Pittsburgh Penguins are currently 9-3-1 in their last 13 games, and there are many reasons for their recent success.
But there’s no reason bigger than the three guys at the very top of their lineup.
The top line of Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust was red hot, as they combined for 21 goals and 53 points. They’re firing on all cylinders, no matter the opponent, and they’re the most productive trio in the NHL since their November 27 victory against the Vancouver Canucks.
“We’re just burying our chances,” Crosby said afterward Monday’s 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyerswhich featured three goals and eight points from the top line. “Obviously in the first game we had a lot of momentum. I felt like we built on that. A big goal from Rusty to keep us going. And I think we just worked hard and well worked on each other And the puck goes in.
Of those 21 goals, 10 of them came from Rust alone. In fact, no NHL player has scored more goals than Rust during that time.
“I mean, you can definitely see he’s very confident with the puck,” Rakell said of Rust. “It’s kind of the same thing as me: We score on rebounds, and they’re not all pretty goals. There’s a lot of second chances and second efforts, and we’re just taking turns in front of the net.”
They also take turns owning the team lead in goals, as every time Rust catches Rakell, Rakell seems to put one in the net as well.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Rakell said. “As long as we fight every shift to score and play good hockey, it doesn’t matter who scores. For some reason we both seem to score.”
But even though Rust and Rakell score the majority of the goals, the work done by Crosby cannot be overlooked. On Crosby’s third pass of the game on Philip Tomasino’s power play goal against the Flyers, he tied Mario Lemieux for the most assists in Penguins franchise history.
“It’s extremely impressive, but I’m not too surprised,” Rust said. “Sid, I think, is kind of right up there with him in terms of his importance to this franchise, and you can see how good he’s been throughout his career. And he continues to do that.”
Crosby also has two four-pointers in his last three games, and he leads all NHL players this season with four games of three or more assists.
“It’s like he’s behind every goal we score,” Rakell said. “That’s certainly the case with him and Rusty. He does everything. He’s so good with the final touch or the last pass to create a dangerous scoring opportunity. Even though he might have the puck on his stick in their zone, I think it’s going to work to our advantage.
The Penguins have just started their vacation, which will end when they play the New York Islanders in the first of a back-to-back home-and-home game at Long Island on Saturday. They certainly deserved these few days off, but it’s important for them to pick up where they left off before the vacation.
And it starts with this trio maintaining the chemistry and momentum they found during this winning streak for the Penguins, as they have been the driving force behind the team.
“We’re really excited about the break, but I think we’re all encouraged by the way we’re playing and want to keep going,” Crosby said. “So it’s good to get a bit of momentum going into the break and continue to build on that when we come back.
