Ville Koivunen took his first NHL penalty in the first period of the Penguins' 5-4 overtime loss to the Blues tonight here at the Enterprise Center, holding Nick Leddy.
Some good came out of the call: Rutger McGroarty got his first penalty-killing action at the NHL level, seeing 46 seconds on that kill, and it went well. The Blues didn't register a shot attempt, much less a shot.
The Penguins took two more penalties in regulation -- a Erik Karlsson hook and a Ryan Shea double-minor for high-sticking that briefly gave the Blues a 5-on-3 power play -- and then one more in overtime, a Kris Letang slash that led to the game-winning goal for St. Louis. McGroarty didn't see any penalty-killing time on those last three kills, going back to their usual penalty-killing forwards.
McGroarty is a regular penalty-killer in Wilkes-Barre. With the Penguins and their AHL club running the same systems, he said he felt pretty comfortable in his brief experience on the penalty-kill tonight.
"This organization does such a great job of whatever happens in the NHL systems-wise, it moves to the AHL," McGroarty said. "So, it's pretty cool. I felt good out there."
Mike Sullivan said that he's wanted to get McGroarty more involved in the penalty-kill, but he is conscious of managing his minutes, too. McGroarty is on the top line and second power play, and that's already a tall task for a kid adjusting to the NHL. But just in this limited stint, he likes what McGroarty was able to show.
"We think he's very capable in that area," Sullivan said.
• Rickard Rakell led with five shots on goal, including the power-play goal that brought the Penguins within a goal.
• Sidney Crosby's assist on Rakell's goal extended his point streak to 11 games. He has eight goals and eight assists in that span.
• Connor Dewar blocked four shots to lead the team.
• Milestone watch: Noel Acciari blocked one shot, bringing his season total to 99. He's only blocked 100 shots in a single season once, blocking 103 in the 2019-20 season with the Panthers. He'll surely break that this season, at the rate he's blocking everything. Rakell told me he thinks Acciari should be the Penguins' Masterton nominee (for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey) for that reason. "He just eats pucks," Rakell said.
• Tristan Jarry was OK. The Penguins did really well to limit the Blues' shots, holding them to only 19, including four high-danger shots. Jarry stopped 14, with two of the five he allowed coming off high-danger attempts. He wasn't getting beat on soft goals, and came up big with timely saves when the game was tight. Still, 14 saves on 19 shots isn't ideal.
"I thought he battled," Sullivan said.
• No Kyle Dubas on this trip, he's on a scouting mission. Doug Wilson and Vukie Mpofu are on this trip.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
3:57 am - 04.04.2025St. LouisLoose Pucks: McGroarty on PK
Ville Koivunen took his first NHL penalty in the first period of the Penguins' 5-4 overtime loss to the Blues tonight here at the Enterprise Center, holding Nick Leddy.
Some good came out of the call: Rutger McGroarty got his first penalty-killing action at the NHL level, seeing 46 seconds on that kill, and it went well. The Blues didn't register a shot attempt, much less a shot.
The Penguins took two more penalties in regulation -- a Erik Karlsson hook and a Ryan Shea double-minor for high-sticking that briefly gave the Blues a 5-on-3 power play -- and then one more in overtime, a Kris Letang slash that led to the game-winning goal for St. Louis. McGroarty didn't see any penalty-killing time on those last three kills, going back to their usual penalty-killing forwards.
McGroarty is a regular penalty-killer in Wilkes-Barre. With the Penguins and their AHL club running the same systems, he said he felt pretty comfortable in his brief experience on the penalty-kill tonight.
"This organization does such a great job of whatever happens in the NHL systems-wise, it moves to the AHL," McGroarty said. "So, it's pretty cool. I felt good out there."
Mike Sullivan said that he's wanted to get McGroarty more involved in the penalty-kill, but he is conscious of managing his minutes, too. McGroarty is on the top line and second power play, and that's already a tall task for a kid adjusting to the NHL. But just in this limited stint, he likes what McGroarty was able to show.
"We think he's very capable in that area," Sullivan said.
• Rickard Rakell led with five shots on goal, including the power-play goal that brought the Penguins within a goal.
• Sidney Crosby's assist on Rakell's goal extended his point streak to 11 games. He has eight goals and eight assists in that span.
• Connor Dewar blocked four shots to lead the team.
• Milestone watch: Noel Acciari blocked one shot, bringing his season total to 99. He's only blocked 100 shots in a single season once, blocking 103 in the 2019-20 season with the Panthers. He'll surely break that this season, at the rate he's blocking everything. Rakell told me he thinks Acciari should be the Penguins' Masterton nominee (for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey) for that reason. "He just eats pucks," Rakell said.
• Tristan Jarry was OK. The Penguins did really well to limit the Blues' shots, holding them to only 19, including four high-danger shots. Jarry stopped 14, with two of the five he allowed coming off high-danger attempts. He wasn't getting beat on soft goals, and came up big with timely saves when the game was tight. Still, 14 saves on 19 shots isn't ideal.
"I thought he battled," Sullivan said.
• No Kyle Dubas on this trip, he's on a scouting mission. Doug Wilson and Vukie Mpofu are on this trip.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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