Pens have great reason to be optimistic

With 24 games remaining in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and their fans, have great reason to be optimistic.

The Pens remain near the top in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. In fact, the Penguins start the week with more points than all but two teams in the entire NHL.

Goaltender Matt Murray is in the top 10 in the league for both save percentage and goals against average. The Penguins power play is also the best in the NHL, and each of their first three lines has a player among the top 15 of NHL’s scorers.

Team captain Sidney Crosby, the first-line center for the Pens, is first in the NHL with 32 goals and is second overall with 65 points.  The Pens’ second-line center, Evgeni Malkin has 59 points, which puts him seventh among the league’s scoring leaders.  Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino’s right wing on the Penguins’ third line, is 13th in the NHL with 55 points.  Crosby, Malkin and Kessel are also part of the Pens’ No. 1 power play unit, which, despite and 0-for-4 effort in Sunday’s loss to Detroit, remains in the NHL’s top ten.

The Penguins are also the defending champions, and by all accounts, will be a very tough team to eliminate from the upcoming playoffs.  That said, their bid to become the first back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions since the late 90s (Detroit Red Wings, 1997 and 1998) will come with considerable challenges.

The Penguins already lacked depth defensively and were likely looking to bolster their group of blue-liners by the March 1 NHL trade deadline.  That’s a bigger priority now with the news of Olli Maatta’s hand surgery, which may keep him out of the lineup until April.  Complicating the defensive issues is Justin Schultz’s concussion.

Injuries have been a challenge all season. Now more than ever, overcoming those setbacks, and other obstacles, is imperative.  Only three games remain in February, including Saturday’s Stadium Series matchup against the Flyers at Heinz Field.

The sprint to the playoffs is underway.

Cox Media Group