It wasn't always pretty, and it wasn't always clean.
But the Pittsburgh Penguins and their quick-strike offense managed to get the job done yet again - and their best player hit a major milestone.
After surrendering an early 2-0 lead, the Penguins capped off the night with a strong third period and beat the St. Louis Blues by a final score of 6-3. Captain Sidney Crosby had a goal and three points in this one, and with his second point of the night on Bryan Rust's second goal of the night, Crosby registered his 1,700th career point - becoming just the ninth player in NHL history to hit that mark.
That second point also made him pass Mario Lemieux for the all-time franchise lead in multi-point games with 498.
"It's crazy, definitely, to be even on the ice for that," defenseman Parker Wotherspoon said. "1,700 is pretty cool. I mean, he's going to keep hitting milestone after milestone, so it's going to be pretty impressive to watch.
"The greatest player I've ever seen, so it's pretty cool. I guess I'm choking up thinking about it."
When we say "quick-strike," the Penguins - quite literally - struck quickly. Rust opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the game, and Anthony Mantha registered his fifth of the season only 16 seconds later to give the Penguins two goals in the first 55 seconds of regulation.
And even though they got off to an early 2-0 lead, it wasn't exactly smooth-sledding for the rest of the first period. The Penguins were sloppy in all three zones, and St. Louis answered with two goals of their own from Nick Bjugstad and Jordan Kyrou - almost carbon-copy plays - off of direct miscues by Pittsburgh's blue line.
Breaking: Crosby Records 1,700th Career Point
<a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' captain Sidney Crosby is seemingly hitting milestones on a nightly basis.
However, the Penguins responded well in the aftermath. In a tightly-contested second period, the Penguins pulled their goaltender after a delayed penalty call on St. Louis about six minutes in. They cycled in the offensive zone for about 30 seconds before Crosby sent a beautiful cross-ice pass to Wotherspoon, who sniped it from the left circle to give the Penguins the 3-2 lead and his first goal as a Penguin.
That score held until the third, when the Penguins - and Rust - struck quickly yet again. Crosby got the puck to Karlsson in an early-period opportunity, and Karlsson threw the puck toward the net, where Rust tipped it in for his second just 42 seconds into the final frame.
A few minutes later, young rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke turned the puck over in the offensive zone, leading to a two-on-one the other way and resulting in a Mathieu Joseph goal to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-3. Things were getting a bit hairy at that point.
But then, the captain got the job done. With less than four minutes to go in regulation, Crosby had a breakaway opportunity. Initially, he put one off the pad of Blues' goalie Joel Hofer, but he got his own rebound and put it home for his third point of the game to put the Penguins back up by two.
Evgeni Malkin added an empty-net goal 20 seconds later to put the nail in the coffin - and tie him for the league lead in scoring, at least, for the night.
"It seems like you've got these constant reminders, and I quickly forget, too, about the age," head coach Dan Muse said. "And you think about the fact that they've been doing this for as long as they have been and we've got guys on the team that weren't even born when they started this journey. It's remarkable. It's incredible, and I think it's pretty cool for everybody involved there that we're constantly getting reminded because they're constantly doing something new all the time or hitting a new milestone all the time."
Here are some thoughts and observations from this one:
- That was quite a start by the Penguins. Folks weren't even in their seats yet. I didn't even have myself entirely situated up in the press box.
Then, bam, it's 2-0.
The issue is that the Penguins took their foot off the gas a little bit after that and started to play too loose defensively for the rest of the first period, especially in the neutral zone. They also got careless along the offensive blue line on a few occasions, too. We haven't seen that too much from them up to this point in the season.
Their ability to lock down and hold leads has generally been very positive in the earlygoing. But there are some cracks starting to show in that department.
To their credit, they got quite a bit better as the game went on. The end of the first was, really, the only serious hiccup.
- I liked what I saw from Crosby's line in this one, which had a new look with Filip Hallander slotting in for the injured Rickard Rakell.
Penguins' Forward Prospect Gets Shot Next To Crosby
With <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' top scoring winger Rickard Rakell out 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken hand, it's a perfect opportunity for some younger Penguins to get a shot on the top line next to Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust.
Hallander wasn't afraid to drive the middle of the ice, and he was consistently looking to get the puck on Sid's stick. Rust's shot on his opening goal was a thing of beauty, and things are starting to look up for him after a rocky start.
The Penguins have four formidable lines right now. I'd like to see Hallander get an extended look there. Let the other lines continue to cook.
- Speaking of, let's talk about those other lines.
Malkin's line is ridiculously locked in right now. They have a combined 36 points through 10 games. All three of them are around, at, or above point-per-game. It's remarkable how much their size is a problem for other teams.
When I was drawing things up in training camp, I never would have even thought to put this line together. But it makes so much sense in the best way. They've been phenomenal.
And - again - it has been a really, really remarkable start to the season for 71.
39-Year-Old Evgeni Malkin May Just Push For The Art Ross This Season - Community Post
The top-five in NHL scoring is chock full of 19-year-olds, 28-year-olds, 29-year-olds, and... 39-year-olds, apparently.
- As for the third line of Ben Kindel, Ville Koivunen, and Tommy Novak, they were relatively quiet Monday. I think they were missing Hallander's playmaking ability a bit, and it was Koivunen's first game back in the NHL after being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Sunday.
That trio can end up being a lethal combination. I'm eager to see how it progresses in the coming games and if any changes will be made throughout the lineup to give several of the kids some chances on Crosby's line. I'd like to see more of Koivunen and Kindel, though.
- Brunicke is clearly a very gifted offensive defenseman. He can create magic from the offensive blue line almost every time he possesses the puck in the o-zone, and it really is a marvel to watch.
But he still has a lot to clean up defensively. He is young, and he is learning. But he lets way too many guys get behind him in the neutral zone as a result of jumping up in the play prematurely and trying to do too much.
That's exactly what happened on St. Louis's first goal, as Brunicke was caught back and coasting a bit in the neutral zone, and he allowed Bjugstad to get behind him and beat him to the net for an easy tap-in. And, on St. Louis's fourth goal by Mathieu Joseph, Brunicke tried to squeeze through two Blues defenders in the offensive zone, which led to a turnover and the two-on-one that resulted in the goal.
'I'm Finding That Happy Medium': Rookie Defenseman Continues To Improve Defensively
Anyone who has watched Pittsburgh Penguins' rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke knows how gifted the 19-year-old is offensively.
There is way too much risk in his game right now, but these reads will get better with time. And rookie mistakes like this show why he needs to stay at the NHL level. In junior hockey, this will only become even worse a habit for him.
The Penguins - and Brunicke - don't need that. He needs to take his lumps at the NHL level. That said, he won't be doing himself any favors as far as his chances of sticking around the entire season if he continues to make these mistakes in droves.
If I'm Dan Muse, I'm putting Brunicke right back in there Tuesday night. Give him the chance to recover from a tough outing.
- After a first-period penalty was killed by the Penguins, Novak was sprung from the box by a beautiful Kris Letang Murphy dump. Novak hit the crossbar on the play and nearly put the Penguins up 3-1 at the time.
Novak has been miles better in these last few games. And his shot sure has some zip to it.
- Wotherspoon continues to impress me on the top pairing next to Karlsson. He made several nice stick plays to break up chances on Monday, and there is simply no panic in his game whatsoever.
He might just be the perfect partner for Karlsson. He can skate, and he can join on the offense, but he's so, so smart. Makes all the simple hockey plays that you need from a shutdown defenseman.
What a bargain find by Kyle Dubas in the offseason.
- The Penguins are in the midst of their first back-to-back of the season, as they will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers Tuesday night to begin a four-game, nine-day road trip.
And things have gone well for them so far this season away from Pittsburgh. They are 4-1 and have outscored opponents 18-9.
Let's see if they can sustain the success they've had so far this season. It's safe to say that they're not winning by accident at this point.
- Immediately following the second goal by the Penguins, a fan fell from the upper level to the lower level. He was attended to by paramedics and taken to a local hospital, where he is in critical condition.
Crosby and Muse were both quick to send their thoughts to the fan, and it's the first thing each of them said.
A really unfortunate and awful situation. Hoping for the best for this fan and their family and friends.
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