Tim Benz: Penguins put early season advantages on display in season opener
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If this version of the Pittsburgh Penguins wants to be what it thinks it can be, then it needs to do a lot more of what it did in Thursday night’s 2022-23 regular-season opener.
Wait. Save it. I’ll fill in your response here.
“Oh really, Tim? You mean, beat a crummy opponent like the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 at home? Do stuff like that? Great hockey analysis, pal!”
Touché.
But my greater point is that these Penguins need to take advantage of what they have going for them early in the season — specifically, health, experience, continuity, chemistry. And they need to lean into those advantages while they are the most pronounced.
Which is right now. Immediately. Right out of the gate to begin the season.
The “two points in early October count the same as they do in early April” cliché is completely obvious, even if it rarely feels at all true.
However, the way this year’s Penguins team is constructed, the argument carries a lot more weight.
According to CapFriendly.com, these Penguins are the oldest team in the league, at an average age of 30.1 years old. The league average is 27.4. That’ll undoubtedly catch up to the Penguins at some point, either in terms of injuries, fatigue or both.
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So win now and stack points while everyone is healthy. Because if any franchise in the NHL has known how difficult life can be when it comes to negotiating the injury report, it’s been the Penguins.
For as much longevity as the franchise’s three superstars (Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin) have shown over their careers, they’ve all had significant chunks of time lost because of substantial in-season injuries.
So the Penguins need to play at their best immediately to amass points while the roster is intact. That certainly appeared to be the case as Crosby, Malkin, Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker all scored goals in Thursday’s win. Letang had two assists. All of those players are between 30-37 years old.
17 seasons together sure seems to build a lot of chemistry! pic.twitter.com/a1h35MVZX8
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 14, 2022
“We were on our toes all night. Especially at the start of the game. We were all over them. We were in their faces. We were playing as a unit. That’s why we got up three early,” Rust said.
Go to the net and good things happen. pic.twitter.com/kDwoBz00rW
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 14, 2022
Like many, I’m dubious of the theory that essentially maintaining the same roster of the past four years is going to do anything but recreate similar disappointment in the first round of the playoffs.
But for right now, in the first month or two of the season, the group knows how to play with each other. The group likes each other, or else the players themselves wouldn’t have worked so hard to construct their contracts to keep the team in one piece. Mike Sullivan’s team shouldn’t have to search for continuity. It shouldn’t need time to gel.
That’s something that teams like the Coyotes and even clubs much more experienced than them will have to figure out.
The continuity is especially evident up front, even with Teddy Blueger injured to start the season. Not only is the forward depth chart largely the same, so are the line combinations. So are the roles these players are being asked to fill.
“Most of these guys have been together for a while now,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “There is a lot of familiarity on the lines. Sid and Jake have played together for a long time. Geno and Rusty have had a fair amount of time together over the years. … I just think that the fact that we have some stability and continuity in our group certainly helps from a chemistry standpoint.”
Granted, there are changes on the blue line. Jan Rutta and Jeff Petry are new to the team. Pierre-Olivier Joseph is taking on what should become an expanded role. But Petry’s assertion is the cohesion that exists throughout the rest of the group is allowing him to fit in more easily than would normally be the case with a new team.
“In my situation, I am trying to get familiarized with Petey (defense partner Marcus Pettersson),” Petry said. “I think he has done a really good job of helping me out and explaining the system and constantly communicating on the ice, on the bench. It’s made it a lot easier.”
Given all the Stanley Cup playoff experience still present on this roster, in theory, it looks like a team that’s built for the playoffs in April and May. That hasn’t manifested at all the past four years.
In order to snap that trend this spring, the Penguins will need to be every bit as good as they were Thursday throughout the fall.