The Pittsburgh Penguins got a little something out of a messy week, but the schedule isn’t about to ease up on them.
After opening with back-to-back losses to Winnipeg and Washington, the Penguins salvaged three of a possible eight points by beating Columbus and Dallas on Friday and Saturday. It wasn’t clean.
It wasn’t always sharp. But there were enough stretches to suggest this group can be more than the sum of its parts when it actually settles into its game.
The best example came against Dallas. Given the opponent, the travel, and the fact the Stars were rested while Pittsburgh was on the second night of a back-to-back, that might have been the Penguins’ most complete game of the season. It wasn’t flashy, but it was disciplined and mostly airtight, which is exactly what they needed after a rough start to the week.
Now comes a far tougher test.
The Penguins hit the road for three games, starting Tuesday night in Chicago, and then face Colorado on Friday before turning around 24 hours later against Vegas. That is a brutal stretch, especially for a team still sorting out its own lineup and rotation.
There are still several moving parts to watch. Ville Koivunen was out Saturday, with Elmer Soderblom stepping in, and that change could stick even though Koivunen has been the more impressive player so far. Andrei Kuzmenko is expected back soon, which only adds another layer to the puzzle: who comes out when he returns?
Nicholas Robertson is another name to watch. He has been on the fourth line with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar, and while he deserves a higher slot based on how he has played, that trio has been excellent together. In 23 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, they have a 2-0 edge in goals and a 66.1 percent expected goal share, all while starting in the defensive zone 18 times and the offensive zone only once.
The top line, meanwhile, still has to find its footing. As constructed, it has been the weakest of Pittsburgh’s four lines. The others have generated chances and finished some of them off, but the first unit has not produced in the same way even with favorable offensive-zone usage.
There’s also the goalie situation to monitor. Sergei Murashov and Arturs Silovs both turned in strong outings this past week, and the question now is how the rotation gets handled over the next three games.
Tuesday in Chicago feels like the one Pittsburgh really needs to take.
Nothing is ever automatic in the NHL, but this is about as close as it gets to a game you should win. The Blackhawks are young and in a rebuild, but the results have been ugly.
They’re 1-5, have been outscored 26-12, and own a 38.8 expected goal share at 5-on-5. Only San Jose, at 31.5 percent, and Philadelphia, at 30.4 percent, are worse.
Chicago doesn’t have much experience, and there’s still uncertainty around whether Connor Bedard will return in time to make his 2026-27 season debut against the Penguins on Tuesday. That isn’t the only issue, either. Bowen Byram has gotten off to a rough start after Chicago sent the No. 4 and 45 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft to get him and then signed him to a $12.5 million-per-season deal for six years.
For Pittsburgh, that makes Tuesday feel like a must-have before the road gets even harder.
Colorado waits on Friday, and the Avalanche have already been piling up goals. They’ll come in after two straight games against Dallas and have won three of their first five, scoring 24 times in those five games. Three of those outings have featured at least six goals, which is not exactly comforting for a Penguins defense that has already had its issues.
Nathan MacKinnon has 10 points in five games, and Cale Makar has seven. That’s a massive problem for any opponent, let alone one trying to tighten up defensively on the road.
Then comes Vegas on Saturday, and the setup is even more demanding. The Golden Knights will be rested while Pittsburgh is traveling in from the night before, and they’ve started fast too, winning five of six. Jack Eichel has 12 points in those six games, Mark Stone has seven, and Mitch Marner, Victor Olofsson and Tomas Hertl each have five.
If there’s a sliver of an opening, it may be in goal. Both Colorado and Vegas have had some early issues there, and Pittsburgh’s forward depth might be able to take advantage if those cracks hold.
Still, the Penguins only got three points last week, and this stretch looks even tougher on paper. They need Tuesday night in Chicago, then they need to find a way to scrape together two more points somewhere else - whether that means a split in the back-to-back or at least one point in each of the Colorado and Vegas games.
The Dallas win was a good step. Now they have to prove it was more than a one-off.
In Other News...
Sabres Just Added A New Concern To Their Blue Line Depth
Buffalos blue line depth took another hit with a minor trade on Tuesday, as the Sabres and Penguins swapped organization-level defensemen in a move that could still ripple beyond the AHL roster. Pittsburgh picked up Ryan Johnson, while Buffalo brought in Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch, with all three players currently assigned to minor league teams. For the Penguins, it is a low-risk way to add another young defenseman to the system and see whether Johnson can carve out a path within a different organization.
For Buffalo, the deal closes the book on Johnsons time in the organization after a long run that began when he was drafted in 2019. Jones is the name most likely to matter in the short term, since he is expected to give the Sabres some defensive insurance while injuries continue to test the teams depth. The rest of the move is more about rearranging pieces than making an immediate NHL impact, but it is the kind of transaction that can quietly shape what a team has available when the season starts to wear on. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Just Added A Blue Line Piece Worth Watching
Pittsburgh continued its blue line shuffle by bringing in Ryan Johnson from Buffalo, a move that adds another young defenseman to the mix as the Penguins keep sorting out their depth on the back end. Johnson has spent parts of four professional seasons working between the NHL, the AHL and college hockey, and his background gives the Penguins a player with some mileage but still room to grow.
For a team that has been looking for useful pieces on defense, Johnson arrives with a manageable cap hit and some runway left on his contract. The question now is how quickly he can carve out a role in Pittsburgh after getting a longer look in Buffalo, where he logged 47 NHL games before this change of scenery. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Just Opened A New Chance For A Former First Rounder
The Penguins made a small organizational move that could carry a bigger developmental payoff, sending minor league defensemen Caleb Jones and Laatsch to Buffalo in exchange for Ryan Johnson. For Pittsburgh, it was a straightforward swap on paper, one that helps trim the minor league roster while bringing in a 25-year-old defenseman who still has some runway left to show what he can be in a new setting.
Johnson has only limited NHL experience, but that is part of what makes him interesting for a club looking to take a fresh look at a former first-round talent. The Penguins now get a chance to evaluate him in their system, and for Johnson, the move opens the door to a different opportunity than the one he had in Buffalo. [Read more 🡒]