Penguins streaking at right time
The Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the hot picks at the beginning of the 2015-16 National Hockey League season to be hoisting Lord Stanley come June.
Yet, out of the starting gate, the Penguins had all kinds of problems. In fact, the team made a coaching change early on, firing Mike Johnston on Dec. 12 and replacing him with Mike Sullivan, a man with no previous head coaching experience.
Pittsburgh seems to have made the right decision. Boasting one of the most talented rosters in the sport, the Penguins are sitting second in the Metropolitan Division with 88 points. The Penguins and New York Rangers have identical records of 40-24-8 with both having 37 regulation wins. Inevitably, it appears these two longtime foes will play each other in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the team that comes out on top over the next few weeks earning home-ice advantage.
Pittsburgh is a dangerous team on many fronts. Most will focus on the offensive firepower that Sullivan’s group possesses, but it’s the defensive prowess which has made the Penguins into a contender once again. Pittsburgh ranks ninth in goals per game but seventh in goals allowed at a paltry 2.4.
The blue line is led by Kris Letang, a cagey veteran who is pacing the club with an average of 26:34 in ice time. Letang has also contributed mightily in the opposition’s zone, scoring 54 points to rank third on the team.
On offense, it remains all about Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby is a wunderkind, scoring 74 points in 70 games including 31 goals and 43 assists, both team bests. Malkin is ever-dangerous, adding 27 goals and 31 assists in just 57 games. The newly-acquired Phil Kessel has not been the dominant force some believed he could be on Pittsburgh, but he does have another 21 goals and 47 points. The Penguins are one of the most balanced offensive teams in hockey, with seven players in double-digit goals.
Come the postseason, Pittsburgh will be a team nobody wants to face due to a deadly combination of talent, experience and balance. New York will have a tough time shutting down the Penguins, needing goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to play elite in between the pipes. Lundqvist has done it before, but he’ll likely need to do it again should the Rangers advance past the first round.
The Penguins and their great superstar need to win another Cup. When a team is blessed with the talents of a first-ballot Hall of Famer as Crosby will be, winning just once seems almost a disappointment. With Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins reached consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and 2009, winning the latter over the Detroit Red Wings.
For the first times in a few seasons, it seems Crosby and the Penguins have a great shot of making it happen.
