named AHL player of the week for his four point effort in those two games (2G+2A). RHP has been sort of a forgotten player in the NHL mix with the depth and sheer number of bodies the organization has, but he’s having a fine season and is in very good form recently.

Missing from that is last night’s 6-2 loss to Charlotte. Sergei Murashov got touched up for five goals against on 24 shots and got pulled in the rare off outing for himself, Aaron Huglen and Joona Koppanen scored the goals for WBS. The Checkers have given WBS problems this season, winning three of the five matchups so far. Those games count for a sizeable portion of the 11 total losses on the season for the Penguins. WBS is in first place, though they have played a whopping six more games than Providence, who are only four points behind and hold an edge in points percentage.

Since the AHL regular season is only 72 games, the Pens are approaching their halfway point and are in firm control for an easy playoff qualification (the top six teams in the division will make the postseason). Looking beyond that, as always in the AHL format, finishing in the top-two within the division will be the season’s primary focus to get a bye in the first round that is only a three-game series and has tripped WBS up in the last two seasons. That should be a big battle that looks like it’s coming down to Wilkes-Barre, Providence and Charlotte fighting for the two top spots. So far the Pens are well-positioned in that battle, despite their mediocre head-to-head results so far against Charlotte.

The Pens are back in action on Saturday, facing off against Syracuse (second place in the North division with 36 points in 30 games) in what could be a strong test for WBS on the road.

—

To cram another topic into the minor league roundup, the 2026 World Junior Championships is well underway, with several big New Year’s Eve games as is tradition in that tournament. The unbeaten Canadians take on Finland in what should be their toughest early tournament matchup, ditto the unbeaten Americans who will face off against fellow medal favorite (and unbeaten) Sweden today.

Overall it’s been a fairly quiet opening to the tournament for the two Penguin prospects involved. 2025 first round pick Will Horcoff has one goal and one assist in the three games while playing on the top line for the Americans. Harrison Brunicke has one assist in his three games for Canada, playing second pair but also getting a heavy dose of special teams time while wearing an A on his jersey as an alternate captain.

Horcoff’s goal against the Germans was a highlight we’ve seen often this season for getting towards the front of the net and using the shooting ability that’s led him to the top of the statsheet in the NCAA this year to find the back of the net.

Ziemer Horcoff #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/5j6EHLhY1Q

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 26, 2025

The true tests for both of these players and teams lays ahead. Today is the last day of round robin action, the single elimination games start on Friday, followed up by a quick turn to the semi-finals on Sunday and championship game on Monday. The US/Sweden and Canada/Finland games today will determine where all of those clubs sit within the bracket. All along many have expected a high probability of a US/Canada collision in the finals, both teams will have to win today to ensure that stays on track. That is no guarantee – especially in the case of a strong Sweden team that should provide an excellent challenge to the Americans today. Many eyes will be on Horcoff to see what he’s got in these crucial moments in the next few days ahead, which will make for exciting watching by the Penguins to see how their budding prospect can perform.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/wbs-weekl...jc-mashup-exciting-times-beyond-the-nhl-level

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins trade Philip Tomasino to Philadelphia for Egor Zamula

A trade of players who recently both cleared waivers! And the rare recent Penguins/Flyers transaction! 2025 is going out with the a bang. Pittsburgh picks up defenseman Egor Zamula in exchange for Philip Tomasino.

The Penguins have acquired defenseman Egor Zamula from the @NHLFlyers in exchange for forward Philip Tomasino.

Details: https://t.co/oxKHyv1NJv pic.twitter.com/2anGBLtk8L

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 31, 2025

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired defenseman Egor Zamula from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Philip Tomasino, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

Zamula is signed through the 2025-26 season, and his contract carries an average annual value of $1.7 million.

Zamula, 25, has appeared in 13 games with the Flyers this season registering one assist and is plus-4. He’s also dressed in three games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey league, notching two assists.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound blueliner has spent all six years of his professional career with the Flyers organization, recording 41 points (8G-33A) in 168 regular-season NHL games. At the AHL level, Zamula has notched five goals, 51 assists and 56 points in 130 games with Lehigh Valley.

The native Chelyabinsk, Russia represented his home country at the 2020 World Junior Championship, picking up five points (3G-2A) in seven games en route to a silver medal.

Prior to that, the undrafted defenseman enjoyed a three-year career in the WHL split between the Regina Pats and Calgary Hitmen.

Both players, interestingly enough, will remain in the AHL; Zamula is reportedly heading to Wilkes-Barre to start and Tomasino is going to Lehigh Valley. It was also rumored and whispered that Zamula might have eventually gotten towards a contract termination with the Flyers, so we’ll see how long he is going to stay in the AHL to acclimate with the Pittsburgh organization.

Zamula had a pretty good season in the past but has struggled to find a full-time niche in the NHL due to skating concerns. He has been responsible defensively in spurts, however.

Egor Zamula, acquired by PIT, is a depth defensive defenceman who's shown a bit of upside in small minutes, specifically defending the rush. Has also shown an extreme lack of foot speed. pic.twitter.com/3ArH7gRZ1P

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) December 31, 2025

Zamula and Tomasino might be about mirror images of one another; Tomasino an offensive-minded forward fell out of favor with a soft 2025-26 season. He was working on a one-year contract worth $1.75 million. Zamula is the same but opposite as a defender, on a $1.7m cap hit. Both are of similar ages and get a new start in a new spot, albeit looking like the impacts of the swap might not make major headway for the future of either organization.

The other interesting item might simply be the fact that the Penguins and Flyers even engaged in completing a trade at all. The team’s had not made a meaningful trade of two pro players since 2002 (the Pens did, however, deal a 2011 third round pick in 2010 to the Flyers for the negotiating rights of Dan Hamhuis but they were unable to come to terms and Hamhuis opted to become a free agent. The third round pick, ironically, ended up being traded to Arizona and back to Pittsburgh in time for the 2011 draft, becoming Harrison Ruopp, who never played in the NHL).

Truth be told, today’s deal wasn’t even the first PIT/PHI trade in 2025; back at the draft the Penguins traded the 12th overall pick (that they received from Vancouver in the Marcus Pettersson deal) over to Philadelphia in exchange for the 22nd and 31st overall picks. The Pens would eventually navigate out of the 31st pick and up a little to end up coming out of draft night with Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff. The Flyers took Jack Nesbitt at No. 12. Nesbitt has 28 points in 27 OHL games this season, Horcoff has been off to a hotter start tearing up the NCAA. From the moment of the draft, we noted that the Nesbitt vs. Horcoff development battle will be an interesting one to track over the years, since their frames and styles are very similar and Pittsburgh opted to steer to Horcoff. It’s early yet for a victory lap but that doesn’t look like a bad idea six months post-draft.

Anyways, Tomasino for Zamula is another deal between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and show a swing towards thawing relations among the mindset of trading between rivals. Sometimes it’s been fairly common (the two PA clubs made four trades with one another over a decade-long period from 1992-2002, including the absolute blockbuster that sent Mark Recchi and a future first round pick to the Flyers in exchange for Rick Tocchet, Ken Wregget and Kjell Samuelsson. Imagine that today!) Other times, like basically 2003-24 it’s been incredibly rare to see the rivals get together and make a deal. Today’s transaction is hardly Recchi-for-Tocchet on the magnitude scale, but just as appealing to see previously existing barriers of trading partners continue to fall.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71065/penguins-trade-philip-tomasino-to-philadelphia-for-egor-zamula

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Detroit Red Wings @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1/1/26

Who: Detroit Red Wings (24-14-3, 51 points, 1st place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (17-12-9, 43 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and FSSN Detroit, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The grind continues with a pair of afternoon games this weekend. The Pens and Red Wings will rematch in Detroit on Saturday afternoon (noon start), then Pittsburgh stays on the road to see Columbus on Sunday (3:00pm eastern start). Then comes a rare three-day break with no games until the Pens host the Devils a week from tonight.

Opponent Track: The Christmas break came at a bad time for Detroit; their 9-2-1 record to start December was one of the best in the NHL. They came back from the break with a 5-2 loss to Carolina before steadying and getting two wins after that, including a 2-1 home win against Winnipeg last night.

Season Series: This will be the first PIT/DET game of the season, we won’t have to wait long for the second since these teams will meet again on Saturday, as mentioned above. The third and final matchup pops up on March 31st in Pittsburgh.

Hidden Stat: The Penguins have points in 10-consecutive home games against Detroit (7-0-3) dating back to Jan. 13, 2018 (stick tap to Pens PR).

Getting to know the Red Wings​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Emmitt Finnie – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Alex DeBrincat – Andrew Copp – Patrick Kane

Michael Rasmussen – JT Compher – Mason Appleton

Marco Kasper – Nate Danielson – James van Riemsdyk

DEFENSEMEN

Simon Edvinsson / Moritz Seider

Ben Chiarot / Axel Sandin-Pellikka

Albert Johansson / Jacob Bernard-Docker

Goalies: Cam Talbot (John Gibson started last night)

Potential scratches: John Leonard, Elmer Soderblom, Travis Harmonic

Injured Reserve: none

• Despite having a name that sounds like he could have been the sixth male lead in It’s a Wonderful Life (hey, it’s still on top of mind this time of year), 20-year old Emmitt Finnie has been a surprise success story in his rookie season. It’s not too often a guy goes from seventh round draft pick to NHL first line in under three years!
• The Pens have struggled mightily in recent years against the DeBrincat-Larkin-Raymond combo, which fortunately for Pittsburgh has been slightly split up for the time being. 2024-25 was a slight down season for the three against Pittsburgh, ‘the Cat’ and Raymond still managed to each record five points in three games. The trio all produced six points in three games vs PIT in 2023-24. They have done really well at finding time, space and then filling up the net against the Pens in recent years after making a series of high-skilled passes, plays and shots. Of course, all are talented players that produce points against just about everyone, it’s just at times they’ve taken it to a different level and absolutely wrecked games with bursts of brilliance against the Pens who have looked powerless at times to stop those skilled players. So, uh, good luck!
• Is this going to be the year the Yzer-plan finally bears fruit and gets Detroit back into the playoffs for the first time since 2016? They’re right in the mix, being in first can give a little bit of a false sense of security since some Atlantic teams are right on Detroit’s heels. To make matters worse for them, the two Florida teams have really gotten things in gear the last 15, 20 games to keep the pressure up.

Season stats
via hockeydb

(Note: does not include last night’s game)

• The injury situation has been extremely favorable for the Red Wings in the first half of a season where injuries have been up across the league this year. Detroit has only used 24 different skaters and two goalies (compared to the Pens 33 and 4, respectively) and almost all their key pieces have been healthy enough to play in just about all of the games except for Patrick Kane. Availability can build chemistry and cohesion, it’s been a good formula for Detroit so far.

Mo knows​

There’s a pretty good case to be made that Moritz Seider is the best defender in the NHL, some may prefer the sublime skills of Cale Makar (and it’s hard to argue against it) but Seider deserves to be mentioned right in the tippy top with the Makar’s, Quinn Hughes’s, Miro Heiskanen’s and Zach Werenski’s of the very best around.

Moritz Seider has a 61% on-ice goal share at 5v5.

The Red Wings have a 35.5% 5v5 goal share with Seider off the ice.

The 2019-20 Red Wings had a 35.5% 5v5 goal share.

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) December 21, 2025

Seider ranks 19th in the NHL among defensemen in hits (69) and eighth in blocked shots (87), while being sixth in points, putting up 24 points (6G+18A) in the last 26 games. He’s right up there in goals against replacement in the whole league, all while averaging just over 25 minutes per game. Still at just 24-years old, Seider is an amazing force multiplier right now.

Key matchup: Similar styles

In a lot of ways the statistical matchup for this game is the meme of the two Spiderman’s pointing at each other. Pittsburgh and Detroit match up similarly in strengths and weaknesses.

Both teams have been top-half of the league in shot-tracked metrics in terms of 5v5 Corsi, Fenwick and expected goals. Both are bottom-half of the league in terms of 5v5 Corsi, Fenwick and expected goals against. Both have very good power plays and middle-of-the-road penalty kills. There are some differences; Detroit has struggled to finish chances, which results in a weak 5v5 actual goals. The Penguins have had better overall goaltending, though that number could be said to be stronger than the current goaltending on hand.

Overall it makes for two teams with similar styles and outlooks. Both are likely to generate a lot, and also give up a lot and have net advantages on special teams due to their strong power plays. Since the Red Wings played and traveled last night, the onus will fall to the Pens to take advantage of that situation and playing a backup goalie in Talbot who hasn’t exactly been stingy this season.

And now for the Pens​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau

Ville Koivunen – Ben Kindel – Rutger McGroarty

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak / Kris Letang

Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs

Potential Scratches: Yegor Chinakhov (?), Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton

IR: Evgeni Malkin, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones

• The Pens were off yesterday, which will make today’s morning skate worth watching for accurate lines. The team will likely look to get Chinakhov into the lineup, we’ll see at which player’s expense. Koivunen stands out as a possible target there.
• The goalie decision will be an interesting one to track too. Skinner is coming off a great game making 27 stops on 28 shots against Carolina, do the Pens give him a little bit of a chance to run with it? Silovs has won two straight games for himself and wouldn’t be a bad choice to go back to either. With three games coming up in the next four days, there will be time for each to play here soon, the splits of which goalie will get two of those games will be intriguing to see.
• Tonight’s promotion is an ‘indoor firework show’ by Zambelli, which at first to me, can’t lie, sounded like the worst promotional tactic since Jackie Moon got a bear to wrestle. Upon doing a little more research, as not to simply make a little joke and disparage the good name of Zambelli Fireworks, it kinda looks like indoor firework shows are extended versions of Goldberg or Cody Rhodes entrances, which I’m sure will be enjoyable for some. Let us know if you experience it if it’s cool or not.

Infographic courtesy of the Penguins

(With 2026, so is the return of the infographic to the previews! Somehow these emails were unknowingly getting hung up in the spam folder to date, whoops!)

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/penguins-...-detroit-red-wings-pittsburgh-penguins-1-1-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Red Wings Recap: New year, same Sid. Crosby, Pens win in OT

Pregame​

Yegor Chinakhov draws into the Penguin lineup for the first time. Arturs Silovs rotates back into the crease, otherwise all is as it has been lately with the lines for the home team.

Tonight's lineup vs. Detroit.#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/9sbG1jRvmz

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 1, 2026

Visiting Detroit has the following lines for the night, backup goalie Cam Talbot is in net for the back-half of their second game in as many days.

How we're lining up tonight pic.twitter.com/US19jayyJo

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 2, 2026

First period​

It only takes 20 seconds for the first Pittsburgh penalty of the year, it’s Sidney Crosby for a tripping call. The Pens kill it off, Crosby atones for his infraction by blasting in a beautiful slapshot from long range on the Pens’ first power play of the night soon after. Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell are in front of the net, blocking Talbot’s view with a pair of Red Wings in the path as well. Crosby fires it in. 1-0 Pens.

Sidney Crosby, folks. pic.twitter.com/yQLgxDJyQp

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 2, 2026

About a minute and a half later, Crosby strikes out of the blue. Brutal Ben Chiarot’s outlet attempt is off the mark and goes right to the Pittsburgh captain, who then quickly puts away his second goal of 2026 in just 5:46 of game-time. Smiles all around for this start.

Come for the goal from 87, stay for the epic celly

Crosby now has multiple points in nine of his last 16 outings against the Red Wings (10G-14A). pic.twitter.com/WLWjYTjYeG

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 2, 2026

Pittsburgh begins a parade to the penalty box, Brett Kulak gets racked up on a questionable offensive zone penalty, later Parker Wotherspoon goes for roughing on an even more questionable play. The Pens managed to kill those off, but then there’s nothing questionable about Tommy Novak accidentally putting his stick across Patrick Kane’s face and drawing a lot of blood. Detroit has a very good power play, after getting all this practice in early they finally are able to convert. Veteran James van Riemsdyk redirects a shot from in tight, not much hope for Silovs on that one. 2-1 game.

JVR nets his 10th on the season. pic.twitter.com/IPppa0Ndv2

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 2, 2026

Almost as much of the first period is played with a Detroit power play (9:27) as it is at normal 5-on-5 (10:17). Some of that was unavoidable but the Pens can’t be taking 10 minutes worth of PIMs in a single period and had to work their way out of that.

Second period​

Bad luck strikes for Silovs, he goes behind the net to play a dump in, but the puck hits a joint and goes to the front of the unguarded net. Silovs can’t recover in time, Andrew Copp has what could be the easiest goal of his career. 2-2 game, 0:50 seconds in.

We'll take it! pic.twitter.com/C6SasJ88MV

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 2, 2026

The Penguins get more and more upset with the officiating, given that the refs are opting not to call a lot in the second period – when Detroit was able to get away with a lot of little things that Pittsburgh was getting send to the box for in the first. The broadcast captures Bryan Rust on the bench, and I’m no expert lip reader but the f-word was clearing getting used. Fast forward a little, the refs send Rust to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct, he went too far for them.

Late in that power play the refs finally can’t avoid making just the second penalty call on Detroit when Lucas Raymond grabs a hold of a Penguin stick. The crowd is heated too, rising to mock cheer the officials for remembering that they’re allowed to penalize more than one team. Pittsburgh can’t convert on their power play.

Not much flow in this game, not a smooth one for the Penguins who are making enough forced and unforced errors to keep this one tied after 40 minutes.

Third period​

Pittsburgh and Detroit both get chances at third period power plays in the first half of the third, neither break the tie.

Another brutal bounce, this time when Dylan Larkin’s shot attempt goes off Erik Karlsson’s stick, which breaks and somehow the puck trickles right to Mason Raymond. Raymond is able to steer it in. But wait, the Pens’ crack video staff instantly saw that Emmitt Finnie brought himself over the blueline before the puck, it’s a quick review and the Red Wings do not have the go-ahead goal with 7:12 after all.

It’s Pittsburgh who pulls ahead, their fourth line puts together yet another high-pressure shift in the offensive zone, hounding pucks and swarming around. Blake Lizotte gets the better of Jack Johnson, err the Jack Johnson looking Ben Chiarot and the puck trickles in. Pens up 3-2.

BLAKE LIZOTTE WOULD NOT BE DENIED pic.twitter.com/avFqsBW6Na

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 2, 2026

The Penguins being the Penguins, they were not yet out of the woods. Jack St. Ivany lifts the puck over the glass and is off for delay of game. The Red Wings buckle down and, fittingly, the Pens look a little awkward and disoriented. Erik Karlsson and Parker Wotherspoon run into each other, neither can get back and then Noel Acciari just kinda falls. The Red Wings have a hand in making them look like the Three Stooges out there, tough one to give up late.

Gotta love The Cat! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/mszlXYHbdU

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 2, 2026

Off to overtime. Really after all the twists and turns of this game, I don’t have a problem with that. Both of these teams deserve a point in the standings for tonight.

Overtime​

The game has been crazy and OT is much of the same. Both teams trade odd-man rushes up and down the ice, it’s the Pens who take the last shot. Crosby finds Kris Letang and his shot goes off the iron and into the net to end the game.

OUR GAME-WINNING GOAL HERO IN HIS 1,200TH @NHL GAME! pic.twitter.com/tYMgS9GmxQ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 2, 2026

Some thoughts​

• First things first, 1,200th game for Kris Letang tonight. Seems like it’s always a milestone for someone these days, it’s pretty rare and worth noting when a defender plays that many games with the same franchise. Coming through at the end with the OT GWG is a nice way to cap it off on a year where there have been more tough moments than positive highlights for Letang.
• On that note, Karlsson gets to 900 career points in the ninth-fastest fashion for blueliners after an assist tonight.
• If you’re a goaltender: tend the goal. Silovs made some bad luck for himself leaving the net open. It’s not every day a bad bounce like that happens but it never looks good when it does. In that instance the Penguin defenders didn’t truly need the goalie to stop and settle the puck. Knowing when to go back there situationally might be the takeaway there.
• Luckily for him that ended up being a high-profile mistake that was made up for in the end. Moneypuck had the Red Wings with a total of 6.6 expected goals, Silovs was able to tighten up and finish with a win. He had to earn that one.
• As advertised and expected, Chinakhov has some wheels on him and when he shoots the puck there’s definitely some heat on it. He only had one morning skate and not even a full practice with his new team before today’s game, some time and adjustment period will be needed.
• It’s futile to complain about the refereeing without just sounding like whining. Sometimes the officiating is going to be acceptable, sometimes it will be annoying. The Pens definitely had a case that the way the game was being called in the first period was not the same as it was in the second. That said, you can’t have a team leader like Rust keep digging by venting on the refs and taking a penalty himself. Emotions run hot but a player owes it to the team not to get out of control. To Rust’s credit, he was arguably the best and most active guy out there for the Pens from that point on. Players know when they get carried away and make a bad mistake that they owe it back.
• Video review teams are so good, if they challenge for offsides you can just about bet your bottom dollar that they were able to identify someone a smidge ahead of the play. It’s clinical at this point, that group came up huge for the Pens in the third period.
• Big time game for Crosby with the three points, he ended up punching through but you had to love the nights for the second and fourth lines too. They were all over the place and had firm control of the puck. It’s a wonder they didn’t get more than Lizotte’s late-game goal that ended up almost

It was a fun game, also a very clunky game at times with calls, missed calls, disallowed goals, a couple of late goals and an OT finish that truly could have gone either way. It ended up going the Pens’ way, but Detroit won’t have to wait long for a measure of revenge. Both teams see each other in 38 hours from the time at writing on Saturday afternoon.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...recap-new-year-same-sid-crosby-pens-win-in-ot

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Rakell, Karlsson make Team Sweden

Team Sweden will have the most Pittsburgh Penguin input at the 2026 Olympics with two players on the roster. Both Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson were named to the roster released today.

Representing Sweden at the #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics… pic.twitter.com/4zkB5heEgs

— NHL (@NHL) January 2, 2026

Karlsson made waves when he was one of the first six players named ahead of the rest of the roster for last years’ 4 Nations Face-off but was NOT one of the early named players to the Olympics. That slight was something he referenced as giving fuel to his season, and he’s responded really well with probably his strongest season in the three years he has been with the Penguins where he’s produced 30 points in 39 games.

The Rakell inclusion is a little unexpected, based off recent play at least. Rakell broke his hand and only has four goals in 19 games so far. He performed really well last season with 35 goals. Rakell was a member of Sweden’s 4 Nations club, but only played two games, he might be back in a depth role.

Pittsburgh won’t have any representatives on the Finland or United States team, not to be unexpected. There could have been a minor push for Bryan Rust, but for a team that couldn’t find room for Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield, Alex Tuch or Cutter Gauthier, it can’t be too surprising that Rust wasn’t a very serious candidate there. The US will have a few Pittsburgh-adjacent ties with Bill Guerin and Mike Sullivan as key figures and Western PA natives J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck making the team and former Penguin Jake Guentzel also a part of the roster.

As already announced, Sidney Crosby will lead the star-studded Canadian roster as their captain once again.

Haven’t seen a release yet for Latvia just yet, but it stands to figure that Arturs Silovs will be involved as a key member since he is one of only two Latvian goalies currently in the NHL (along with Elvis Merzlikins of Columbus).

The Pens will play their last game before the break on February 5th, Olympic action kicks off on the 11th and runs through the gold medal game on the 22nd. Pittsburgh’s NHL schedule picks back up on Feb. 26th.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71119/rakell-karlsson-make-team-sweden

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: Entering 2026 with a win

Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning…​

Kris Letang scored 58 seconds into overtime (how apropos) in his 1,200th game as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Thursday. [Recap]

Speaking of Letang, he recently opened up about what drives him as a Penguin in his age-38 season, saying he wants “another taste of the playoffs,” knowing he is closing in on the end of his career. [NHL]

New Penguins forward Yegor Chinakhov is ready for a “new page, a new year” with his new team. [Trib Live]

The 2026 Winter Olympics could be the final Olympic outing for Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. Now that Team Canada’s full roster has been announced, Crosby said he’s excited for the “great opportunity” that comes with representing his home country. [Penguins]

News and notes from around the NHL…​

St. Louis Blues forward Zach Dean has been cleared by the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the team announced on Thursday. [TSN]

Matthew Schaefer, the 18-year-old defensive phenom for the New York Islanders, revealed on Thursday that he’s one of the players on Canada’s injury-replacement list for the 2026 Winter Olympics. [Sportsnet]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71078/pens-points-penguins-red-wings-letang-crosby-2026-olympics

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Penguins @ Red Wings

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/70914/gamethread-penguins-red-wings

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins suspend Egor Zamula for failing to report to the AHL

The Penguins acquired defenseman Egor Zamula on Wednesday in a trade with the Flyers for minor league forward Philip Tomasino. Zamula has now been suspended by the Pens for a reported failure to report to the team’s minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.

Acquired earlier this week from #LetsGoFlyers, the Penguins #LetsGoPens have suspended defenseman Egor Zamula for failure to report to AHL Wilkes-Barre.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 4, 2026

The Tribune Review received confirmation from a team spokesman that the suspension is in place.

Prior to the trade, it was reported that Zamula was considering seeking a termination of his contract with Philadelphia so that he could become a free agent and presumably sign with a team that would play him in the NHL. Zamula (and his current $1.7 million cap hit) found no takers when the Flyers placed him on waivers in December.

Zamula got a new organization in last week’s trade, but it did not come with an immediate spot on the NHL roster and as of now it doesn’t look like he’s willing to go along with the Pens’ spot of putting him in the AHL. Pittsburgh certainly had to know this situation didn’t come out of complete left field and was a possibility when they acquired him.

As of now, the Pens could look to retain some of Zamula’s salary in a trade if there’s a team out there that might want to add him on a low cap hit in exchange for likely minimal compensation. Other teams could always sit tight and see if the contract gets terminated and they can pick up the player for free. That, of course, assumes there’s an interested market for a fringe player who recently got passed over on his current deal.

Overall, for the Pens, the trade might sort out for them to have cleared the salary and cash outlay to Tomasino. Tomasino played his way outside of the NHL, and Pittsburgh would have had to pay out his $1.75 million salary to play in the AHL for the rest of the season had they not moved him, being as no other teams claimed Tomasino on waivers when they had the chance in December. If nothing else happens, in essence they accomplished a goal of lowering their payroll costs by shipping Tomasino out and taking on the resolution of whatever comes next with Zamula as a way to get there.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71186/penguins-suspend-egor-zamula-for-failing-to-report-to-the-ahl

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Columbus Blue Jackets 1/4/26

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (19-12-9, 47 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division) @ Columbus Blue Jackets (18-16-6, 42 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 3:00 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and FDSN Ohio, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: After today is a three-day break for games for the Pens, who aren’t in action again until hosting New Jersey on Thursday. They better make the short break count, the NJ game starts a string of nine games in just 15 days from Jan 8 -22. The good news is five of the next six games after today are home games in Pittsburgh, at least.

Opponent Track: Columbus is still in last place in the division but they’ve tightened the standings up by winning four out of their last five games. That includes a resounding 5-1 win yesterday over Buffalo to break the Sabres 10-game winning streak. The Blue Jackets have only given up seven total goals in their four games played since Christmas.

Season Series: This is the third PIT/CBJ game of the season, neither of the first two ended in regulation. Columbus won 5-4 by way of a shootout back on October 25th in Pittsburgh, the Penguins returned the favor with a Kris Letang overtime goal in Columbus to take a 4-3 win in the November 28th matchup. The fourth and final game after today is coming up pretty soon when the Blue Jackets head to Pittsburgh one more time on January 17th.

Hidden Stat: Don’t think this game is safe in the third period, no matter who might be ahead. Columbus is 30th in the NHL with a .706% winning percentage (12-1-4) when leading after two periods. The Pens are right behind them at 31st with a .684% winning percentage (13-2-4). These teams (and 32nd place Toronto) are the only NHL clubs to fail to win 5+ games so far this season when leading after the second intermission.

Getting to know the Blue Jackets​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Mason Marchment – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko

Dmitry Voronkov – Cole Sillinger – Danton Heinen

Boone Jenner – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier

Zach Aston Reese – Brendan Gaunce – Kent Johnson

DEFENSEMEN

Zach Werenski / Denton Mateychuk

Ivan Provorov / Damon Severson

Jake Christiansen / Dante Fabbro

Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins (Jet Greaves played yesterday)

Potential scratches: Sean Monahan (injury), Dysin Mayo

Injured Reserve: Miles Wood, Isac Lundestrom, Erik Gudbrandson, Brendan Smith

• An injury to Monahan helped open the door to getting Heinen back into the NHL after last week’s trade from Pittsburgh. Heinen originally went to AHL Cleveland for a game and made his Columbus debut yesterday. Monahan is said to be day-to-day.
• The move to add Marchment via a trade has paid some nice early dividends, the big winger has six points (4G+2A) in six games with CBJ.
• Werenski returned to the lineup for his first game yesterday since 12/20, notching two assists. He’s got 2+ points in each of the last four games that he’s played in.

Season stats
via hockeydb

• Columbus remains in last place due to a lack of firepower, ranking 21st in the NHL in goals per game. Johnson and Monahan (who produced 54 and 57 points last season, respectively) have taken a step backwards in that column this year. Fantilli hasn’t been poor this season but he did score 31 goals last year and is running under that pace this season.
• Even a budding star like Marchenko, was in that category of being a minor disappointment until recently — he’s scored four goals in the last five games to make his boxcars look more respectable here lately.
• Greaves has provided a great option as a starting goalie this year, Merzlikins has continued to struggle to keep the goal of of his net when he’s played. The Pens have had some good fortune in the schedule to play 4/5 of their last five games for teams on the second half of a back-to-back, and while Pittsburgh is also in that situation today, it’s a big difference and drop off if they end up seeing Merzlikins in the net today.

Changes coming in Columbus?​

It’s tough for the Blue Jackets to sit in 15th place in the East via points percentage when it comes with a fairly respectable .525%. They were hoping to take the next step this season and that hasn’t happened nearing the mid-way point.

New: "We’re disappointed where we are position wise."

Our annual midseason Q&A with #CBJ GM Don Waddell. We discuss:

-Blown third period leads & why he thinks they're happening.
-Why offense is down.
-Kent Johnson.
-Defense/goaltending. Fedotov?
-More.https://t.co/b1SuKz66dg

— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) January 2, 2026

Waddell has started an overhaul, getting Marchment (as mentioned above) and then recouping those draft picks from Pittsburgh to send out Chinakhov is the start of it. More could be on the way but the sheer number of teams ahead of them will make for a challenging climb. Columbus did well to come out and take down the streaking Sabres to better themselves a little more, they definitely should be playing with desperation today and fighting for a place that already could be slipping away if they don’t get it in gear soon.

And now for the Pens​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau

Yegor Chinakhov – Ben Kindel – Rutger McGroarty

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak / Kris Letang

Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Arturs Silovs (Stuart Skinner played yesterday)

Potential Scratches: Ville Koivunen, Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton

IR: Evgeni Malkin, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones

• Malkin was confirmed as not being on this short road trip, and given the nature of the impressive win yesterday there probably won’t be much in the way of lineup changes aside from swapping in the fresher goalie. If it is Silovs vs. Merzlikins that would make for the rare double Latvian starting goaltender matchup.

Pens looking to keep it going​

The Penguins have suddenly won four-straight games and are right back in the thick of the playoff race. They’re coming off arguably their most impressive and complete game of the season, limiting first-place Detroit to only 12 shots on goal in a 4-1 road victory. Today presents a challenge on the road again and at the end of another hectic stretch of games, they can afford to ‘empty the tank’ with their efforts knowing that a three-day break lies immediately ahead.

Stuart Skinner: "I feel like the team's got a really solid amount of chemistry right now, and everyone's going, you know? From my perspective, it's really fun to watch.”

He saw just 12 shots in Pittsburgh's 3-1 win. More from Detroit https://t.co/Gvb76yDGpf

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 3, 2026

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/penguins-...tsburgh-penguins-columbus-blue-jackets-1-4-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Blue Jackets Recap: Pens rally to win fifth straight game

Pregame​

The Penguins get Ville Koivunen back in the lineup for Rutger McGroarty and rotate their goalies.

Today's lineup in Columbus.#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/7JzNj9k88b

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 4, 2026

The Blue Jackets are opting to use the same lineup from their victory yesterday over Buffalo, including keeping Jet Greaves in the net for a second day in a row.

run 'em back against the pens pic.twitter.com/sBdUJLMsD7

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 4, 2026

First period​

The decision to get Koivunen back into the lineup pays instant dividends. Koivunen plays with some hunger in his return to the lineup on his very first shift, sending a shot off the knob of Greaves’s stick and then knocking in the rebound of a Ben Kindel shot from in front to open the scoring just 1:50 into the game.

VILLE GETS US GOING pic.twitter.com/kVXDJ12ZsZ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 4, 2026

Pittsburgh carries all the early play, Columbus doesn’t get a shot on goal for almost six minutes. When they do, they score. The worm starts to turn when Justin Brazeau sent a pass a little off the mark for Anthony Mantha and the latter opted not to shoot the puck as a result. When this team starts passing up shots and looking to make everything perfect, bad things usually follow and it did here. CBJ gets to the offensive end. Denton Mateychuk rips a shot that Dmitri Voronkov deflects downward from point blank range. 1-1 game.

Dento let's one fly!

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/ElsJQVxPLX

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 4, 2026

The Blue Jackets strike again just 17 seconds later. Not a great sequence for Kindel as he fails to knock the puck off course coming up the ice and then sees Mason Marchment slip behind him and come free for the go-ahead goal.

MUSH AIN'T MESSIN' AROUND!

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/3pFtVSk3HR

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 4, 2026

Another big turning point happens towards the end of the period. The Pens’ fourth line gets a chance but Connor Dewar can’t put it home. That line gets trapped in their own end, this time a Mateychuk shot is blocked by Blake Lizotte but becomes a bit of a broken play when it bounces straight to Zach Werenski. Werenski quickly feeds it down to Kirill Marchenko to lift into the net from a tight angle. 3-1 game now.

MARCHY BROUGHT THE MAGIC

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/gOhKleMDJw

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 4, 2026

Shots in the first are 11-9 CBJ, nothing for the Penguins in the last 10:42 in the shot department. Pittsburgh was great in the opening 7-8 minutes then watched as the Jackets took control in a major way over the second half of the period.

Second period​

It doesn’t get any better in the early going, Boone Jenner bumps Kris Letang off a puck and then creates traffic in front of the net. That’s all Werenski needs to flick a shot from the blueline that Silovs never sees, which makes it hard to stop. 4-1 game 47 seconds into the middle frame.

Z PUTS AWAY HIS 15th OF THE SEASON

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/dbm83b44ZC

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 4, 2026

Pittsburgh tries to chip away and even builds a few quality shifts but can’t find any goals. They get another chance when Adam Fantilli is off to the penalty box for just the second power play of the game. Nothing comes of a sloppy and disjointed two minutes.

The Pens find their goal before the end of the period. Dewar keeps the puck in the zone and feeds Noel Acciari wide open in the slot. Acciari fires in his fourth goal of the season to bring the score to 4-2 and bring Pittsburgh back within shouting distance.

We have a two-goal game pic.twitter.com/J3vcyRVSQP

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 4, 2026

At the end, the Pens came into the second period two goals, they leave still down by two. Shots overall are 29-18 in favor of PIT.

Third period​

Columbus takes their third penalty of the night. At first it performs really poorly again, the second group gets out there and Tommy Novak fires a one-timer from the middle up past Greaves. 4-3 game and still plenty of time with over 16 minutes left.

The @penguins are now trailing by one! pic.twitter.com/dHTOo9nhec

— NHL (@NHL) January 4, 2026

Silovs gets pulled for the extra player with 2 minutes left, They get setup in the zone for some 6v5 offense but get very little to the net, until Rickard Rakell scores with 12.8 seconds to go!

NO QUIT IN THE BLACK & GOLD pic.twitter.com/sXtkAQ8ju5

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 4, 2026

Well, as mentioned in the preview, both of these teams are allergic to holding third period leads – today it was Columbus coughing up a multi-goal lead.

Overtime​

Kindel, Karlsson and Rakell start things out, they hold the puck for the first 30 seconds, chase it for the next 30, getting it back before getting off the ice.

Play seems to settle as much as it can in 3v3, then the Pens make a change and Crosby sneaks on the ice. Chinakohov played the puck up quickly to Erik Karlsson who laid a pass to the middle for a wide-open Crosby. The captain dekes to the backhand and his five-hole shot slides in. 5-4, Pens win.

Simply a privilege to watch Sidney Crosby do his thing. pic.twitter.com/svP3RcZrWm

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 4, 2026

Some thoughts​

• Great coaching move by Dan Muse to get Koivunen back in the lineup for the first time since Tuesday’s game. It’s one of those things that worked out perfectly, Koivunen wasn’t doing enough to keep playing indefinitely and certainly used the time as a reset to play harder and better, which he did right from the drop of the puck. It was the first 5v5 goal of his career, second 5v5 point of the season since an assist on 11/3 vs TOR. Nice to see him make a little bit of progress.
• Now, perhaps we’ll see if that path is repeated with McGroarty in the future as a scratch for a young player whose effectiveness declined as his stint in the lineup went along.
• There’s a lot of data and research on hand to indicate when a goalie has to play two days in a row that it isn’t a pretty picture on that second day. Coach Dean Evason and Columbus don’t have time for that, or any reasonable option at this point but to go with Jet Greaves two days in a row considering how poorly their backup is. The gambit somewhat paid off today, even if the Jackets ran out of gas. Greaves made 38 saves on 43 shots, and if he wasn’t very strong, Columbus wouldn’t even have made it to overtime to get one point. It did look like Greaves and the whole CBJ team eventually wore down in the third period, maybe that doesn’t happen if they’re fresh, but then again maybe not. Can only play the hand you’re dealt.
• And hey, if this weekend wasn’t classic NHL for you, I don’t know what is. The Pens dominated first-place Detroit yesterday (after beating them on Thursday too). Then today, last-place Columbus looks about 1000 times better than the Red Wings did, requiring a huge effort and last minute goal for Pittsburgh to avoid losing in regulation. That about sums up the parity of the league these days, you play a team in the middle of a hot stretch (Columbus had won four out of five entering the day) and it doesn’t matter what spot in the standings they’re in. Catch a top team at what happens to be a good time* and you can probably defeat them, possibly while looking very good in the process. (*Note: this probably doesn’t apply to Colorado this season, but that’s about it)
• The future is uncertain, volume 659: one week ago Danton Heinen was in Wilkes-Barre, today he played against his now former Penguin teammates in Columbus. Always crazy how quickly life situations can change for a great majority of the league at the drop of a hat.
• Was thinking yesterday about making a note for Rakell’s six shot on goal day against Detroit, but he only scored an empty net goal. Rakell had another five SOGs today (and nine total attempts) and scored a late third period goal of much more significance today. Not a bad weekend for him to be sitting on four goals for the season and bumping that up to six over the course of about 29 hours. Bryan Rust can use the help for as a winger finding the back of the net on that line.
• Chinakhov’s play on the GWG might be overlooked, it worked out perfectly. Most players in that situation slow-play the puck to the point of tedium and pull back to make sure the change has happened and the setup is right to proceed. Chinakhov was aggressive to go up the ice. Nothing ventured, nothing gained when it comes to 3v3 OT, glad to see an instance where players don’t sit back and watch paint dry and force the issue. That could have backfired if Karlsson wasn’t prepared to receive the pass and build on it with one of his own.

That caps off a very satisfying and exciting weekend of Penguin hockey, in two very different games. Pittsburgh now gets a three-day break that they can use in the big scheme of things, but with the way they’re going now it’s almost a shame the momentum will be put on hold for a few days until the next game on Thursday.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...s-recap-sidney-crosby-ot-goal-highlights-pens

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

NHL Standings: At the halfway point

In the last Sunday Standings just after Christmas, the situation wasn’t looking so rosy for the Penguins. A 1-5-4 stretch had completely given up all the early-season work the team did to position themselves near the top of the standings and throw them towards the bottom end of the shuffle. With a mind towards Buffalo’s then seven-game winning streak (which eventually grew to 10 before they lost over the weekend), some foreshadowing went along with a line:

Needless to say, about now would be a very fortuitous time to string together a long winning streak

The Penguins apparently took that to heart and won all five of their games coming out of the Christmas break to change the nature of their positioning. For now at least. This included probably their two most complete games of the season in the last week when they defeated Carolina 5-1 last week and later only allowed 12 shots in a 4-1 victory in Detroit on Saturday. Undoubtedly, it was a great time for Pittsburgh to rack up all the points possible.

Just like that, Pittsburgh has shot up the charts as most teams have met or surpasses the midway point of the 82-game schedule. The NHL season is a roller coaster like that, filled with the lowest of lows — like all those blown leads and losses in December, followed by a drastic turnaround coming out of the break. Here’s how the East looks today:

Thanks to that late push, the Penguins hit the middle of the season on statistical pace for 98 points. From preseason expectations, that’s impressive. Their position is in no way secure, being as the Pens are as close from first-place Carolina as they are to 15th place NYR, with both extremes four points in either direction. That outlook is a little extreme given the games in hand situation, but remains a pretty accurate talking point in the notion that there is absolutely no breathing room out there this time of year.

The troubling outlook, as of today, is that several talented teams are below Pittsburgh in the standings (Washington, New Jersey, Florida, Ottawa). The recent winning streak has put the Pens in-line with the other major surprise teams of the first-half, NYI and Philadelphia. Other variable teams that go on similar hot and cold stretches, like Boston and Buffalo, are right in the mix too.

With every team in the East at at least a .523 points% (an 86-point pace) the margin of error is non-existent, for the Penguins and also for everyone else. The standings these days are like standing in quicksand and the picture will surely be fluid and bound to change on a weekly, if not daily basis. That’s shaping up to be simply the nature of the season; string together a couple of wins and a team suddenly is right in the thick of the pack, or even towards the top. Hit a tough stretch and that goes away in a hurry to get shuffled down towards the bottom of the pack as the rest of the conference continues to relentlessly chip away with a point or two in almost every game that they play.

As far as the Penguins go, they have no choice but to continue to taking the season one chunk at a time. The next bit starts on Thursday, kicking off a stretch of nine games in 15 days, and 15 games overall until the Olympic break that starts for them on February 5th. There are four Western Conference opponents in the upcoming segment and several key Eastern matchups with New Jersey, Boston, Tampa, Philadelphia and Columbus on the docket in the near future. There’s still 41 games to go and while nothing meets the absolute definition of ‘must win’ with so much runway left, the importance of all of these games will be absolutely paramount.

That Olympic break will create a major and natural touch point to take stock in how the situation is sorted out a month from now. In the meantime, the division and conference will keep rolling through the waves as the teams keep sorting through a wild season with so many performing so well.

The Pens have been at both ends of the spectrum in the last month, in some ways that’s because they’re a team capable of variable performances. They’re hardly alone in that boat, much of the league has alternated between hot and cold stretches that has had them just about all end up in the 45-52 point zone at the halfway point of the season. That sets up an intense and high-stakes second half where every team can reasonably have some confidence and optimism that they can make a run towards the playoffs with the natural other side of the coin where many of those teams are bound for disappointing endings once it all sorts out.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71239/nhl-standings-at-the-halfway-point