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Pittsburgh Penguins plan a surprise honor on Saturday, and longtime fans are buzzing
Photo credit: Don Wright-Imagn Images
Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin turned the 2016 Stanley Cup run into a blur, and Penguins fans get that memory hit again Saturday.
Pittsburgh is honoring the 2016 champs before Saturday’s home game against the New York Rangers, and it feels like the perfect opponent for it.
That spring, the HBK line did not just score. It changed the temperature of games.
Kessel drove it with quick-touch offense and that sneaky bumper feel on the man advantage. In the 2016 playoffs he finished at 10-12-22.
Bonino did the hard middle-ice work and made every shift a problem. He put up 4-14-18 on a line that rarely got the "easy" matchups.
Hagelin was the jet fuel. He hunted pucks, turned bad clears into instant chances, and ended that run with 6-10-16.
The nickname was simple, but the way they played was not. Hagelin’s speed stretched the blue line, Bonino filled the middle, and Kessel punished any soft gap.
They combined for 15 goals and 46 points in that postseason, basically third-lining teams into submission.
Phil Kessel puts the Pittsburgh Penguins spotlight back on
If you’re a Penguins fan, you can almost hear the building ramp up the second that trio shows up on the video board.
Saturday’s ceremony is the feel-good part. The hockey part is that Pittsburgh still needs points.
As of Friday, the Penguins sit at 27-14-11, and the Metro is tight enough that every bad week hurts.
New York comes in as the kind of opponent that would love to spoil the party, so starts and discipline matter early.
That’s why the HBK flashback lands so well. It reminds you what relentless, uncomplicated depth scoring looks like.
One good night Saturday, and the whole arena will be chasing that same old feeling into the next game.
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 30|106 ANSWERS Pittsburgh Penguins plan a surprise honor on Saturday, and longtime fans are buzzing Should the Pittsburgh Penguins lean harder into “HBK-style” depth scoring down the stretch? | ||
| Yes | 95 | 89.6 % |
| No | 11 | 10.4 % |
| List of polls | ||