Penguins get push from young depth in season-opening win against Flyers
Robertson, Hallander, Koivunen all score, offering hope that Pittsburgh’s veterans will have help
By Dan Rosen
NHL.com Senior Writer
PHILADELPHIA -- The Pittsburgh Penguins' opening-night masterpiece doubles as a blueprint for what a successful season must look like for them.
"In today's game you're going to have to have a bigger lineup of guys that can step in with the schedule that it is nowadays and how fast the game is and injuries and whatnot," Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said following a 7-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. "We've got a fairly deep group here where it doesn't really matter who plays where. I think today was a great showcase for that."
The expected happened as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Karlsson all landed on the scoresheet, combining for a goal and three assists in a drubbing of the team that eliminated the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs five months ago.
Nothing changes in Pittsburgh; the Penguins will again need those four to lead the way if they are to successfully navigate what should be a challenging road to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But even with the obvious veteran core of leaders and future Hall of Famers, the Penguins might only go as far as their rebuilt pool of depth players in their mid-20s will take them.
They could not have asked for or expected a better start than they got from a glut of those players Wednesday.
Forwards Nicholas Robertson (two goals) and Hendrix Lapierre (goal, assist), and defenseman Kaedan Korczak (two assists) combined for six points on three goals and three assists in their Penguins' debuts.
"It's big," Crosby said. "You want guys feeling good, especially being on a new team, new system, that goes a long way. As far as feeling comfortable and having confidence I think that helps with a good start like that."
Robertson, 25, scored to make it 1-0 in the first period and again to make it 6-0 in the third.
The Penguins acquired him from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 and signed him to a two-year contract. Robertson is playing on the first line with Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
"It's a blessing and opportunity to play with Sid and Rakell," Robertson said. "To put me on that line right away, you know, I'm not used to that. They put me in position to be successful and then it's my job to go out there and perform."
Lapierre assisted on Malkin's power-play goal that made it 3-0 in the second and scored himself to make it 4-0.
The Penguins sent two draft picks to the Washington Capitals on June 25 for the rights to Lapierre, then a pending restricted free agent, and signed the 24-year-old to a two-year contract on July 3. Lapierre had struggled to find any footing with the Capitals, with 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 74 games last season and 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists) in 158 total NHL games.
"You want to have a role," Lapierre said. "Last year, I feel like I played in the NHL and it was fun, it was my first full season, but not only do you want to play you want to have an impact. You want to be in the mix. You don't want to just sit on the bench. So, it was really fun tonight."
Filip Hallander had a goal and two assists in his first game in nearly 11 months. The 26-year-old forward missed most of last season with a blood clot in his leg.
"He was awesome," Penguins coach Dan Muse said. "I mean, you could feel it on the bench, you could feel it after the game, just everybody. He's just a guy that you root for so much just from everything he went through and all that work that he put in, never having a bad day. That's the thing with him too. I saw it firsthand, he's coming to the rink all last year in a tough situation and not once did he ever have a bad day. He just came to work. I can't tell you how excited as a staff we are for him, every player. It was just awesome to see."
Ville Koivunen scored a breakaway goal that gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the second period.
Koivunen, 23, is a forward the Penguins bet big on long term, signing him to an eight-year contract on Aug. 6 even though he had only 14 points in 47 NHL games, including seven (two goals, five assists) in 39 games last season.
"To be able to come in here and make a contribution like that right away I think it goes a long way for him," Muse said.
Egor Chinakhov also scored, which is big for the 25-year-old as he tries to build on his success from last season after coming to Pittsburgh in a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had 36 points (18 goals, 18 assists) in 43 games after the trade.
It will be massive if Chinakhov can be that impactful across 84 games this season.
And, of course, Arturs Silovs made 19 saves for a second consecutive season-opening shutout, a good start for a 25-year-old goalie looking to establish himself as a viable No. 1.
"It's great for multiple reasons," Muse said. "For the fact that we want to have contributions from throughout, but I also think for those guys just being able to come in with a new room or situation and be able to find a contribution and feel really good about it right away."
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas was adamant during his preseason press conference Monday that for the team to build on last season, when they somewhat unexpectedly made the playoffs for the first time in four years, they need their depth to better complement their icons.
He said it's too big of an ask for Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson to carry all the burden, that they need the rest of the lineup to feel empowered to make a difference and to then go do it.
That's the blueprint for success. For one game, it looked like artwork in action.
Eighty-three to go.
"We have to do it all over again, but it's obviously a good confidence booster," Lapierre said. "There's not a lot of better ways to start the year than a 7-0 win on the road."
