The Penguins are seven games into the season and still stuck in the same uncomfortable place: nowhere close to dominant, nowhere near broken, just floating in the mushy middle. Their latest loss to the Chicago Blackhawks only sharpened that picture. If Pittsburgh can’t handle a rebuilding Chicago team, there’s real reason to wonder what comes next.
There were a few individual bright spots in the defeat, but not nearly enough to cover the bigger issues. Sidney Crosby at least broke through offensively, and Nick Robertson kept doing what he’s been doing all season - scoring. Beyond that, the game was mostly a showcase for how out of sync the Penguins still look.
Crosby finally made his presence felt on the scoresheet with two goals, and for Pittsburgh that has to count as a welcome sign. He’d been working through an early-season spell, and this was a step toward ending it.
He had a solid game against Chicago, but the support around him wasn’t there. At this point, the larger takeaway may be that if Crosby is back to lifting the Penguins, the final score of this one could end up mattering less than it otherwise would.
Robertson was another clear winner. No matter where Pittsburgh has slotted him, he keeps finding ways to score.
He’s up to four goals on the season after adding another against the Blackhawks, and it’s hard to ignore how often he’s produced without getting more chances up the lineup. He’s continued to show he can put the puck in the net, even if the Penguins haven’t rewarded him with a bigger role.
The rest of the list is a lot less flattering.
Sergei Murashov took the loss hard, even if the blame can’t sit on him alone. The young goalie wasn’t Pittsburgh’s worst player, but it was his roughest outing of the season.
That said, the play in front of him didn’t do him many favors, and there’s no reason to panic about him yet. Still, it was a reminder that a first full-time NHL stint is going to come with bumps.
Declan Carlile also had a night to forget. He had started the schedule solidly enough, but this game exposed some cracks.
Pittsburgh wants him in a specific role, and he’s mostly handled it well, but things fell apart here. The Penguins don’t have many alternative options, which means they’re stuck leaning on him whether the performance is clean or not.
Ville Koivunen’s situation is becoming a bigger issue. After signing him to a massive contract extension, Pittsburgh needs to give him a real NHL run to find out what he can offer.
Instead, he’s been buried in missed assignments and blocked shots. The Penguins may need to shake up the lineup and give one of their other crowded forwards a shot.
Right now, Koivunen is looking like a major misfire in the Kyle Dubas era.
Egor Chinakhov is another player who has to find his game fast. After his breakout last season, expectations were high, but the start has been rough.
If he doesn’t start scoring, concern is going to build quickly. Goal scorers can go cold, and Pittsburgh is clearly hoping Evgeni Malkin and Tommy Novak can help snap him out of it.
The Penguins need Chinakhov back at an elite level if they want any real shot at the playoffs.
And then there’s the biggest loser of all: Pittsburgh’s push to escape mediocrity itself. Games like this are the problem.
The Penguins can beat a team like Dallas and then turn around and stumble against a rebuilding Blackhawks squad. That kind of inconsistency is exactly why the roster feels so jumbled right now, and why the mushy middle is starting to look like their destination.
In Other News...
Penguins Road Trip Is Turning Up The Pressure On Key Roster Battles
The Penguins road trip rolls on with tests against the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights, and the trip is arriving at just the right time to sharpen a few roster questions. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has given the organization some encouragement with strong recent road wins, but the NHL club is still sorting through who can steady things at this level, especially after Sergei Murashovs costly mistake against the Chicago Blackhawks put a spotlight on the margin for error.
Ville Koivunen remains one of the names worth watching as the Penguins keep evaluating the bottom and middle of the lineup, and his place is not locked in as the games get tougher. The addition of Ryan Johnson was meant to help fortify the blue line, so these next stops on the trip should tell a lot about how the team wants to balance development, depth and immediate needs as the roster battle continues. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Still Searching For Answers As Power Play Problems Grow
The Penguins power play has gone cold at an awkward time, sliding to 0-for-16 after a strong start and forcing the club to devote a chunk of practice in Chicago to cleaning it up. Dan Muse spent the session working through adjustments, a sign that the issue has become more than a short-term blip and is now something the coaching staff feels it has to address directly.
Muse also used the day to tinker with the broader lineup picture, including giving Elmer Soderblom a regular place in the fourth-line mix after what the staff has seen from him in game action. The changes suggest Pittsburgh is looking for a little more rhythm and balance across its forward groups while it searches for a power-play spark, but the exact combinations Muse settles on will be worth watching going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Erik Karlsson Just Became A Penguins Question Fans Cant Ignore
Erik Karlsson has quickly become one of the more interesting names hanging over the Penguins this season, not because of anything he has done on the ice in Pittsburgh, but because of where the team stands and what comes next. The veteran defenseman has been viewed as a potential trade candidate in a league where contenders always keep an eye on mobile, high-end blue liners, and his situation only gets more layered with the Penguins off to a 3-3-1 start and sitting fourth in their division.
For the Penguins, the question is less about whether Karlsson still matters and more about what kind of team they will be by the time the market starts to tighten. If Pittsburgh stays in the thick of the playoff chase, there is a path for this to remain a hockey decision rather than a transaction one. But if the standings slide and the deadline picture changes, Karlsson becomes the kind of storyline that can follow a club for months before reaching a resolution. [Read more 🡒]