Following the 2025 NHL trade deadline on Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a late-night tilt against the Vegas Golden Knights.
After a whirlwind day filled with player movement, sleeplessness, and emotions, the Penguins actually came out of the gate flying against the Pacific Division’s best team.
Unfortunately, Vegas’s talent ultimately overpowered them.
The Golden Knights shut out the Penguins, 4-0, to hand Pittsburgh their fourth consecutive loss. The game started out well for the Penguins but ended up lopsided the other way. They did not capitalize early , which ultimately ended up sinking and burying them.
The Penguins took three penalties in the first period and killed all three, but Tanner Pearson managed to find the back of the net at even-strength. Ivan Barbashev then picked his spot and sniped a shot over Penguins’ goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic’s glove hand in the second period to put Vegas up, 2-0.
The Golden Knights sealed the deal early in the third period, when Brandon Saad scored two minutes into the third period and Mark Stone tallied one just 54 seconds later.
“I don’t think it was the opportunities,” head coach Mike Sullivan. “I think it was what we gave up in the third period. For two periods, five-on-five, we competed, really. We had some looks. We need to get inside more. Give Vegas credit, they’ve got big ‘D,’ and they make it hard to get inside. We’ve got to fight to get inside more, but for two periods, I thought it was a pretty competitive hockey game.”
Here are a few other thoughts and observations from this game:
– Friday was Tommy Novak’s first game in black and gold. Novak was acquired Wednesday from the Nashville Predators as part of the trade that sent Michael Bunting to the Nashville Predators, and he has the ability to be slotted as a third-line center as well as in the middle-six.
He centered a third line with Danton Heinen and Philip Tomasino. Although the line spent much of the evening in the defensive zone, Novak still generated a few chances – including a good look on a two-on-one.
“You can see the skill he has,” Sullivan said. “He gets a grade-A look on the two-on-one and just misses his mark. He made a few plays. He has good tight-area skills. I think he skates well. So, there’s a lot to like there.”
– It was a mixed night for defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok, who, on one hand, showed flashes of offensive instinct and ability, and on the other, showed a lot of defensive deficiencies.
He was completely fooled by Stone on the breakaway attempt late in the game and had a few questionable reads throughout the night, especially when trying to defend the rush. It’s evident that more defensive structure needs to be present in his game, but it’s also undeniable that there is something there offensively.
He was playing his off-side Friday, as the Penguins only had six defensemen to dress while waiting for newly acquired defenseman Conor Timmins to arrive. But he should get some runway at the end of the season here so the Penguins can see what they have in him.
– It was a tough night for the defensive corps in general. Vegas seemed to simply walk right through them uncontested on many occasions, and they weren’t really establishing themselves in the defensive zone in terms of getting in shooting lanes and blocking shots.
The Penguins had just nine blocked shots on the night, and only four came from defensemen – two of them courtesy of Ryan Shea, who also had a bit of a rough night after signing a one-year contract extension earlier in the day.
The defense has been a story all year for the Penguins. It was no different Friday.
– Someone who was – and always does – giving maximum effort and heart is Bryan Rust, who blocked a shot late in the second period and appeared to be in a ton of pain. Evgeni Malkin – playing in his 1,200th career game – briefly took Rust’s place on the top line to close out the period, but Rust returned for the final frame.
Whatever happens with this team, Rust is a warrior, and he always has been. This guy is a Penguin through and through.
– Speaking of Rust, the top line of Sidney Crosby, Rust, and Rickard Rakell was, really, the only line generating much of anything.
They had some good looks in the first period that they simply failed to capitalize on, and the three penalty kills didn’t allow them to see as much ice time together. Rakell had a nice chance later on when he dangled around the Vegas defense and walked his way to the net, narrowly missing the corner of the net high glove-side.
It will be nice to see Crosby have the opportunity to break Gretzky’s point-per-game seasons record with those two flanking him the rest of the season.
– And, speaking of Rakell… clearly, he was not dealt at the trade deadline. And it was very evident to see – both during the game and afterwards – that he is very happy about that.
Dubas on Rickard Rakell: “He is a big part of our program. … You don’t just push that out the door.” #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) March 7, 2025
He was playing with a lot of energy, especially early on. He generated some good looks for himself, and he had his legs.
It was a stressful deadline day for Rakell, but he’s relieved to still be donning the Penguins’ logo.
“I’m happy I’m still here,” Rakell said. “Overall, very happy. It’s been a little bit stressful the last 24 hours or so, but like I said before, I’m really happy to be part of this team and organization and just looking forward to improving here.
“I think that’s all I want. Looking back to this summer, I just tried to prove myself and tried to earn my spot on this team again after last season. So, that’s still my goal… just going to try to keep getting better for our team and our group here, and keep looking forward.”
This guy wants to be in Pittsburgh, and he wants to be part of the solution. And the Penguins – simply put – need players like that if they’re going to – as POHO and GM Kyle Dubas would say – find their way out of this “phase of the program.”
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