Bottom-Six Comes Through As Penguins Defeat Canadiens, 6-3

The Pittsburgh Penguins came out strong again on Monday against the Montreal Canadiens, and they also, again, fell flat in the second period.

But this time, depth scoring came up big for the Penguins.

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Lars Eller scored two goals and Kevin Hayes notched the game-winner in the third period, as the Penguins defeated the Canadiens, 6-3. Rickard Rakell and Kris Letang also scored for Pittsburgh, and Evgeni Malkin added the empty-netter to seal the win at the end.

Goaltender Tristan Jarry made 27 saves on 30 shots and came up big for the Penguins at the end of the game.

Here are some thoughts and observations from Pittsburgh’s win on Monday:

– Rakell deserves a lot of praise for the way he has come out of the gate this season.

His skating looks miles better. His forechecking and board play has been spectacular, his defensive awareness is still strong, and he is thinking the game on a high level. He knows how to use physicality and his vision to create space, and he anticipates well to put himself in position to make plays.

And that’s not even Rakell’s strongest attribute. That would be his shot.

He snapped a shot past Montembault for his first-period tally, but he also ripped two other rockets off the post later on. The puck is jumping off his stick, and his patented snapshot is absolutely lethal right now.

One of my predictions for this season is that Rakell would score over 30 goals (I predicted a career-high 37, to be exact). If he continues to do the things he’s doing right now, he should get there with relative ease. He’s been that good.

– On that note, I don’t think there are enough good things that can be said about Malkin right now. He has been shot out of a cannon, and he has been the most dynamic offensive player for the Penguins so far this season.

He needs to be seeing the ice as much as possible right now, plain and simple.

– All that being said, the top-six as a whole is definitely an issue.

After a promising game in Detroit, Sidney Crosby’s line has been mostly ineffectual. Michael Bunting has been too quiet in lieu of his linemates, although he was definitely more noticeable tonight.

It’s certainly not ideal to break up Malkin and Rakell right now, and I do think it’s fair to give Bryan Rust a few games to get his legs back under him after being injured to start the season. However, I am still of the belief that – especially, with Jake Guentzel gone – Crosby needs a true finisher on his line.

Related: Puck Luck, Momentum Swings Doom Penguins As They Fall To Leafs, 4-2

That’s not to say that Crosby can’t do it on his own. He’s perfectly capable, as he’s shown time and time again. But Malkin has always been more of a standout as an individual player when he’s on, and he’s certainly on right now.

Crosby requires a player who thinks the game well on his line and a guy who can finish, which is why Guentzel was so successful with him. Rakell is the closest such player on this roster. Rust and Beauvillier are both north-south, speed, forechecking wingers, and while Rust is a very good one, a player like that functions better in a complementary role with Crosby.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them stick Rakell on Crosby’s left and bumping Drew O’Connor up to Malkin’s right, as the Bunting-Malkin-O’Connor line worked pretty well against Detroit on Thursday.

And – if we’re getting into specifics here – the Rakell-Crosby-Rust line was the Penguins’ best line of the season in a small sample size in 2023-24. In fact, Rakell was part of all three of the Penguins’ best lines last season:

– This bottom-six is much-improved from last season, and I think this is a pretty sure thing to count on for the rest of the season.

There was a lot of talk about moving Eller over the offseason. I think what has been shown in the earlygoing is that Eller can be a very good third-line center when offensively gifted players are put on his wings. The third line of O’Connor, Eller, and Jesse Puljujarvi was very good tonight, and they seemed to build some chemsitry throughout the night.

Puljujarvi is truly a boost to the third line, and I think he deserves a consistent spot in the lineup right now.

As for the fourth line? I really like what I’m seeing from them so far this season. I’ve sang my praises about Cody Glass, and the tune hasn’t changed. But Hayes and Noel Acciari have really looked like good complementary pieces on that line. They are conscientious defensively and can really get it going on the forecheck.

If the Penguins can figure out the right combination in the top-six, this will be a very formidable lineup.

Related: Is There A Goaltending Controversy In Pittsburgh?

– On the goaltending side of things, Jarry’s night didn’t start out ideally. He gave up a questionable first goal, and Montreal’s third goal was one of those “you could have made a save there” goals.

However, I give him credit for the way he closed out the evening. Montreal came on really strong at the end of the game – the Crosby line was hemmed in their own zone for over two minutes and completely gassed – and Jarry made some big saves to keep the lead intact.

This was a big game for him. And I think he did enough in this game to maintain his position as the starter for now.

– Someone who has really surprised me in a good way so far this season is Matt Grzelcyk.

He had a few defensive hiccups against the Rangers (everyone did) and Toronto. But he’s very good at joining the rush, he has deceptive speed, and he moves the puck very well, which is something Sullivan has reiterated several times. He showed that on his pass to Malkin in the third period that led to Letang’s goal:

Liking the returns on him so far. I think he and Letang could be a good pairing.

– The Penguins play two straight home games against Buffalo on Wednesday and Carolina on Friday before beginning their Western Canada swing on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets.

These two games should be a good test for Pittsburgh. Buffalo has some up-and-coming young talent and a pretty dynamic offense, while the Hurricanes are a good, defensively sound four-line team, as always.

Also, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic has been skating with the team and appears close to a return. It will be interesting to see who gets the net on Wednesday.

Related: THN Penguins Predictions: Where Will The Team Finish In The Standings?