The Penguins certainly did not get the result they wanted on Tuesday, losing to the Maple Leafs by a score of 6-3 on Tuesday evening at Scotiabank Arena. But if there's any solace for the future beyond this season, it resides on what's known as the kid line, made up of Ben Kindel, Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen.
Before the Penguins tied the game in the third period, before Maxi Domi walked Brett Kulak to retake the lead and before Maple Leafs scored a couple of empty-net goals to skew the final score, McGroarty gave the Penguins life.
Trailing in the second period, 3-1, McGroarty cut the deficit in half off a sequence that was almost as nice as the snipe that went over Joseph Woll's left shoulder:
Yet another rough third period by this Penguins team skewed some of the possession metrics in this game for the young trio. But now in their 10 games together, they've put up some impressive numbers together:
It sure would be nice for the Penguins to get out of this slump and get back into the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. But regardless of whether or not that happens, the most important thing that needs to happen is having the young players develop into real players at the NHL level. That'll be what escalates Kyle Dubas' vision for putting together a contending team year in and year out.
So, these type of possession numbers for a line made up of three very important rookies at least provides some optimism for the future:
"Honestly, I think we've been pretty good the whole time we've been together," McGroarty said. "I think definitely the more games you get, the more comfortable you're going to be. And I feel like there's some little things that we're picking up off of each other. I really enjoy playing with those two guys. They're really good hockey players. They work really hard. We can do some good stuff when we're out there together."
Now, it's not all been perfect. They've been outscored, 3-1, when on the ice together. But, the numbers above show the process is generally good. Now it's just about getting more pucks in the net.
"I thought they played well," Dan Muse said after the game. "I thought they were able to get some things going in the offensive zone. Obviously the goal, but there were looks and other chances they had as well."
THE ASYLUM
'Kid line' provides reason for optimism
The Penguins certainly did not get the result they wanted on Tuesday, losing to the Maple Leafs by a score of 6-3 on Tuesday evening at Scotiabank Arena. But if there's any solace for the future beyond this season, it resides on what's known as the kid line, made up of Ben Kindel, Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen.
Before the Penguins tied the game in the third period, before Maxi Domi walked Brett Kulak to retake the lead and before Maple Leafs scored a couple of empty-net goals to skew the final score, McGroarty gave the Penguins life.
Trailing in the second period, 3-1, McGroarty cut the deficit in half off a sequence that was almost as nice as the snipe that went over Joseph Woll's left shoulder:
Yet another rough third period by this Penguins team skewed some of the possession metrics in this game for the young trio. But now in their 10 games together, they've put up some impressive numbers together:
• Shot attempts: 90-52 (63.38%)
• Unblocked attempts 68-35 (66.02)
• Shots: 47-22 (68.12%)
• Expected goals: 65.29%
• High-danger attempts: 16-10 (61.54%)
It sure would be nice for the Penguins to get out of this slump and get back into the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. But regardless of whether or not that happens, the most important thing that needs to happen is having the young players develop into real players at the NHL level. That'll be what escalates Kyle Dubas' vision for putting together a contending team year in and year out.
So, these type of possession numbers for a line made up of three very important rookies at least provides some optimism for the future:
"Honestly, I think we've been pretty good the whole time we've been together," McGroarty said. "I think definitely the more games you get, the more comfortable you're going to be. And I feel like there's some little things that we're picking up off of each other. I really enjoy playing with those two guys. They're really good hockey players. They work really hard. We can do some good stuff when we're out there together."
Now, it's not all been perfect. They've been outscored, 3-1, when on the ice together. But, the numbers above show the process is generally good. Now it's just about getting more pucks in the net.
"I thought they played well," Dan Muse said after the game. "I thought they were able to get some things going in the offensive zone. Obviously the goal, but there were looks and other chances they had as well."
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