{"id":21934,"date":"2025-11-01T19:49:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T19:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/21934\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T19:49:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T19:49:22","slug":"back-to-old-times-pittsburgh-penguins-sit-atop-nhl-standings-for-first-time-since-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/21934\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to old times? Pittsburgh Penguins sit atop NHL standings for first time since 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just under a decade ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> were the class of the NHL, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017. <\/p>\n

Those days have felt long gone, though, with the Penguins failing to advance past the first round of the playoffs since 2018 and missing the postseason entirely in each of the past three years. <\/p>\n

Pittsburgh is off to a hot start to this season and, for the first time since Dec. 28, 2016, the team sits atop the NHL standings (min 10 GP), owning a record of 8-2-2 through 12 games. <\/p>\n

Long-time Penguins Sidney Crosby<\/a>, Evgeni Malkin<\/a> and Kris Letang<\/a>, along with blueliner Erik Karlsson<\/a>, have been back in peak form and suddenly the Penguins no longer look like sure-fire sellers at the trade deadline. <\/p>\n

Malkin, 39, leads the team with 17 points (three goals), with the 38-year-old Crosby just behind with eight goals and 15 points in 12 games. Karlsson, 35, has nine assists while averaging a team-high 22:27 of ice time and Letang, 38, has one goal and six points while averaging 21:20 of ice time. <\/p>\n

With last night’s win over Minnesota, the Penguins moved into first place in the NHL standings for the first time since Dec. 28, 2016 (min. 10 GP). pic.twitter.com\/o5fHz3gxiM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

While the veteran stars are showing up, there\u2019s also been key contributions from unlikely sources with Justin Brazeau<\/a> posting six goals and 12 points in 12 games and Anthony Mantha<\/a> just behind with six goals and 11 points. Brazeau, who made his NHL debut in 2023-24, posted a career-best 11 goals and 22 points last season, splitting time between the Boston Bruins<\/a> and Minnesota Wild<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Veteran Bryan Rust<\/a>, 33, has also come out strong with four goals and 10 points in 10 games after a dominant 2024-25 in which he posted 31 goals and 65 points in 71 games. Rust has points in five straight games, adding a goal and an assist in Thursday\u2019s 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild<\/a> to bring the team to an NHL-high 18 points. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking each day as it comes,\u201d Rust said after the victory. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re trying to get too far ahead of ourselves and I think we\u2019re having a lot of fun with it. The good and the bad. Trying to learn from the bad, learn from the good too. I think we\u2019re just trying to have as much fun as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

O-Dog: ‘I got 500 that Pittsburgh is for real’ Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jamie McLennan discuss whether or not the Pittsburgh Penguins will make the playoffs and can they continue their hot start to the season. <\/p>\n

Through a week, the Penguins have also weathered the loss of Rickard Rakell<\/a>, who had three goals and eight points in nine games before being ruled out for six-to-eight weeks with a hand injury. <\/p>\n

Rookie Ben Kindel<\/a> has moved up the lineup in Rust\u2019s absence and 11th overall pick in June\u2019s draft appears set to stay put with the team. The 18-year-old has chipped in three goals in 10 games, burning the first year of his entry-level contract. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe think, based on what we\u2019ve seen of him up to this point, just the sense, his ability to read space, the ability to attack space, to know where the next play is \u2013 those are the types of things that I think we\u2019ve seen from him on a pretty consistent basis,\u201d head coach Dan Muse said of the rookie Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been awesome,\u201d Rust added of Kindel. \u201cTo come in here as an 18-year-old kid and be able to do it, he\u2019s doing it. To have the high character and the ability to play the way that he has, I think it is extremely special. There is no moment that seems to be too big for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has received steady goaltending through the start of the season with Tristan Jarry<\/a> and Arturs Silovs<\/a> combining for a .921 save percentage, well up from the .891 mark that Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a> and Joel Blomqvist<\/a> had last season. <\/p>\n

Jarry has a 5-1-0 record with a .923 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average as he states his case for a spot on Canada\u2019s Olympic team in February. He stopped 26 of 27 shots he faced against the Wild as Pittsburgh went four-for-four on the penalty kill to improve to a 81.6 per cent success rate on the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was awesome,\u201d Muse said post-game. \u201cHe\u2019s the top guy on every penalty-killing unit. So whoever\u2019s in net that day, we need them to be our best penalty killer. That\u2019s always the case. And Jars was, Silovs has done that same here this year as well. Those guys play such an important role in the penalty kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silovs, acquired from the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> for forward Chase Stillman<\/a> and a 2027 fourth-round pick, is 3-1-2 with a .919 save percentage and a 2.44 GAA. <\/p>\n

With their dominant October now behind them, the Penguins have a chance to grab some breathing room atop the league standings in their first game of November on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets<\/a>, who are one of six teams tied for second with 16 points through 11 games this season. <\/p>\n