It was a big night for Sidney Crosby and his fellow Piittsburgh Penguins superstars on Monday evening against the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena. Crosby notched two goals and an assist to pass 1,700 points for his career, Bryant Rust posted the same score line himself, and Evgeni Malkin added and goal and assist in a 6-3 Penguins victory. In reaching the 1,700 point plateau, Crosby becomes just the 9th player in NHL history to reach the mark and now sits just 22 points behind Mario Lemieux for the most
in Penguins history and the 8th most all time. [Pensburgh]
There’s no rest for the Penguins as they get ready to complete their first back-to-back set of the season by heading across the state for a meeting with the Philadelphia Flyers later this evening.
Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 PM EST and will be broadcast on ESPN as a part of the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy.
Pens Points…
Four games on the schedule for the Penguins this week, starting last night with St. Louis and featuring a three game road trip that begins tonight and runs through Saturday in Winnipeg. Ville Koivunen is back in the NHL and it’s almost decision time on Kindel and Brunicke. [Pensburgh]
With Rickard Rakell on the shelf for the next 6-8 weeks it’s a prime opportunity for Ville Koivunen to cement his spot as an NHL player. Koivunen was called up right as the Rakell news broke and will be sliding into a regular role in the Penguins lineup going forward. [The Hockey News]
A fast start from the Penguins has the fan base excited and has perhaps altered some previously held expectations. Whatever comes of the season moving forward, don’t plan on Kyle Dubas changing his grand plan for the Penguins regardless of the highs or lows. [The Athletic $$]
So far this season, Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs have been holding down the fort in goal for the Penguins. The same goes for top goaltending prospect Sergei Murshov in the AHL who is off to a torrid start and was just named the AHL Player of the Week. [WBS Penguins]
NHL News and Notes…
It was a week for the young stars of the NHL to take center stage and three of the brightest took home Three Star Honors for the week. Macklin Celebrini led the way as First Star with 10 points in just four games while Logan Cooley and Jack Hughes joined him on the awards list. [NHL]
Wednesday will mark 100 days until the Winter Olympics begin in Italy. With NHL players heading back to the Games for the first time since 2014, excitement is building. For the general managers of Team USA and Team Canada, the scouting process is reaching fever pitch. [NHL]
