The Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday evening was a pretty great team win. They carried play for most of the game, got some big saves from starting goalie Stuart Skinner when they needed them, quickly responded whenever Seattle pushed back, and had extremely balanced scoring from the entire lineup.
They received two goals from defenseman (Parker Wotherspoon and Brett Kulak).
They had a shorthanded goal.
The fourth line pushed play and had multiple members of it contribute points. Connor Dewar scored two goals (including the shorthanded goal), Blake Lizotte had two assists, and Noel Acciari was a plus-3 and nearly added a goal of his own when he rang a shot off the post in the third period.
The play of that fourth line is what I want to talk about today, because it has been a big part of the Penguins’ success this season. Certainly not the biggest part, but definitely a big part. It is definitely a positive asset and contributor to the Penguins’ current standing in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
The trio of Lizotte, Dewar and Acciari has become something of a sparkplug for this team and continues to post strong numbers for itself almost every night.
During Monday’s game they were on the ice for more than eight minutes of 5-on-5 play, and controlled 72.4 percent of the expected goals during that time.
For the season, they have played 218 minutes together and own a 10-6 goals advantage, a 52 percent shot attempt share and a 54.6 percent expected goals share. By pretty much every objective measure, they have been one of the Penguins’ most effective trios on a per-minute basis. What makes it stand out so much more is they have done it while taking on some of the hardest minutes on the ice, at least in terms of where they are being asked to start their shifts. They have started just 23 shifts (only 16 percent of their zone starts) in the offensive zone, and have primarily been set up with defensive zone draws. Just based on proximity to the nets you would expect a line with that sort of deployment to be getting crushed in terms of shots and chances. Not the case with these guys. They have consistently pushed play and flipped the ice in the Penguins’ favor.
They have also played incredible lock-down defensive hockey, and in those 218 minutes the Penguins are allowing just 2.00 expected goals per 60 minutes. Just for perspective on that, the top team in the NHL this season in preventing expected goals on a team-wide level is allowing 2.27 per 60 minutes.
Across the board they have been outstanding, and it is some nice complementary team-building from general manager Kyle Dubas and his staff to piece that together. That is at least a promising sign because it was a blind spot for him during his time in Toronto.
Lizotte and Accairi were both free agent signings, while Dewar was added at last year’s trade deadline in a deal that was pretty much an afterthought at the time. It has turned into a nice little win, especially when you consider the added components to it, and how Dewar seems to be the element that brings that group together.
Keep in mind, Lizotte and Acciari were on the Penguins roster since the beginning of the 2024-25 season. When they have played with a third player that is not Dewar they are not anywhere near as effective togther. Adding Dewar into the mix is where things really took off for that group.
Just before last year’s deadline the Penguins sent a fifth-round pick to Toronto for Dewar and defenseman Conor Timmins. Timmins was then flipped this offseason, along with Isaac Beliveau, for a second-round pick and defenseman Connor Clifton.
So far the Penguins have turned a fifth-round pick and Isaac Beliveau into a excellent fourth-line forward, a second-round pick (No. 39 overall in 2025 — defenseman Peyton Kettles) and a depth defenseman that could probably be flipped for another pick that is at least comparable to that fifth-round pick they originally gave up at any time.
Dubas has not hit on all of his big NHL moves, and the jury is obviously still out on the draft picks, but the one thing that has consistently impressed me with his Penguins tenure is the way he has managed assets and salary cap space.
Turning a fifth-round pick into Dewar, Kettles and Clifton is shrewd business.
A bunch of little mistakes add up into big problems.
But a bunch of little wins can add up into big advantages and big wins.
Whenever I hear a team or its fans raving about their fourth line as being their identity I immediately get a red flag. All I can think of is some of those New York Islanders teams that just weren’t particularly good, trotting out Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck to check people for 10 minutes a night. That is not to say a good fourth line is not important — it is. But if that is the first line you talk about involving a team, that is probably not a good sign for that team’s overall upside. You need a good fourth line to win. The fourth line can not be the biggest reason you think you are winning.
This fourth-line, however, is legitimately good. It is also not the Penguins’ identity. That still sits with the superstars at the top. This fourth line simply is exactly what you want to see for a good team. Complementary hockey. Knows its role. Not asked to do too much. Helps win the minutes and come out ahead when the superstars are sitting on the bench. It is not the reason this team is in a playoff position and competing for a playoff spot. It is just one of the reasons.