Thursday night was the final game before the Olympic break in the NHL. The Penguins had one game remaining on their schedule against the red-hot Buffalo Sabres. Blake Lizotte’s wife went into labor forcing him to miss the game. Then Noel Acciari got sick forcing him out of the lineup. This was no big deal as the Penguins had Rutger McGroarty and Kevin Hayes with the active roster. However, during the morning skate Rikard Rakell suffered a minor injury. Rakell is slated to play for Sweden next week when the Olympics took place and I feel like the team didn’t want to rob him of that chance, so they shelfed him for Thursday’s game too. With only a few hours before puck drop, the Penguins called up Avery Hayes. Most people would be unfamiliar with that name, unless you are a true sicko like me. He was undrafted, signed an AHL deal, and eventually performed well enough to secure an NHL two-way deal. He was actually the first signing of Dubas’ tenure with the Penguins, yet another masterclass.

Avery Hayes made it to Buffalo by car only two hours before the game started. Maybe it didn’t allow for the nerves to truly set in because he skated like a 1st round talent. He scored on each of his first two shots. Even without the goals he may have been the game’s best player.

All that youth in Buffalo, all those top 10 picks, and it was the undrafted undersized late call-up that delivered the best performance. Something is brewing with this team in Pittsburgh is special. As a matter of fact, we haven’t seen a rookie perform like this in their first game since Jake Guentzel, something special happened that season too. The Sabres are a nice story, they haven’t made the playoffs in 14 years, and it looks like they will finally break that streak this season. Make no mistake that the Penguins are the lifeblood of this league, they are the kings of the NHL. Doesn’t matter they have missed the playoffs the last few seasons, nor won a round in eight years, they are the franchise everyone else wants to be.

Avery Hayes wasn’t the only rookie to put on a show last night. The Penguins also had Ben Kindel and Arturs Silovs put on quite the performance. Kindel scored a beauty on a 2-on-1 and also added an empty netter. Silovs allowed the first shot of the game and was otherwise electric, poised, and sharp the rest of the evening. The only other shot to beat the rookie was a goal-line snipe by American Olympian Tage Thompson during a power-play. Crosby, Karlsson, and Malkin were somewhat quite during this game the rookies decided to do the heavy lifting for the unc’s.

This was the perfect victory to lead the Penguins into the break. Buffalo has been the league’s hottest team’s since firing their GM. The Penguins have been hot too but were recently cooled off with an uninspired effort on Monday, and an overtime loss despite a winning performance on Tuesday. This wasn’t a must-win, but it was a game that you felt like they needed to have if for nothing else but the good vibes before the break. After about ten minutes into the first, the Penguins took control of the game. They showed once again that they aren’t frauds. When they play teams who look destined for the playoffs, they have typically not only played with them but outplayed them. I thought the Penguins would be battling for wild card this season, I thought the forward group was impressive. I didn’t think we would enter the Olympic break as a top 7 team in the league boasting an 85% chance at reaching the playoffs. I said it earlier, and I’ll keep saying it, something special is going on with this group.

The Olympic break is coming at a great time. Geno is playing hurt and Letang is out with a broken foot. Malkin has forced things too much since reaggravating the injury, the break will allow him to heal up. The Letang injury has started to show some signs of concern for the Penguins. Coupled with the St. Ivany injury, and the Caleb Jones injury/suspension, the defensive depth is as thin as the ice the Penguins skate on. Ryan Shea has been fantastic all season, but now he is being asked to play on his offside. Forcing any defender to play most of the game on their backhand is going to be difficult, Shea is no exception. He hasn’t been dumpster fire by any means; you are just seeing slight mishaps that were completely devoid from his game prior to be moved to the right side. The lack of offense from the blue-line in Letang’s absence is noteworthy too. Brett Kulak is being asked to play in 3-on-3 situations. Kulak and/or Shea are manning the second power-play unit. Getting through the break where all the guys, not even just the injured players, can get healthier is wonderful for this team.

Some other notes… Chinakhov got another point, Dubas should just extend him during the break. Tommy Novak has been a perfectly adept second-line center. McGroarty has been great since being called up again, but the team has too many forwards. I don’t know how much sense acquiring a Jason Robertson tier player would make, but the team certainly has the forward depth to possibly lose a forward or two in said trade and be fine.

The Men’s hockey tournament will start on Wednesday. I fully expect Crosby to captain Canada to another gold; the only question is if McDavid’s loser persona can pull the team down.