NEWARK, N.J. \u2014 Dan Muse walked around the dressing room in the moments after the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils, shaking hands with each of his players.<\/p>\n
Bryan Rust then looked at his coach and said, \u201cHey! The fun has just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n
He would know.<\/p>\n
Rust, along with the big three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang \u2014 the four members of the Penguins\u2019 2017 Stanley Cup team remaining on the roster \u2014 are headed back to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2022. The Penguins officially clinched a playoff spot Thursday night, and thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 loss in Detroit, they have also clinched home-ice advantage in the first round.<\/p>\n
PPG Paints Arena will host Game 1 of the opening-round series April 18 or 19. The Penguins are most likely to play against the Flyers or the New York Islanders, though mathematically, they could also play the Columbus Blue Jackets or the Washington Capitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great,\u201d Rust said. \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, it feels a little better given the outside expectations all year. Giving everyone a big middle finger feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entering the season, the Penguins were believed to be one of the NHL\u2019s worst teams. They flipped the script in a big way.<\/p>\n
The Penguins haven\u2019t won a playoff series since 2018 and were largely believed to be in the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes this season. Instead, they have the eighth-most points and the second-most goals in the NHL. They have clinched second place in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cThat\u2019s why you play. It\u2019s the best time of the year. I know how hard it is. I think I understand that. We had some tough ones where it came down to the last day, and we didn\u2019t get in. You don\u2019t ever know. (But) right from camp, we\u2019ve had those intentions and beliefs. The belief is there, but it takes everybody. We have a great group here. I\u2019m just really happy that we\u2019re going back.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a sense in the Penguins dressing room these days that they have a chance to be real contenders in the Eastern Conference. They aren\u2019t merely happy to simply make the postseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen the top of the mountain,\u201d Rust said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen the bottom. You don\u2019t take opportunities for granted. In my earlier years, my first two years winning the Cup, I thought we\u2019d be in the playoffs every year. I was sadly mistaken.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Penguins\u2019 leaders have gushed all season about the group of players with which president of hockey operations\/general manager Kyle Dubas has surrounded them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this group we have in here, the opportunity we have with how we\u2019ve come together as a team, we can\u2019t take that for granted,\u201d Rust said. \u201cThis group is awesome. From day one, everybody clicked and jelled well. Guys who had something to prove came in here. And we still have something to prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ten postgame observations<\/p>\n
\u2022 The mood in the Penguins\u2019 dressing room was really something. I wouldn\u2019t say there was a sense of satisfaction, but there was a sense of pleased relief. In a chat with Crosby after Wednesday\u2019s practice, he mentioned reaching the postseason again is what drives him. He said he\u2019s dreamed of the feeling that will hit him when he takes the ice again in a playoff game at PPG Paints Arena. And he\u2019s going to get his wish.<\/p>\n
Malkin told me a few years ago he couldn\u2019t stand the thought of retirement if he never played in another playoff game in Pittsburgh. He\u2019s going to get his wish, too.<\/p>\n
Crosby and Malkin have produced some of the greatest accomplishments in hockey history. They\u2019re still two of the most dominant players on this team. Malkin turns 40 in July, and Crosby turns 39 in August. They\u2019ll tell you reaching this postseason was extra special for them.<\/p>\n
\u2022 While there was a sense of relief, no one was particularly celebrating. This is a mature team. In the hallway outside of the locker room, one could sense from their body language that Muse and Dubas were very pleased with this team for making the playoffs. But just like their players, there was an all-business quality to them. They want more.<\/p>\n
It was precisely the kind of behavior you\u2019d want to witness. The Penguins are proud of what they\u2019ve done, and they should be, but they aren\u2019t throwing parties for themselves just yet.<\/p>\n
\u2022 This was a very big night for Stuart Skinner. There is no doubt he is the Penguins\u2019 No. 1 goaltender entering the postseason.<\/p>\n
Skinner stopped 19 of 21 shots, but that doesn\u2019t tell the entire story. To put it nicely, the Penguins might have won the game, but they did not play well. They continually struggled with New Jersey\u2019s transition game. The Devils had two breakaways, along with a two-on-one, a three-on-one and a handful of other odd-man rushes.<\/p>\n
New Jersey very easily could have won this game. Skinner, though, was there to slam the door on almost every occasion. It was one of his best games with the Penguins. This also marked his first appearance since receiving a black eye while being hit on the bench with a puck during Saturday\u2019s win against the Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n
He saw the puck just fine in this one.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Speaking of strong performances, how about Egor Chinakhov? He had a goal and two assists in this game and was the most dominant performer for either team. He passed up a wide-open shot in the first period, fooling everybody, including Devils goalie Jake Allen, while setting up Rust with a wide-open cage. It was the kind of play only a supremely confident player would make, and his confidence is clearly peaking.<\/p>\n
Chinakhov has played in 41 games with the Penguins, which is precisely one half of an NHL season. He has produced 18 goals and 18 assists with the Penguins, which is a 36-goal, 72-point pace. Those numbers are terrific, but then consider he doesn\u2019t even play on the top power-play unit.<\/p>\n
Everything about this guy says star.<\/p>\n
\u2022 It was fitting the two biggest names of all put the game away. The Penguins were up 3-2 and reeling in the third period when Crosby did some dazzling work and fired a bad-angle shot on Allen. With the rebound lying in the goal mouth, Malkin was on the spot to bang it home. It was perhaps the game\u2019s biggest moment; New Jersey basically gave up at that point.<\/p>\n
Crosby and Malkin were only on the ice because the Penguins were in the middle of a line change, but it was quite a moment seeing those two get together for the goal that essentially put the game away.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Malkin was outstanding in this game. He had his legs in a big, big way. Were I Muse, I most certainly wouldn\u2019t play him against the St. Louis Blues in the regular-season finale Tuesday, and I\u2019d limit his minutes against the Washington Capitals this weekend. Malkin is at his best when he\u2019s extra fresh; he doesn\u2019t need many reps.<\/p>\n
The Penguins entered this game having not played for three straight days, a rarity this time of year. Malkin responded with one of his best games of the season. His skating was dazzling throughout the evening, and his chemistry with Rickard Rakell is clear.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Crosby is starting to find his game, also. He finished with two assists and has multiple-point games in three straight outings.<\/p>\n
His skating took a step in the right direction against Florida over the weekend and was again evident in this game. His game is trending in the right direction.<\/p>\n
\u2022 It was fitting that Erik Karlsson\u2019s empty net goal was the dagger. Karlsson has been the Penguins\u2019 MVP this season, and he\u2019s without question one of hockey\u2019s best defensemen at the moment.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t have a great game against the Devils. Karlsson let several forwards slip behind him, which hasn\u2019t been a problem this season. But he\u2019ll be fine. He\u2019s allowed to have an off night. Even when he didn\u2019t play great, he put up 2 points. He\u2019s just on that kind of roll right now.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Sam Girard was excellent again. He\u2019s played a handful of strong games in a row and really seems to have found his groove after a slow start in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Penguins are some kind of a story. I\u2019ll he honest: I certainly didn\u2019t see this coming. Not only are they a playoff team, but they also could do some damage in the postseason.<\/p>\n
As Rust said, the fun has only just begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWARK, N.J. \u2014 Dan Muse walked around the dressing room in the moments after the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 5-2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5109],"tags":[201,5,576,151,5185,5184,4,100],"class_list":{"0":"post-549245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-jersey-devils","8":"tag-devils","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-new-jersey","11":"tag-new-jersey-devils","12":"tag-newjersey","13":"tag-newjerseydevils","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116378429363474990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}