Penguins appear as strong as ever going down stretch
pieces from injury, including defensemen Kris Letang, Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley, before the playoffs. But there is no more help coming from the outside. The two key additions from before the trade deadline this week — defensemen Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit— made their arena debuts, although Hainsey did play in the stadium series game a week ago against the Philadelphia Flyers. Each made a nice first impression. Streit got the winning goal after a sweet pass from Sidney Crosby, prompting him to say of Crosby, “He’s got six eyes. He sees everything …
“There are so many great players on this team. A lot of skill. Everybody works hard on the defensive side and works hard for each other. You get the save when you need it. It’s a really good team. I’m very impressed.”
Yes, these Penguins are good enough to win a second consecutive Stanley Cup if everyone is healthy.
You have to like the depth Jim Rutherford brought in with Hainsey and Streit. That should give the Penguins nine quality defensemen at playoff time, leaving Mike Sullivan with the wonderful problem of having to pick a top six. Letang, Justin Schultz, Ian Cole and Brian Dumoulin seem like locks. Schultz added to his strong season Friday night, assisting on a goal by Evgeni Malkin in the second period and scoring the fourth goal on a power play late in the third. He has 10 goals and 41 points.
If Daley and Maatta aren’t able to come back from their surgeries, Hainsey and Streit will be there to step in. So will Chad Ruhwedel. Hainsey and Streit played together often against the Lightning, Hainsey for a team-high 25:07, including 4:31 on the penalty-kill, with five block shots, Streit for 19:31. Sullivan was impressed. “I thought he was real good,” he said of Streit. “You can see his hockey sense. He’s a real smart player. He’s very positionally sound. You can tell he’s played a lot of years in the league. I think he’s going to give us a whole another look on the power play.” And Hainsey? “I think Ron brings a different element to our defensive corps,” Sullivan said. “He’s a steady, stay-at-home defenseman. He’s mobile. He got good size. He’s got a long reach. He’s hard to play against. He’s a real good penalty-killer. That’s an element that we really needed. It takes some pressure off our other guys killing penalties.”
And Streit and Hainsey together?
“Both of these guys give us the ability to spread the minutes a little better,” Sullivan said. “I think that’s going to help all of them have more success.”
It is a nice, deep group of defensemen.
There are no worries about the Penguins being able to score enough goals. Malkin had two against the Lightning to the surprise of no one. He has owned the Lightning with 17 goals and 15 assists in the past 15 regular-season games. It was nice to see him get one of the goals on the power play, his first power-play goal in 13 games.
“You can see how strong he is,” Sullivan said of Malkin. “He’s so hard to contain down low. He’s got such a powerful game when he’s feeling it like he was tonight. He’s an elite player. He has the ability to change games. He’s been a force and a threat on a lot of nights.”
Kessel had the primary assist on each of Malkin’s goals, ending his three-game pointless streak. Kessel is known as a goal-scorer but doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being a passer. Those assists were terrific.
The Penguins will have 13 capable forwards once Bryan Rust returns from what is believed to be an elbow injury. Conor Sheary came back Friday night to play on Crosby’s line after missing 13 games. Rookie Jake Guentzel has earned a spot in the lineup. Tom Kuhnhackl didn’t help himself by taking two penalties against the Lightning, although he did score an empty-net goal with 1:00 left. He could be the man out when Rust gets back.
It is a nice, deep group of forwards.
The total package made me think of “Miracle,” the greatest sports movie of all time, about the U.S. hockey team’s stunning gold medal in the 1980 Olympics.
These Penguins won’t need a miracle to be a strong contender for another Cup. I don’t care that the Washington Capitals lead the NHL with 93 points, seven more than the Penguins. With Crosby, Malkin, Matt Murray, their depth and, of course, a little health, the Penguins will be the team to beat.