If you haven’t glanced at the schedule for the Penguins you might not be aware the Penguins are running into the early season NHL buzzsaw known as the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets have started 16-3-0 and by standings points they are three points clear as the best team in the NHL. On the surface, it looks like too tall of a task for a struggling Penguins team, and that may prove to be the case. The goaltending is a real wild card for Pittsburgh and can ruin the best laid plans.
Interestingly enough, the Jets have been doing this with a 48.25 xGF% which is lower than I thought it was going to be given their record. For comparison sake the Penguins are 51.43% and while being a better xGF% team doesn’t guarantee anything (clearly), I found it surprising where the two teams are heading into this contest. The big difference in the teams is their PDO. Winnipeg is getting saves (Hellebuyck) and burying their shots. Pittsburgh is doing neither. The Jets have a PDO of 1021 while the Penguins are at 966. There’s no guarantee the Penguins regress back towards 1000 as their depth players are not gifted in the finishing department and as mentioned, the goaltending.
I think these two teams are a lot closer than the records suggest at 5v5. The real separation, other than goaltending, occurs on special teams
Mike Sullivan gave some praise to Owen Pickering who recently played well in his first NHL game action
For the Penguins to turn the corner on a rebuild they are going to need their younger prospects to give quality NHL minutes. I’d like to see more of Pickering to see if he can sustain the level of play he’s had in his first two games. I imagine once Pettersson is traded that task will be made much easier.
The news on another promising prospect defenseman isn’t as good. The standout of training campe, Harrison Brunicke, broke his wrist recently.
Thanks for reading!
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