Penguins Postgame: Crosby, Malkin Shine vs. Senators; Grading the Youngsters

The Pittsburgh Penguins stars shined brightly Sunday night.

Evgeni Malkin scored a hat trick with a pair of second-period goals and an empty netter. Sidney Crosby scored a pair of goals to delight the eastern Canadian crowd in Sudbury as the Penguins won their first preseason game with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in the Kraft Hockeyville Celebration at the Sudbury Community Arena.

Both teams put something close to their NHL lineups on the ice but made space for a few young hopefuls. Also of note for the Penguins, was indeed the performances of those young players, who elevated their game against Ottawa’s best.

The Recap

The Penguins gave up a couple of goals in the first period, in what clearly amounted to some preseason efforts that ended in “whoops. ” At 4:00 of the first period, Nick Cousins pounced on a loose puck created when Anthony Beauvillier and Marcus Pettersson crossed signals behind the Penguins’ net.

At 13:55 of the first, Tim Stutzle scored from the slot after skating past the Penguins wingers, and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk took the wrong angle.

Preseason efforts. If they happen in later October, there’s a problem, but in September, it more resembled a team with many new faces and little to no experience playing together.

Crosby scored the Penguins’ first goal at 8:54 with a quick and precise passing play set up by Anthony Beauvillier’s strong zone entry. He cut to the center of the ice, and his drop pass to Kris Letang quickly became Letang’s pretty backhand pass to Crosby near the crease for a tap-in goal.

Malkin tied the game with a fluky power-play goal later in the second period. Letang’s shot fluttered high into the air, hit Malkin, and bounced into the net. Just 2:03 later, Malkin beat Ottawa Senators goalie Anton Forsberg with a backhand from 15 feet.

At 7:53 of the third period, Crosby again scored from the doorstep. Bryan Rust zipped a pass across the slot for Crosby’s slam dunk and the Penguin’s second power-play goal.

The upsides were Malkin and Crosby’s building brilliance and a couple of strong performances by prospective defensemen who most likely won’t make the NHL roster next week but are expected to arrive much sooner than later.

Forward Blake Lizotte suffered an upper-body injury and did not play in the third period.

Penguins Postgame Analysis

Penguins Power Play: Didn’t stink

Assistant coach David Quinn’s Penguins power play tweaks take advantage of the team’s strengths and don’t ask players to be what they’re not. The new power play has one player near the net and one in the low slot, but not a traditional bumper. The dual low threats can cycle around the net, keeping pressure in the low zone.

As importantly, the Penguins got zone entries and shots.

Penguins Stars: A+

It’s preseason, and one may not expect to see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin zipping around, but fans in Sudbury with a national TV audience got something close to regular-season versions of the Penguins stars. The team sat on the Pittsburgh International runway for hours Saturday night due to mechanical issues on the team charter, so it took a few minutes for the team to get its game legs. However, once they did, the Penguins’ top lines looked engaged, sharp, and carried the play.

The list of Penguins stars who played well includes the entire top six with Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell.

Owen Pickering: A

Whaddaya say? Pickering gave his best performance with the Penguins for the brightest lights. The 2022 first-round pick (21st overall) was pretty good. Early in the game, he showed his engagement, shoving Senators off the puck near the wall. His positioning was sound. He skated with the play and activated a few times, creating an extra stick in the attack—directly helping to create space for Malkin’s second goal. Pickering earned an assist on Malkin’s second tally.

Coach Mike Sullivan also saw Pickering’s hop and gave him ice time with Kris Letang in the second and third periods.

Harrison Brunicke: A

He was smooth. Brunicke engaged in battles along the wall, made good outlet passes, and held his own. He did not look like an 18-year-old defenseman.

Brunicke was paired with Pettersson, and the duo was solid against the best of Ottawa.

Anthony Beauvillier: B+

The winger showed to be a competent winger on Crosby’s left flank. There was the snafu behind the net with Pettersson, but he was good on the forecheck and read Crosby well.

Sam Poulin: B?

Poulin seemed to be moving well and was very good on the penalty kill. However, he again took a minor tripping penalty and received a misconduct in the third period for scrapping with Zach MacEwen while another fight was happening. Poulin didn’t drop his gloves, but he and MacEwen were given double minor roughing penalties and misconducts.

He didn’t do enough in the offensive zone to earn more than a B, but we might be grading generously, too.

Penguins Lines

Beauvillier-Crosby-Rust

Lizotte-Malkin-Rakell

Bunting-Hayes-Glass

Gruden-Poulin-Imaa

Defense

Grzelcyk-Letang

Pettersson-Brunicke

Pickering-Renouf