It was not always pretty, but the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to at least get something out of this past week by taking three out of four points against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Dallas Stars on Friday and Saturday.
Even though the week got off to a bad start with back-to-back losses against the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals, there were times where you could get a glimpse of what this team is capable of when they really start playing their game.
After no-showing the first 25 minutes against the Capitals, I thought they mostly carried the play over the remainder of that game. The numbers largely backed that up. Capitals goalie Logan Thompson was simply amazing.
After no-showing the first 40 minutes against Columbus, they at least rallied on the scoreboard and put together a passable third period. Not great. Maybe not particularly good. But passable.
The game against Dallas on Saturday was probably their best game of the season when you take into account the quality of the opponent (one of the best teams in the NHL), the fact they were playing a rested team on the second half of a back-to-back with travel, and the way they completely locked everything down and played a mostly clean, solid game. It was not the most exciting game they have played so far this season, but that is probably what they needed.
Now it is time for a new week with three more games and the start of a very difficult road trip.
The big questions that need answered this week:
- How the lineup continues to shake out. Ville Koivunen sat on Saturday with Elmer Soderblom taking his place. I have been higher on Koivunen so far than most, but will that lineup change continue?
- Andrei Kuzmenko figures to return soon. Who comes out for him? Is it Soderblom and Koivunen?
- Is Nicholas Robertson going to stay on the fourth line with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar? He deserves a higher spot in the lineup given the way he has played, but that line has also been dominant together, accounting for a 2-0 goals advantage, a 66.1 percent expected goal share in 23 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, and doing all of that despite having only one offensive zone start to 18 defensive zone starts.
- Will the top line ever get going as constructed? It has objectively been the worst of their lines right now, with each of the other three all putting together strong shifts, creating chances, and creating goals. The first line is not doing any of that, despite getting mostly all offensive zone starts.
- How will the goalie rotation play out, and how much Sergei Murashov will we see vs. Arturs Silovs? Both goalies had really great games this past week.
As for the games ahead…
Things start on Tuesday night with the road trip beginning against the Chicago Blackhawks.
You do not want to take anything for granted at the NHL level, and there is no such thing as a “should win” game, but this is a game you really want to win. Especially given the rest of the road trip. Chicago is still one of the youngest teams in the league as part of its rebuild, but it is also, by every objective measure, still one of the worst teams in the league by a very significant margin.
They have been lousy so far.
They enter Tuesday’s game with a 1-5 record, have been outscored by a 26-12 margin, and have managed only a 38.8 expected goal share during 5-on-5 play. The San Jose Sharks (31.5 percent) and Philadelphia Flyers (30.4 percent) are the only two teams with a worse mark.
There is not a lot of experience here, and there is still some doubt as to when Connor Bedard will return to the lineup. It is possible he plays Tuesday to make his 2026-27 season debut against the Penguins, but that is still not yet known.
Bottom line: This team stinks, at least by NHL standards. It does not do anything well, and even with a lot good, young, talented players on the roster, they are at times overmatched and clearly flawed. Bowen Byram has also had a miserable start to the season after Chicago traded the No. 4 and 45 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft for him, and then gave him $12.5 million per season over the next six years.
You really want to win this game. It is not getting any easier after this.
The road trip continues on Friday with the first half of a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado will be coming off two consecutive games against Dallas before playing the Penguins, but it has won three of its first five games to start the season. As expected, the offense has been nearly unstoppable. Colorado has already scored 24 goals in five games, including three different games with six goals or more.
This is going to be one of the biggest challenges yet for a Penguins defense that has struggled through the first two weeks. Whichever goalie starts this game is also going to have to put a lot of important work in.
Nathan MacKinnon already has 10 points in the first five games, while defenseman Cale Makar is already up to seven points.
The Penguins then have to play 24 hours later against another Western Conference Stanley Cup contender in the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas will be rested in that game as the Penguins travel into Vegas after playing the day before, and that is only going to add to the challenge. The Golden Knights enter the week having won five of their first six games, and their stars are shining already. Jack Eichel has 12 points in his first six games, while Mark Stone already has seven points. Mitch Marner, Victor Olofsson and Tomas Hertl all have five points each.
The one thing that might work in the Penguins favor in these two games is the fact both Colorado and Vegas have had some early goaltending issues. The Penguins forward depth might be able to exploit that a little bit.
The Penguins only managed to get three out of a possible eight points this past week, and this week is going to be an even bigger challenge given the opponents. You really want to get those two points in Chicago on Tuesday night. From there, you just have to hope to find a way to get two more the rest of the week. Whether that is splitting the back-to-back, or finding a way to get at least one point in each of the Colorado and Vegas games, you would really like to find a way to hang with these teams. The game against Dallas looked like an encouraging step in that regard. Now they have to build on it.