After a disastrous road trip, the Pittsburgh Penguins are calling up some reinforcements from the AHL. On Friday morning, they announced that prospects Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty are bound for Pittsburgh.

Currently, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are the AHL's fifth-best team, with a 36-18-7-1 record thanks partly to Koivunen, who has compiled 55 points in 62 games, good enough for sixth in league scoring. 

Meanwhile, since Feb. 15, McGroarty has collected the most points of anyone in the WBS lineup, scoring 18 points in the past 19 games, bringing his season totals to 39 points in 60 games.

Pittsburgh Penguins Schedule: Remaining Games & Statistical NotesThe Pittsburgh Penguins are winding down their 2024-25 season and on pace to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season, a first in Sidney Crosby's 20-year career. However, there is plenty to play for in the final weeks of the regular season. 

After coming to the Penguins organization after a mid-summer trade from the Winnipeg Jets, McGroaty played in three NHL games before finding his groove in the AHL. 

Like McGroarty, Koivunen is playing his first professional season and is the baby Penguins' leading scorer and one of four players to score more than 20 goals this season.

The Finnish winger, a key piece in the Jake Guentzel trade, will have a chance to make his NHL debut on this call-up.

Since Pittsburgh will not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, both prospects will get some laps in and still have plenty of time to return to the AHL for the Calder Cup playoffs, which begins mid-April.

Pittsburgh's next game is Sunday against the Ottawa Senators at PPG Paints Arena, while WBS visits the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday. 

The Chicago Blackhawks have ten games left. At 21-42-9, their playoff chances were gone by the time November started. That’s the reality for a team going through a long, grueling rebuild. 

Throughout the season, the Blackhawks have transformed their roster into a young, vibrant group. Many of the top players on the Rockford IceHogs made their way to Chicago to show what they can do at the NHL level. 

10 games remaining don’t sound like a lot, but there is plenty of time for the folks in charge to do some last-minute evaluating. These are five questions that they’d like to have answered before they hit the offseason:

Is Connor Bedard a center or a winger?

A lot of what the Chicago Blackhawks do during the summer will depend on their opinion of Connor Bedard. Is he a center or is he a winger? These final 10 games can better help them make that decision. 

Is Ryan Donato worth a long-term extension?

The Chicago Blackhawks decided not to take anything for Ryan Donato at the trade deadline. They did not have an extension with him in place when this decision was made, so they ran the risk of losing him for nothing. Is he worth a long-term extension after having an unlikely career year? 

What do they have in Kevin Korchinski? 

Ahead of their final 10 games, the Blackhawks used their fourth and final non-emergency call-up on Kevin Korchinski. He has had a great season in the AHL, but only time will tell if he can be a star at the NHL level. Chicago will use these final 10 games to evaluate, which should help decide what to do with him in the summer. 

Are any college players going to get an NHL showcase? 

We have already seen a couple of college players sign with the teams that drafted them. As teams get eliminated from the NCAA tournament, will the Blackhawks consider giving any of them a chance in the NHL before the year is over? A few likely candidates are out there. These final 10 games could get interesting in that regard. 

What big splash needs to be made this upcoming summer? 

The Chicago Blackhawks have the roster availability and cap space to make a big move or two. What type of splash needs to be made to improve the team in the long term? Is it worth it to throw a lot of money at a player like Mitch Marner? We will know more after these 10 games are done. The answers to the above questions will help answer this one as well. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

The Pittsburgh Penguins (29-34-11) finished their three-game road trip with a disastrous performance at KeyBank Center. They fell to the Buffalo Sabres 7-3 on a historic night, as Sidney Crosby broke Wayne Gretzky's point-per-game record. 

In a recurring theme, Tristan Jarry gave up a goal on the first shot of the game, and the Penguins were never able to recover as the younger Sabres kept lighting the lamp in hopes of climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement. 

Thankfully, Pittsburgh has a few days off before their game, providing plenty of time to unpack this performance.

Crosby Steals the Headlines

Unfortunately, the Penguins were chasing the game less than a minute after the opening puck drop; captain Sidney Crosby scored at 11:11 of the first period to collect his 80th point of the season.

BREAKING: Sidney Crosby Breaks Wayne Gretzky's Point-Per-Game Seasons RecordAfter 20 years in the making,

The milestone goal cut the deficit to 2-1 for the home team, as Bryan Rust grabbed the puck out of the net to celebrate Crosby's historic achievement of earning his 20th point-per-game campaign. 

Even though only four Buffalo skaters failed to get on the scoresheet, and seven had two-point games, Crosby stole all the headlines by etching his name into the NHL record book.

The End of Tristan Jarry

Jarry rediscovered his game in the AHL for over a month, coming back to Pittsburgh to go on a four-game win streak. However, when he finally lost, it was like he had lost all his confidence again and had yet to find it.

For the second consecutive game, Mike Sullivan started Jarry, and for the second game in a row, he had to pull him as he gave up four goals on 12 shots to finish the night with a .667 SV%.

Originally drafted by the Penguins in 2013, the end of his tenure in Pittsburgh is here. The Penguins must move on from a goalie who just can't make a save, let alone one on the first shot of the game. 

Thursday night was Jarry's third shortest start of the season and his third-worst SV% game, which is not statistics worthy of being an NHL netminder.

Penguins Different Team Without Malkin

Evgeni Malkin missed his second consecutive game, and the Penguins gave up at least six goals in each. As the team's second-line center, Malkin leads another layer of attack that isn't there when he's not. 

Despite Dud Against Buffalo, Crosby The Star Of The ShowThere wasn't a whole lot to write home about in the Pittsburgh Penguins' brutal 7-3 road loss to the

Even though most of the team's scoring has come from Crosby, Rust, and Rickard Rakell, Malkin is the Penguins' fifth-leading scorer and a future Hall of Famer that opponents tend to game plan for.

Without him in the lineup, the secondary scoring dries up, and the bottom six players are shuffled to compensate for the second-line opening, changing the offense's dynamics.

Despite the fanbase wondering what the team would look like without the 38-year-old in the lineup, the answer currently appears to be a mess. However, the Penguins can overcome his absence with some retooling and restructuring. 

While the Montreal Canadiens suffered an embarrassing loss on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, rookie blueliner Lane Hutson still hit another milestone. With an assist on Alex Newhook’s goal, the youngster recorded his 50th helper of the season in his 71st game.

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According to the NHL Public Relations account, he became the seventh fastest rookie to reach the milestone in a season since 1984-85. Joe Juneau did it in 59 games, Mario Lemieux and Chris Chelios in 63, Sergei Makarov in 64, Pelle Eklund in 65, and Matthew Barzal in 67.

Furthermore, he became the 24th rookie in history to accomplish the feat and just the fifth defenseman to do so after Larry Murphy (60 in 1980-81), Chris Chelios (55 in 1994-85), Stefan Persson (50 in 1977-78) and Gary Sutter (50 in 1985-86).

With another assist on Cole Caufield’s third-period goal, Hutson recorded his 13th multi-assist game. Only two rookie defensemen got more in a season: Chelios (16 in 1984-85) and Murphy (14 in 1980-81). With 11 games remaining on the Habs’ schedule, it’s far from out of the realm of possibility that he could catch them.

Lane Hutson helped the @CanadiensMTL get on the board. He became the 24th rookie in NHL history with 50 assists in a single campaign and fifth defenseman to do so. #NHLStats: https://t.co/5oRON7ksxqpic.twitter.com/WT0A9IPsD0

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 27, 2025

The rearguard has 51 assists and five goals for 56 points in 71 games. Chelios also has the record for most points by a defenseman in his rookie season with the Sainte-Flanelle with 64. To tie him, Hutson needs eight points in the remaining 11 games. It’s doable, but it will be tight, especially if the Canadiens don’t start winning again at the earliest opportunity.

Hutson still leads the rookie scoring race, two points ahead of Matvei Michkov, who overtook Macklin Celebrini last night with his three-point performance against the Canadiens. It will be interesting to see if the Flyers' rookie will produce more now that there’s been a coaching change in Philadelphia. He looked like he was flying last night and missed a hat trick by a quarter of an inch.

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