While the Pittsburgh Penguins’ chances of success are going downhill, the injuries of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby for the start of the season are awful news. Penguins fans still hold lots of hope for this upcoming season even with our star players being injured.

Penguins fan and Sophomore Silas Newhouse still hold high hopes for this year’s season. “I feel pretty confident we’ve got very good prospects and good development,” said Newhouse, “and I think we can do a lot without our star players. I think we have a lot of guys who can step it up.”
“We have lots of guys who can play pretty good leadership roles. I feel Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust are gonna fulfill the roles we need while our top guys are out. They are both dynamic players who can step it up on both ends of the ice.”
At the end of the 20-21 Penguins season, the team had goaltender trouble. While Casey DeSmith was injured, Tristan Jarry had a rough time in the playoffs against the New York Islanders. “I feel like Jarry isn’t fit to be a starter in the NHL,” said Newhouse, “and DeSmith needs more experience.”
While offseason rumors remained about picking up popular ex- Pittsburgh Penguin Marc-Andre Fleury, they did not acquire the two-time cup winner. Silas wishes current general manager Ron Hextall would have gone after an experienced goaltender to help Tristan Jarry through the season.
With two years of Tampa Bay Lightening cup wins, the style and lineup of the Pens doesn’t hold up well in comparison. Still, when stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been absent with injury in recent seasons, the Pens still find a way to thrive. It’s the ‘step up guys’ that make our season as good as it is, including this early season where there is no public time-table for Crosby’s return.
After the first game of the season versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Penguins find a way to bring the win home. While Pens fans held doubts for this game because of the Lightning’s great success in recent history, they managed to Win in a fashionable way. The Pens won 6-2 with Danton Heinen, Brain Boyle, Dominik Simon, Teddy Bleuger, Evan Rodrigues, and Bryan Rust all finding the back of the net. The Penguins starting goalie Tristan Jarry stood on his head to hold them off until the Pens could get into the rhythm.
The Penguin’s second game was an exciting one. Versus the Florida Panthers the game ended in overtime, but the Panthers came out on top. The Panthers scored in the 1st period to make it 1-0. The second period came along and they scored early to make it 2-0. At this point Pens, fans lost hope. Then Danton Heinen scored a beautiful wrist shot from the middle of the circle. Seven minutes later the veteran Jeff Carter Scored the tying goal. Twelve minutes into the 3rd period Jake Guentzel scored off of a Panthers defensemen. Not even 30 seconds later Evan Rodrigues scored to make the score 4-2 Penguins. The Panthers then went to score two goals to tie the game. The Penguins then went to lose in 3 on 3 overtime hockey. Casey DeSmith played a solid game, but could not secure the win.
Another Penguins star Bryan Rust was hit with an injury in the Panthers game. He has been placed on Injured Reserve. Mike Matheson is supposed to be fully healthy for the game versus the Dallas Stars on October 19th.
After a huge win against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Pens became 2-0-1. They came out strong scoring 4 goals in less than 12 minutes forcing the Blackhawks to pull former Penguin Marc-Andre Fleury. The game ended being 5-2 while lead scorer Danton Heinen scored again making him have 3 goals in 3 games. Drew O’Connor getting his first goal in the National Hockey League.
The Penguins faced the Dallas Stars on October 19th. It went into a shootout and the Pens fell short. John Marino scored the single goal in the 60 minutes. That now makes the Penguins 2-0-2 being 6th in the league. They play the Toronto Maple Leafs this Saturday at 7 p.m. est.
With Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and Jeff Carter all missing the game against the Maple Leafs the Penguins had an amazing game. Putting up 7 goals against their 1 goal the Penguins improved their season to 3-0-2. One of the penguin’s youngest players Drew O’Connor had an outstanding night with 2 goals to make him the leading point scorer for all rookies in the NHL. The Penguins will now have a rematch against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday the 26th.
Nice story! I’ve learned some things from this because I don’t know that much about hockey.