Where the Penguins Stand

After talking at length about the Flyers, I asked Bryan Rust to name the strengths of this Penguins team, which has flipped the script to be in this position.

"I think, for us, we're confident with anybody on the ice,” he replied. “Top to bottom, all four lines, doesn't really matter who's on the ice, we're confident that they're going to play good defense, chip in some offense, play the game the right way. I think that's going to go a long way."

Here’s more on where the Penguins stand going into their Round One series against Philadelphia.

INTANGIBLES

The foundation for Pittsburgh’s game, and something that stood out to Dan Muse right away, is the competitiveness.

During his first media availability of training camp, the first-year Penguins head coach joked, “This group here, like, I think if I put a cold cheeseburger out there for the winner, they would be all in to get that cold cheeseburger. That’s the nature of the group.”

And after the Penguins clinched a playoff spot, Muse referenced that competitiveness as a big reason that the coaching staff had belief from Day 1. It’s a big part of their identity.

“It's a team that's going to work at both ends of the ice. Just relentless in our puck pursuit, relentless in our working above, in our defensive play,” Muse has said. “Then we're playing a united game, a connected game, where when we transition to offense, we do it together. We find each other, and then back to being relentless on the attack. Then you press repeat, and you do it again.”

They also have plenty of experience, which both Erik Karlsson and Anthony Mantha have referenced numerous times when discussing how the Penguins deal with adversity.

“I mean, you look at our leadership group, there’s not a lot of things that these guys haven’t been through,” Muse said.

They had some challenging stretches at different points of the season, particularly back in December, when the Penguins struggled mightily to hold on to leads. But they got stronger through that experience, which served the Penguins well during a gauntlet of a March schedule, but even going back farther.

“I think we’re ready for any challenge,” Rickard Rakell said.

“This is a very resilient group. You know you can never count us out,” added Stuart Skinner, who has played in the last two Stanley Cup Finals with the Edmonton Oilers. “Being down 4-1 against Columbus (on Jan. 4), we were able to come back and win in overtime. And you could go on and on and on about different scenarios that we've done that. So, from my experience, that's honestly exactly what you need to go for a long stretch.”

Not to mention, making the playoffs hasn’t removed the chip from Pittsburgh’s collective shoulder. The Penguins want to keep proving all of their doubters wrong. They also have a fantastic team dynamic – read more about it here.

OFFENSE

These Penguins finished the regular season as the highest-scoring team in the Sidney Crosby Era (2005-Present) on a goals-per-game basis, averaging 3.54 goals a contest. Overall, they scored 290 goals, the most since the 1996-97 campaign (285), which ranked third in the NHL behind Colorado and Carolina.

Longtime Penguins forward Bryan Rust, who scored 29 of those goals, said this is absolutely one of the deepest offenses he has been a part of.

“I think on any given night, there's guys who are scoring goals and guys who are stepping up and bringing the offense,” Rust said. “It's not just one line or the top six. You see all four lines doing it, and a lot of the defensemen have been doing it too. I think it's been a group effort this year.”

That will absolutely serve them well going into the playoffs, where the games get tighter and time and space disappears. Fortunately, the Penguins have put an emphasis on getting to the hard areas.

“The bottom line is it’s hard to score and you have to be willing to go to the net, regardless of who you’re playing and what time of year it is,” Sidney Crosby said. “That’s something that doesn’t get old, and we’ve done that consistently and gotten rewarded.”

Here is how the Penguins lined up in practice leading into Game 1:

Egor Chinakhov-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Tommy Novak-Rickard Rakell-Evgeni Malkin

Elmer Soderblom-Ben Kindel-Anthony Mantha

Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Extras: Justin Brazeau, Kevin Hayes

DEFENSE

The Penguins Team MVP, as voted by the players, leads their blue line. Erik Karlsson has been outstanding all year long, and is hungry to be back in the postseason for the first time since the 2018-19 season with San Jose. They have depth, and chemistry on their pairings.

But the Penguins do have some work to do when it comes to tightening up their goals against. Muse doesn’t like when the group gives up ‘loud’ chances, with opponents getting second and third opportunities from the slot area. And Kris Letang said these Flyers are particularly good off the rush.

“They have a lot of speed, their forwards are really skilled, so you don't want to be giving them time and space in the neutral zone to counterattack,” Letang said. “Often it could result in Grade-A chances. So, you have to play tight, you have to play on top of them. You have to make sure your legs are always moving. You don’t want to be caught static.”

When this group is on the same page in the defensive zone, supporting each other and refusing to get outworked, bringing those second and third efforts, it’s beautiful to watch.

“I think postseason is when we'll all play our best,” Connor Clifton said. “We're definitely gonna be hard to play against. We're gonna force teams into turnovers if they want to make plays at the line. Obviously, we've been great at breaking the puck out all year, but obviously gets a little bit more important because of that possession time and less time in the D zone.

“So, I'm excited about the 9 D that we have for the start of playoffs.”

Here is how the Penguins lined up in practice leading into Game 1:

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson

Sam Girard-Kris Letang

Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton

Extras: Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany, Ilya Solovyov. Rookie Jake Livanavage is not eligible to participate in this year’s NHL postseason.

GOALTENDING

After Saturday’s morning skate, Muse confirmed that Stuart Skinner will be the starting goaltender for Game 1. Muse often talks about the calmness that Skinner brings, and how he can settle a game down, which will be critical during the emotions of a playoff series.

The other half of Pittsburgh’s goalie tandem, Arturs Silovs, has some valuable playoff experience as well.

Read more here.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This area is a big strength for the Penguins, and one they spent a lot of time on going into the series. “They always play a big role,” Kris Letang said. “You want to make sure you scout them, what they do, and try to focus on execution on there and get ready for that.”

Under assistant coach Todd Nelson, in his first year with the team, they ranked near the top of the league all year, ultimately finishing 7^th. They were pretty consistent all year, and managed to avoid any real serious dips.

The Penguins have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the personnel they can deploy with the man-advantage.

Their units looked like this in practice leading into Game 1 (with the players listed in no particular order):

PP1) Karlsson, Crosby, Rakell, Rust, Malkin

PP2) Letang, Novak, Kindel, Mantha, Chinakhov

Rakell said the biggest key will be to stay in their structure, and work for each other. “Hunt a lot of loose pucks, attack the net, get the rebounds,” he said. “I think probably same for everybody. But I think that's what gets us going. And even if you don't score, you get that momentum.”

Chinakhov said whenever the next unit goes over the boards, “Just try to be ready for the puck. The first unit plays a minute or more, so we just need to be ready. Just getting shots, more at the net. That’s it.”

Pittsburgh’s penalty kill also had a terrific year under Mike Stothers and Nick Bonino, also in their first years with the team. However, that group struggled a bit towards the end of the year, ultimately finishing 6^th after being first or second for most of the season.

“I think we’re confident. It really is a new season. The slate’s clean,” said Connor Dewar, the team’s leader in shorthanded time on ice per game with 2:41 minutes.

“When we’re being aggressive and on our toes, it's easier to read off each other and anticipate the next play the other team's gonna make. So, that keeps them on their heels and keeps them under pressure.”

It will certainly be a big boost to get Blake Lizotte back in the mix after the forward missed the last 16 games of the year with a lower-body injury.

“He’s our motor,” Dewar said. “He’s so easy to play with. He just does everything right.”