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The Pittsburgh Penguins are defying expectations in an unexpected way
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Sidney Crosby watched the Penguins survive a wild Rangers push, and the rebuild talk suddenly feels like a bad joke in Pittsburgh.
Saturday turned into a full-on memory lane night at PPG Paints Arena. Then the Pens scored six and held on anyway.
Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari each popped two goals, fast, and the building never sat down.
Rickard Rakell hit his 10th of the season, and the score got loud in a hurry.
Erik Karlsson quietly grabbed assist number 700 of his career, which is absurd for a defenseman.
The headline is the streak, league-best six straight, but the real story is the roster shape. This was supposed to be the "bridge year" into a teardown.
Instead, Pittsburgh is 28-14-11 and sitting near the top of the Metro heading into Sunday.
Kyle Dubas did the thing he always does, he kept the floor high while taking swings. Mantha and Justin Brazeau are perfect examples of "adult NHLer" depth adds.
Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh Penguins depth feels unfair
Pens fans are still waiting for the other shoe to drop, because this kind of depth is not supposed to show up during a rebuild.
Even with Kris Letang out at least a month, the blue line keeps moving pucks instead of panicking.
And the forward mix is the shocker, because there’s skill past the top-six instead of survival shifts.
Ville Koivunen is 22, drafted in 2021 Round 2 by Carolina, and he fits right into the pace Dubas wants.
Rutger McGroarty is 21, drafted in 2022 Round 1 by Winnipeg, and he already looks like a playoff-style winger.
Ben Kindel is 19, drafted in 2025 Round 1 by Pittsburgh, and he’s another reason the bottom of the lineup doesn’t feel like a dead zone.
That’s the Dubas masterclass, he didn’t pick a lane, he built a highway.
Also read on HockeyUnplugged :
Kris Letang’s "strange" injury takes a darker turn for the Penguins
Kris Letang’s "strange" injury takes a darker turn for the Penguins
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 1|119 ANSWERS The Pittsburgh Penguins are defying expectations in an unexpected way Did Kyle Dubas build the deepest Pittsburgh Penguins lineup in years? | ||
| Yes | 115 | 96.6 % |
| No | 4 | 3.4 % |
| List of polls | ||