The Pittsburgh Penguins opened March with a 5-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. The win featured goals from Ben Kindel, Egor Chinakhov, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Justin Brazeau. Goaltender Arturs Silovs earned his second shutout of the season.
“We knew that they were a really good team,” said Bryan Rust. “We knew that they were going to come out hard. We just wanted to outwork them, and I think that’s what we did for the majority of the night.”
After a less complete performance against the New York Rangers on Saturday, the Penguins responded with a strong showing against Vegas. Kindel scored first after capitalizing on a turnover in the neutral zone for his 15th goal of the year.
“It was just a good forecheck by [Anthony Mantha], and the puck found me in the neutral zone,” Kindel said. “Just kind of skated in, tried to get a shot off. I don’t think that I got much on it, but it surprised the goalie a bit or something.”
Pittsburgh’s offense gained momentum in the second period when Tommy Novak assisted Chinakhov shortly after a power play expired. Chinakhov has now scored 10 goals since joining the team on January 1 and has recorded points in nine of his last eleven games.
“The release is crazy; it’s kind of unique,” Head Coach Dan Muse said. “I kind of find myself laughing some days at practice when he’s shooting pucks. I just thought his work away from the puck has been pretty consistent with that since he’s gotten here.”
Despite playing without captain Sidney Crosby due to injury, Pittsburgh converted two power-play opportunities and has scored at least one power-play goal in each game since returning from break.
“Obviously, our first power play is unbelievable, they have so much skill,” Kindel said. “There are some elite players on the second unit as well that can score and put the puck in the net.”
Avery Hayes participated in his first NHL fight during this game, leading to another Penguins power play after Cole Reinhart received an additional penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Rust extended Pittsburgh’s lead by scoring off an Erik Karlsson rebound—marking his seventh consecutive season reaching 20 goals.
“Where I started as a non-offensive threat, into doing that seven years in a row, I’m really proud of that,” Rust said with a smile. “I gotta give a lot of credit to the guys that I have played with and teams that I’ve been on, but I’ve worked hard at it.”
Rakell added another power-play goal late in the second period before Brazeau ended his own ten-game goalless streak early in the third period.
Defensively, Connor Clifton and Parker Wotherspoon made key plays ahead of Silovs’ shutout performance.
“I think it’s always a team effort. There’s a lot of second, third efforts from the guys – battling, fighting, getting the blocks that we need,” Silovs said. “Felt pretty comfortable in the crease, like, seeing the puck, trying to get control of the rebounds.”
Silovs stopped all 22 shots faced as Pittsburgh improved its post-Olympic break record to 2-0-1 without Crosby available.
“He’s been fantastic for us lately,” Rust said. “He was awesome in the Olympics, and it was fun to watch. He comes to the rink, works extremely hard, and he’s always there with [goaltending coach Andy Chiodo] trying to get better. It shows a lot about his character.”
The Penguins next travel to Boston for their upcoming match against Bruins on Tuesday night.
“Just all year we’ve had different guys out at different times,” Kindel said. “And obviously Sid is our best player and biggest part of our team. But with that, guys will still step up—and that’s what we’ve done throughout this year. It’s just a testament to group we have in here.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins are recognized for having Hall of Fame players and executives who contributed significantly over their history (https://www.nhl.com/penguins/). The organization also holds an important place within Pittsburgh’s sports culture through fan traditions and community involvement (https://www.nhl.com/penguins/). Home games are played at PPG Paints Arena—a multipurpose venue located downtown (https://www.nhl.com/penguins/). Fenway Sports Group manages franchise business operations (https://www.nhl.com/penguins/), while numerous playoff appearances demonstrate consistent competition within National Hockey League ranks (https://www.nhl.com/penguins/).
