Two out of three ain’t bad…unless of course the two are losses, and that is the case for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the past week. After managing just two goals each against the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes, not good enough to avoid 5-2 and 4-2 losses, respectively, the Penguins saved faced with a 3-0 shutout over the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights. Pittsburgh’s goaltending thus continues to boggle and amaze, as Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic have now combined for a League-leading five shutouts with the eighth-best save percentage and the seventh-fewest goals against per game as well. It’s clear that this tandem has the ability to be among the NHL’s best, but you’ll have to forgive them the occasional clunker along the way.
It was great to see the depth scoring be responsible for bringing victory to the Penguins against Vegas, with Ryan Graves and Noel Acciari each scoring their first goals of the season. Acciari’s goal was simply a matter of him being in the right place at the right time to smack home a poorly-considered backhand pass from Alec Martinez behind his own goal, but Graves’ goal was more like what Pittsburgh needs to see more of from the third line. Snatching on a turnover by Vegas, the combined effort of the third line to pursue the puck back into Vegas’ end, throw the puck towards the goal and create a mire of chaos near the crease. All Ryan Graves had to do was wait for the puck to find its way out towards him, and that’s how it happened. It was the kind of dirty goal that a team needs from time to time, and it’s the kind that we haven’t seen enough of from the Penguins over the last few seasons.
Speaking of the last few seasons, Pittsburgh has been having an inordinate amount of trouble against playoff teams, particularly those within its own division. Last season the Penguins were 10-10-6 against their Metropolitan Division rivals, with eight of those wins coming against their peers which also missed the postseason this past spring. More to the point, last week’s losses against the Devils and Hurricanes continued a winless streak against those teams that stretches back beyond last season. Both of those remaining two wins against the Metropolitan Division came at the expense of the New York Rangers, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise since Pittsburgh had proven they could beat the Rangers in the 2022 playoffs (just not if Tristan Jarry and Sidney Crosby aren’t at 100%).
This season the Rangers are off to a great start, currently (as of this writing) leading the Metropolitan Division by a healthy four-point margin (over the Philadelphia Flyers of all teams—but they often get off to a fast start). With just two losses in regulation plus one more in overtime, New York has the second-best points percentage in the League behind the Boston Bruins. They are led by two key factors which mirror that of the Penguins: their power play is second-best in the NHL and only two other teams have a higher ratio of power play goals to total goals; and their goaltending tandem of Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick have allowed the second-fewest goals against and have the second-best save percentage (again, just behind Boston). They haven’t missed a beat since losing both Adam Fox and Filip Chytil to injury in their November 2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, which is bad news for anyone who is not a Rangers fan. New York seems well-equipped to push past the adversity, and they look very difficult for anyone to beat.
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! WE hope you have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday.
