Things were different for the Pittsburgh Penguins during Monday’s 7-3 rout against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
No, watching Sidney Crosby and company put up a touchdown’s worth — including an extra point — of goals against their most enduring rival isn’t anything new. The Penguins have racked up inflated offensive figures against hapless Flyers goaltenders for decades.
What was different was the reaction the home team received.
After racing out to a 4-1 lead in the first period, they received a standing ovation at PPG Paints Arena as the first intermission began.
Weeks earlier, they were routinely booed off the ice after the first 20 minutes of regulation.
Such was the case during a humiliating 6-1 home loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 23.
That was also the first game this season in which they opened a contest with a top line of Crosby at center surrounded by Rickard Rakell on the left wing and Bryan Rust at right wing.
That trio was largely hemmed in that night — Crosby scored the Penguins’ lone goal during a power-play sequence — but since then, that line has erupted offensively while serving as the fulcrum for a 9-3-1 run that has salvaged what appeared to be a lost season for the franchise.
In 13 games as the top line since a 5-4 home win against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 27, Rust (17), Crosby (15) and Rakell (13) have combined for 45 even-strength points. All three of their individual totals are among the 10 best figures in the NHL over that span.
“We’re playing with some confidence out there,” Rust said after Monday’s game that saw all three players score a goal. “We’re reading off each other really well. Our chemistry has built up here recently over these last how many games. We know where each other is going to be and know how we’re going to play.”
Crosby, Rakell and Rust are familiar with one another having been teammates for parts of the four seasons since Rakell arrived via trade in February 2022. And they’ve all played with one another on a line or a power-play unit in some capacity.
But all three on one line is a relatively new convention.
This season, they have already logged 185 minutes, 6 seconds of common five-on-five ice time together according to Natural Stat Trick. In the three previous seasons, they registered only 88:15 of shared time.
The union appears to have benefited Rakell the most. After largely struggling during the 2023-24 campaign — he scored only 15 goals in 70 games — Rakell, who can play both wings, leads the team this season with 16 goals in just 36 games.
“Obviously, he didn’t stop being a great player,” Rust said. “Guys, for whatever reason, have years they don’t like. You see how hard he worked in the offseason. Now, he comes in, he’s on his toes, he’s skating well, you see him playing a full 200-foot brand of hockey. When he does that, then chances come and he’s done a really good job of scoring goals.”
Rust has had success this season as well despite missing seven games because of various injuries. He is right on Rakell’s rear with 15 goals in 29 games.
“You can definitely see that he’s very confident with the puck,” Rakell said. “It’s kind of the same as me; we score on rebounds, and they’re not all pretty goals. There are a lot of second chances and second efforts, and we’re just taking turns being in front of the net.”
And their center isn’t too shabby. He merely tied someone named Mario Lemieux as the franchise’s career leader in assists (1,033) on Monday.
“We’re just burying our chances,” Crosby said. “And I think we’ve just been working hard and working off each other well. And the puck’s going in.”
That wasn’t the case when Crosby, Rakell and Rust were first put together.
“We’re just keeping it simple,” Rakell said. “But we always know that someone’s driving the net. We’re putting the pucks there, and it doesn’t matter how we’re going to score. We seem to score in different kinds of ways.”
