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The Penguins Third Line Story; the Kids Talk About … Each Other
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- The Penguins Third Line Story; the Kids Talk About … Each Other
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Their age is neither a selling point nor a concern to Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse . The Penguins' third line is currently, and for a foreseeable future, comprised of three rookies, the oldest of which is Ville Koivunen at 22, Rutger McGroarty at 21, and the youngest and most experienced of which is Ben Kindel at 18.
The Penguins' kids line is not yet lighting up the scoresheet, though they are creating chances, and more impressively, they're not giving up chances.
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The glimpse into the Penguins' future is becoming a wide-eyed look, even if Muse sidestepped age as a feature or a bug.
"I don't think there was concern with the age. We thought that there was potential; the line, the way they play. It always helps when guys have spent some time together, you can go back on that," Muse said. "And so, we use that as a starting point. But I think those guys have also done a good job on both sides of the puck. Yeah, it wasn't a concern about the age."
Last season, Koivunen played on the top Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins line with McGroarty and Tristan Broz .
That line clicked, just as the new trio with Kindel in the middle has at the NHL level. The advanced stats are pretty good, with an expected goals for ratio of over 72% and Muse has been able to deploy the line in high-leverage defensive situations.
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Digging a little deeper into the superficial advanced numbers over the nearly 27 minutes at 5v5, a 66% shot-attempt rate is bettered by actually owning 83% of the shots on goal when they're on the ice, and 61% of the scoring chances (All stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com ).
Perhaps the biggest change has occurred since McGroarty arrived eight days ago. In the three games since, Koivunen has noticeably elevated his game.
"I've been playing a lot with Rut–Last year, and he came here now, so yeah, it's just felt pretty good right away," Koivunen said. "We just try to use our strengths when we have the puck, so I think that's good."
After struggling for much of this season, Koivunen looks like he's found a home.
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It is McGroarty who has unlocked Koivunen's fiesty, slick playmaking?
"I feel like Ville, he is just a really good hockey player … But I think the comfort factor is really just–he's a year older than me. We're kinda going through this together, kind of going through it with Ben," said McGroarty. "So, we might as well just go out there and give it our best shot. So I think it's really cool. And it's just the comfort factor of talking to each other on the bench. And we know each other well, and we've played with each other for a year now. So we can kind of read off of each other and know what we're going to do. And then when we get back to the bench, just being able to talk to each other, I feel like that is a huge thing."
McGroarty sort of chuckled that we might be giving him credit for Koivunen's play. We weren't, but the chemistry on the line is undeniable. There is also a real chance that in a few years, it will become the Penguins' top line.
When we told Koivunen that it can be fun to watch them, he responded simply.
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"It's fun to play."
The post The Penguins Third Line Story; the Kids Talk About … Each Other appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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