Heading into a Sunday matinee matchup with the Boston Bruins, the Pittsburgh Penguins hoped to take advantage of a team in free fall and sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
Unfortunately, the Penguins were dead on arrival.
Pittsburgh dropped the penultimate game of their season, 4-1, to a Bruins team that was simply more ready from the jump. They outshot the Penguins 26-16 through the first 40 minutes, and that reflected in the score.
Boston got the scoring started at the last moments of the first period. With three seconds remaining on the clock, Elias Lindholm put home his own rebound at the net-front to give Boston a 1-0 lead. They added on in the second period, as Fabian Lysell scored his first NHL goal on the power play a little past the midway point and Morgan Geekie added a third goal a few minutes later.
The Penguins got a late-period goal of their own in the second, however, and it was a milestone one. With 16 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Philip Tomasino took a pass from Ville Koivunen and then fired a shot-pass of his own toward the net. Rickard Rakell was waiting on the backdoor, and it hit the shaft of Rakell’s stick and went in.
That goal was Rakell’s 35th of season, which set a new career-high for the scoring forward. He also registered his 69th point on the goal, which ties his career-high set in 2017-18 with the Anaheim Ducks. And he said a better start this season was a huge part of his resurgence.
“I think I just got off to a good start, and then, you obviously start feeling better after that and just [start] trusting your game,” Rakell said.
After the Rakell goal, unfortunately, any momentum the Penguins had at the end of the second period died off in the third. The Bruins played a pretty stingy brand of hockey - as they’re known to do - and Jakub Lauko added an empty-net goal within the final three minutes of regulation to shut the door.
Head coach Mike Sullivan was not particularly pleased with his group’s energy level and felt that the Penguins played a slow game throughout.
“It was a slow game, period,” Sullivan said. “I thought our goaltender was terrific. The rest of it, it’s hard to find a positive.”
Even In Passing, Shero Leaves Legacy On Penguins OrganizationIt's hard to talk about the Sidney Crosby-era Pittsburgh Penguins without talking about former general manager Ray Shero.
Here are some thoughts and observations from this one:
- First and foremost, there was a really nice video tribute to former Penguins general manager Ray Shero, who died Wednesday at the age of 62. before the game. Both the Penguins’ and Bruins’ starters on the ice - typically lined up on the blue lines in preparation for the game - actually backed up toward the benches in order to be able to view the tribute on the jumbotron.
If that doesn’t tell you how much love the Penguins - and the league at large - have for Shero, I’m not sure what does. He will be sorely missed by everyone in hockey and by the Penguins.
- Ponomarev looks okay. I do like his tenacity and his ability to extend shifts. Sullivan and Dubas have both talked about his “motor,” which is definitely on display.
But I do think there are some details in terms of the speed of the game that he needs to get more accustomed to with more NHL experience. His reads are a bit slow, the timing of his passes is off, and he sometimes still gets caught playing the man-to-man defensive style that the Carolina Hurricanes deployed before he was brought to Pittsburgh in the Jake Guentzel trade.
That being said, development for a player like Ponomarev is going to be much different than for players like Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen. He is a bottom-six player, and his ceiling is likely third-line center. A lot of his development will be focused on defensive details, reads, forechecking, and versatility.
Don’t expect Ponomarev to look like an impact player right away. Eight NHL games - and only six with the Penguins spread across three stints - is not anywhere close to enough time to make any sort of judgment on whether or not he’ll be an effective NHL player within his role.
Remember, development doesn’t stop when players reach the NHL level. There is still a learning and adjustment curve. You might see that with Ponomarev.
- Speaking of Koivunen, I’m not sure what else I can say at this point. This guy has not missed a beat playing in Pittsburgh’s top-six, as he has five points in seven games - including a four-game point streak.
But it’s not even the production that impresses me most. It’s his hockey sense and his reads. He’s always right where he needs to be in order to make and execute plays. His vision is legitimate, and it marries well with both Crosby and Malkin.
The transition has been seamless for Koivunen, as it was for McGroarty before his season-ending injury. If they can keep this up, this is very, very good news for the Penguins and their chances at a quicker turnaround.
- Jarry was absolutely phenomenal in the first period for the Penguins. He did surrender the late goal - not really his fault on that one - but the Bruins were peppering him with shots in the latter half of the opening frame.
'I Would Love To Come Back': After Career Year, Grzelcyk Hopes To Stay In PittsburghWhen defenseman Matt Grzelcyk made the decision to sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer, he did so with the mindset that he'd come in and be granted some opportunity to rediscover his game.
- In the seven games since being moved off of Sidney Crosby’s line, Rickard Rakell does have three goals and six points. However, all three goals - and five of those points - have come on the man advantage.
It seems abundantly clear that Rakell has an immense amount of chemistry with Sidney Crosby. But if the Penguins are going to give younger guys like McGroarty and Koivunen legitimate runway at the NHL level in 2025-26 - and Rakell is still around - this may pose a bit of an issue.
I think the simple solution is to swap Rakell and Bryan Rust, as Rust has historically meshed well with Evgeni Malkin. But it will also be interesting to see whether or not the Penguins target a second-line center this offseason.
In any case, if Rakell is on this team, he should be playing with Crosby. This was the first season in which he spent the vast majority of his minutes alongside 87 - and it’s hard to argue with the results.
_ I want to focus on Rakell a bit more.
What a season he has had. Just one year ago, social media keyboard warriors were writing him off during a down season that was set back by a slow start and a few injuries.
I’ve said it time and time again, but this is the kind of player Rakell is when he has the opportunity to play with an elite playmaking center. As long as he and Crosby play together - and he remains healthy - he is going to put the puck in the net.
Crosby, Rakell Continue Dominance As Top DuoAfter the 2024 NHL trade deadline, Pittsburgh Penguins POHO and GM Kyle Dubas
traded captain Sidney Crosby's best winger in Jake Guentzel. It seemed to be the first domino to fall in an effort to sell off the team's marketable, talented assets to begin pushing toward the future.
I don’t know what is going to happen this summer with Rakell. My gut feeling is that he will be a Pittsburgh Penguin when the puck drops for the 2025-26 season. Regardless, he’s a heck of a player on both sides of the puck, and he’s a valuable piece to any team interested in contending.
_ Well, there’s just one more. And that’s when the Washington Capitals come to town on Thursday for fan appreciation night.
Pens fans, do Alex Ovechkin a favor and show him some appreciation on Thursday. He deserves it. And take it all in, because - by all accounts - we don’t have much time left to watch Crosby and Ovechkin square off. Ovechkin has indicated that he plans to retire following the expiration of his contract in 2026.
So just enjoy this rivalry for what it is, and has been, for two decades.
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