After a thoroughly disappointing 2-1 overtime loss to open the NHL Global Series on Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins aimed to take home three of four possible points in their rematch with the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
And they put together a very strong effort in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Penguins defeated the Predators, 4-0, in a game that began at 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast. Rookie netminder Sergei Murashov earned the shutout and his first career NHL win - as well as Game MVP honors and a nice watch - in a 21-save performance.
And - according to Penguins PR - Murashov required the fewest career games played (2) to record his first NHL shutout in franchise history.
"Really great crowd, great vibe at the arena," Murashov said. "Thanks for everyone who came in who watched this game. It's a really nice opportunity in life just to change scenery and play in a different spot but still take care of our own business."
The Penguins got off to a fast start in this one, as Parker Wotherspoon fired a seeing-eye shot from the left point to kick off the scoring a little more than two minutes into regulation. Six minutes later, Evgeni Malkin had a deja vu moment from Friday when he was parked below the goal line right by the net and threw a puck toward the net-front, and it hit Nicholas Hague's foot and went in to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.
'It's Huge For Me': Olympics Big Motivating Factor For Penguins' Players This SeasonThe 2026 Olympic Games in Milano Cortina are a huge motivating factor for several Pittsburgh Penguins' players like Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust - as well as for the entirety of the NHL. Then - just two minutes later - the Penguins got a little bit of puck luck when the vulcanized rubber went off a Preds' stick and right to Sidney Crosby's stick in the left circle. Crosby sniped the puck past Juuse Saros to give the Penguins an early 3-0 lead - and one that they wouldn't surrender.
The Predators did get a lot of chances on the power play in the second period, but the Penguins wouldn't break. They generated some scoring opportunities in the third period as well, and the Penguins - and Murashov - stood tall defenisively. Their early onslaught proved too much for the Preds to overcome.
All in all, it was a solid bounceback effort for the Penguins, and they are going back to Pittsburgh with three out of four points on their trip to Sweden. And this is no small thing considering that the Penguins had lost five of their previous six games going into this one.
"We were just motivated to bounce back," Crosby said. "I thought it showed with the way we played. It doesn't always work out that you get three [goals], even if you have a good start. So, that was big, and, obviously, our penalty kill was big there in the second. But that start was huge."
Here are some takeaways from this one:
- The Penguins changed around their forward lines for this game, as Ben Kindel - who has been on Crosby's line for the past handful of games - was put back into the third-line center role, Connor Dewar was put on Crosby's left, Kevin Hayes was bumped up to Malkin's left, and Tommy Novak was moved back down with Kindel. Danton Heinen also slotted in for Ville Koivunen, who is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
And the lineup shifting paid off big time.
Obviously, the injury situation doesn't make constructing a perfect - or, even, formidable - lineup easy. Moving Kindel up in the first place was more so a move of necessity rather than one of pure election, as Crosby's line was struggling to generate, and two top-six wingers in Rickard Rakell and Justin Brazeau are injured and forced their hand.
But this team is much better with Kindel centering the third line. It wasn't a particularly loud game for the trio of Kindel, Novak, and Philip Tomasino, but they did generate some chances - and Crosby's line with Connor Dewar and Bryan Rust were fine without Kindel. And they were able to roll four lines, which is something they haven't been able to do throughout this recent stretch of games.
When the Penguins can roll lines, they're hard to play against. And that's what happened against Nashville.
- This was a good effort from the Penguins, even if things got a little hairy in the second period. The Penguins killed off a Ryan Graves tripping minor six minutes into the middle frame, and Ryan Shea took a slashing penalty a little past the midway point of the period.
Then, with 37 seconds left on Shea's infraction, the Penguins took a Too Many Men penalty and gave Nashville a five-on-three. And Pittsburgh's penalty kill - once again - came up big.
Rutger McGroarty Shines In Return As WBS Penguins Complete Weekend SweepSaturday marked the return for one of the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' top forward prospects.
Blake Lizotte - I'll get to him in a minute - put forth a nice individual effort high in the defensive zone to stall some time and prevent the Predators from getting set up. Erik Karlsson and Wotherspoon did some nice work down low as well, and the Penguins were able to kill off both the five-on-three and the regular man-advantage that followed.
The Penguins' penalty kill now ranks fifth in the league at 85.7 percent, and their power play - which did not get an opportunity in this game - ranks first at 34.1 percent. Special teams is winning the Penguins hockey games, and if they can keep both units operating at a high level, they should continue to help the Penguins win a lot of hockey games.
- Speaking of Lizotte, he was outstanding in this game. As a matter of fact, he's been outstanding this entire season.
If Lizotte is involved in a puck battle along the wall, he wins it. If there is a race to the puck, he wins it. If there is a battle for positioning around the net - despite his size - he wins it.
This guy works his tail off night-in and night-out. He is excellent on the penalty kill and is an energizer in the bottom-six. He's the perfect fourth-line center, and the Penguins are a better team with him on it.
- At the end of the second period, a video of Crosby smiling ear-to-ear as he cross-checked Nashville forward Luke Evangelista went viral.
Of course, there was a lot leading up to that moment, including a few missed cross-checks by Evangelista earlier in the game. Frustration was mounting for Nashville, and hockey happened as a result.
I'm never one to side with players taking cheap shots. But this wasn't a cheap shot by Crosby. It was barely anything more than a love tap. And seeing him smile through the entire thing was truly something else.
- Wotherspoon continues to be a revelation for the Penguins. He is perfectly steady next to Karlsson, and he has shown an ability to manage the puck really well, too.
On his goal, he did a little stop-and-start while possessing the puck before walking to his left and firing the puck toward the goal. I like his skating. I like his smarts. I like how he tandems with Karlsson.
He's been an excellent find for the Penguins and a huge reason for the team's - and Karlsson's - early success.
- On the other hand, I didn't think Clifton enjoyed a particularly strong game on the bottom pairing. He did make a nice play on the backcheck during the second period to break up a play, but there were a few occasions where he was caught out of position and couldn't get back, he lost the puck in the defensive zone leading to a turnover, and he misread plays in general.
None of Clifton, Matt Dumba, or Harrison Brunicke have shown enough to secure regular playing time on the right side of the bottom pairing. Ryan Graves has been perfectly solid on the left side since his recall from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS). The only one he hasn't played with is Brunicke.
Sooner or later, it would be nice to see one of them begin to separate himself on the right side.
- Speaking of Brunicke...
...If you're keeping track, this was the 19-year-old rookie defenseman's fifth consecutive NHL healthy scratch, which makes him eligible for a one-time, five-game or 14-day maximum AHL conditioning loan.
The Penguins don't play until Friday. The WBS Penguins play exactly five games within the next 14 days, and that is true up until the end of Thursday this week. Brunicke has played in nine games and has not yet reached his 10th to trigger his entry-level contract. The World Junior Championship (WJC) is coming up at the end of December.
What Will The Penguins Do With Top Defensive Prospect Harrison Brunicke?On Thursday, it was confirmed by <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' head coach Dan Muse that 18-year-old center <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/penguins-top-prospect-ben-kindel-to-remain-in-pittsburgh">Ben Kindel will remain in the NHL through his 10th game</a>, meaning the first year of his three-year entry-level contract will kick in.
You do the math. If I were a betting person, I'd say there's a clear path for Brunicke here over the coming days and weeks. He needs to see game action at some point, and a short AHL stint is the perfect opportunity for a reset before getting very competitive minutes at the WJC.
Keep an eye on this situation.
- Obviously, you don't want to get too far ahead of things.
But Murashov is so calm, poised, and confident in his net. He operates with such composure for a 21-year-old who literally just entered the league a week ago. He had to make some tough saves in this game - namely a second-period save on Stamkos during a Preds' power play - and most of the time, he's making it look easy.
There will be bumps in the road with a young goaltender. There always are with any young player. But there is something different about this kid. He's special.
The Penguins put together exactly the kind of bounceback game that they needed to Sunday. And Murashov was a huge part of that. If he and Arturs Silovs continue to operate at the level they have so far, this team is going to have a very good problem when it comes time for Tristan Jarry to return from injured reserve.
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