Penguins Room: April Wins Give Pens Regret; Big Praise for Koivunen

In the final analysis, most teams slumping out of the playoff chase would be happy to win 10 of their final 17 games with points in 12 of them. Yet despite a 10-5-2 record in their final 17 games, the ultra-competitive veterans in the dressing room might not find solace in their finishing kick, but instead regret.

The Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 Thursday. They played free and loose, for the joy of the game. No, Washington didn’t push them too hard–Washington will have bigger challenges this weekend as their Round One series against the Montreal Canadiens begins–but the Penguins were having fun.

Read More: Penguins Beat Capitals, Close Out Season on High Note

Sidney Crosby scored a goal with an assist. Bryan Rust scored a pair of goals, bringing his career total to 31. And to the Penguins fans’ credit, they loudly cheered the tribute video to Alex Ovechkin, who broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record on April 6, and even when Ovechkin blistered a power-play goal past goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.

For a moment, it was as if the old lions roared just for the fans. It was vintage Sid and Ovi.

“They saved the game. The league wasn’t in too great of shape 20 years ago,” Rust said in reverence to the all-time greats’ contributions to the sport.

However, the good tidings of the victory also brought a reminder of what the Penguins felt they were capable of, rather than the season of opportunity lost.

If only the Penguins had built on their strong December performance instead of falling flat on their face in January and February. Over 18 games in January and February, the Penguins totaled just seven wins. They also picked up four loser points, but the damage had been done.

They had an awful start, putting them in a hole, but their second 20-game segment was strong, and then … disaster.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now asked Rust, who scored a pair of goals Thursday, if winning 10 of 17 in March and April eased the sour taste of missing the playoffs. However, he spun our question around.

Nope. The opposite.

“(The wins) might do the opposite, because we kind of know that we should have probably won a lot more games earlier in the year, which is a tougher pill to swallow; that we would have played a little more like this through the first part of the year,” said Rust. “Maybe we’d be playing on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, whatever it is. But unfortunately, we didn’t.”

Ville Koivunen

The Penguins’ engaging rookie registered two assists Thursday, bringing his very respectable total to seven helpers in eight NHL games.

No NHL goals, yet. But almost.

Koivunen’s game was another standout performance. The rookie just makes the right play, always. Even when it’s not in his best interest, he moves the puck to the open player, passes up good shots for better scoring opportunities (without overpassing), plays physically on the walls, and knows how to play in the defensive zone.

Coach Mike Sullivan has not shied away from praising the Finnish winger, who was acquired when the team traded Jake Guentzel in March of 2024. Sullivan went more in-depth in Koivunen’s game Thursday.

“The one thing that is evident to us is he has a really high hockey IQ, and he has quiet confidence about him. He has a maturity to his game, especially his offensive game,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “And we’ve seen that from the very first shift that he played. He’s not afraid of the moment. And when you play in the top six, when you play with Sid or (Evgeni Malkin), or some of the star power like that, it can be very intimidating for a young player. One of the things we observed was that it didn’t faze him … He’s a great kid. He loves hockey … and he has some swagger to him.

“He plays with moxy.”

In the third period, Koivunen appeared to score his first goal as he crashed the net. However, the puck hit the post and settled on the goal line. As Koivunen went face-first into the crease, he decided to use his hand to knock the puck across the goal line.

Whoops. It was originally called a goal, but after a quick review, it was overturned. After the game, the player sheepishly admitted he used some extra legal methods to get the puck across the line, and got a little ribbing from Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

“Yeah, I hit the puck (with my hand),” he admitted.

You know you can’t do that, right?

“I didn’t know that at first, after the goal, I knew,” he said with self-effacing humor.

Sullivan also offered some praise for Rust, whose two goals raised his career-high total to 31.

The Penguins’ gritty winger has made known his strong desire to stay and lead a team turnaround. He’s come a long way from the firecracker fourth-liner who blocked shots and killed penalties in single-digit minutes of ice time.

Rust is now a legitimate goal scorer.

“No, I did not imagine that (Rust would blossom as a scorer). You know, when I was coaching Rusty in Wilkes-Barre, he was on our second line, and he wasn’t even on our power play. He was a penalty kill, checking energy guy in Wilkes-Barre,” said Sullivan. “That year, when he got called up, he came up to Pittsburgh through the bottom six. He played on the fourth line, killed penalties, and was an energy guy. I don’t know that I’ve been around a player or coached a player whose offensive game has evolved and developed as much as his. He deserves so much credit for his passion for the game and his work ethic in putting in the time every day to develop his overall game. It’s remarkable what he’s done with his career.”

And that’s that. The Penguins’ season is over.

The team will clean out on Friday morning. Pittsburgh Hockey Now will have full coverage and final interviews from the Penguins’ room.