Penguins on a 10 Game Win Streak
With all the attention in the sports world on the Miami Heat‘s 23 game win streak, nobody has yet noticed that in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins have won 10 in a row. The start to the season the Chicago Blackhawks got off to has also overshadowed the Pens run thus far as well. But if the Penguins can win another three or four in a row, this could develop into a major story.
Sidney Crosby had two assists on Tuesday and Matt Niskanen scored the game winner in the third period in their 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the streak is the Penguins are doing this without reigning MVP Evgeni Malkin for the last six games. Imagine the Heat keeping their streak going with no Lebron James.
A look at the standings shows the Blackhawks still blowing the league away at 24-2-3 for 51 points and a +38 goal differential. The Anaheim Ducks are 21-3-4 for 46 points and a +26 goal differential. The Pens are 23-8-0 for 46 points and a +29.
The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins are atop the Northeast Division in what is the toughest division. The fourth place Toronto Maple Leafs at 32 points would be good enough for second place in the other two Eastern Conference divisions. The Canadiens are 19-5-5 for 43 points, the Bruins are 19-6-3 for 41 points, the Ottawa Senators are 16-8-6 in third with 38 points and then the Leafs with a record of 15-12-2.
In the Western Conference, The Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks are tied in the NHL’s tightest division, the Northwest. The Wild is 16-10-2 for 34 points and the Canucks are 14-9-6 for 34 points. Like in the NBA, the West is very tight from spots 3-7 with all five of those teams between 36 and 33 points. Then there are three teams tied for the final two playoff spots at 30 points between the Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Dallas Stars are right behind them with 29 points.
The Eastern Conference playoff picture looks like this:
Pittsburgh, Montreal and Winnipeg have the top three spots as division leaders. Boston and Ottawa have spots four and five. In sixth through ninth, four teams are tied at 32 points, the New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and Maple Leafs. The New York Islanders are 10th at 29 points.
