Penguins’ First Line Currently The Best Line In Hockey

The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently on a 9-3-1 run over their last 13 games, and there are many reasons for their recent success.

But there is no reason bigger than the three guys at the very top of their lineup card.

The top-line trio of Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust has been scorching hot, as they have combined for 21 goals and 53 points. They are clicking on all cylinders no matter the opponent, and they have been the NHL’s most productive line since their Nov. 27 win against the Vancouver Canucks.

“We’re just burying our chances,” Crosby said following Monday’s 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers, which featured three goals and eight points from the top line. “Obviously, in the first, we had a lot of momentum. I felt like we built off of that. Big goal from Rusty to get us going. And I think we’ve just been working hard and working off each other well. And the puck’s going in.”

Of those 21 goals, 10 of them are from Rust alone. In fact, no player in the NHL has more goals in that span that Rust does.

“I mean, you can definitely see that he’s very confident with the puck,” Rakell said of Rust. “It’s kind of the same as me – we score on rebounds, and they’re not all pretty goals. There are a lot of second chances and second efforts, and we’re just taking turns being in front of the net.”

They’re also taking turns owning the team lead in goals, as every time Rust catches Rakell, Rakell seems to put one in the net as well.

“That doesn’t really matter at all,” Rakell said. “As long we’re fighting every shift to score and play good hockey, it doesn’t matter who scores. For some reason, we both seem to be scoring.”

But even though Rust and Rakell are doing the majority of the goal-scoring, the work Crosby has been doing can’t be overlooked. On Crosby’s third assist of the game on Philip Tomasino’s power play goal against the Flyers, he tied Mario Lemieux for the most assists in Penguins franchise history.

“It’s extremely…