Since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Pittsburgh Penguins are 0-3 and have allowed 19 goals. Alex Nedeljkovic has given up 11, and Joel Blomqvist has yielded seven. Plus, there has been one empty netter by the New York Rangers to secure a 5-3 win on Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.
During that game, Blomqvist allowed four goals on just 15 shots. After the game, Blomqvist was asked if the Rangers were picking on his glove.
“No. Nothing that I was thinking about at the moment,” Blomqvist said. “Every shot is different, so you need to play every situation different. There (are) no real same shots.”
Former Penguins assistant coach and NHL executive Pierre McGuire saw a more significant problem with Blomqvist’s game. The long-time hockey analyst says that Blomqvist simply doesn’t take up enough of the net.
“He looked really small in goal. I can tell you that he needs to look bigger,” McGuire told me on 105.9 The X on Tuesday. “On that J.T. Miller goal, you’ll see what I’m talking about. He’s got to be square to that shooter. And Miller can’t see all four corners of the net. In the scouting business, that shot beat him on the ‘American League side.’ The short side. That can’t happen in that type of a situation.”
J.T. on the fly. pic.twitter.com/aJJjtm3Qvl
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 23, 2025
Blomqvist is 6-foot-1, 183 pounds. McGuire says that may not be enough with the technique he is using.
“Athletically, he has a chance to be an NHL goalie. But he’s got to look bigger in there. I thought in that game, he did not look very big,” McGuire continued. “He’s crouching. His angle play wasn’t very good. I think he was just disoriented. More times than not, he did not look big.”
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan preached patience with the 23-year-old after Sunday’s loss.
“He is athletic. We are really excited about this guy,” Sullivan said. “But he is a young goaltender. He is going through a learning process here. The challenge is on us as a coaching staff to help him.”
Understood. However, at 23, Marc-Andre Fleury was leading the Pens to the Stanley Cup Final against Detroit in 2008. Matt Murray had two rings on his fingers.
Those may be lofty comps. But McGuire doesn’t see setting the bar that high as out-of-bounds for a goalie of that age.
“I don’t think that’s unfair at all. My reference points are a young Tommy Barrasso in Buffalo being NHL Rookie of the Year,” McGuire said. “My other reference point is Marty Brodeur. I remember Eddie Belfour when he came out of the University of North Dakota as an undrafted player with the Chicago Blackhawks. So, no. I don’t think you’re being mean. I don’t think you’re being harsh. I think you’re being real about it.”
Belfour won the Calder and Vezina Trophies at 24. Barrasso won them as an 18-year-old. He won his first Stanley Cup at 25. At 23, Brodeur was an All-Star and fourth in the Vezina voting.
More sports
• First Call: Steelers to meet with Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty; former WR trade target may may be off limits
• Tim Benz: Omar Khan's '4-letter word' that puts George Pickens' future with the Steelers in a new light
• Air power: Pirates' Paul Skenes finds flexibility key to developing a pair of new pitch offerings
While those are some of the best to ever play the position, McGuire’s point is that just being young is not a catch-all excuse.
Perhaps Blomqvist’s best path is to gather more experience at the AHL level. That’s an opinion Mark Madden advanced on our most recent “Madden Monday” podcast.
I’m in the other camp. In a year where the Penguins are making a playoff push, I say let Blomqvist learn at the NHL level. Give Blomqvist a chance to sink or swim with the big club when there are no stakes on the line, and his growing pains can happen in the vacuum of a lost season.
If it doesn’t work out with Blomqvist, bring Tristan Jarry back up to play out the string. They could also promote Sergei Murashov or Filip Larsson to get a look.
Whatever the case, 19 goals in three games is a joke, and it needs to get better.
“It’s everybody’s net, Joel.”
Listen: Tim Benz and Pierre McGuire talk hockey on 105.9 The X