This was not the start the Pens wanted. Thank Marc Andre Fleury for keeping the Penguins in this game during the first period as the Pens started very sloppy again tonight. Add Crosby's two goals and somehow the Pens get out of the first period even. Then they tilted the ice and took the game away to improve their record to 25-11-2, first in the conference, and first in the league in wins. First, good game by Cooke, he took three "penalties" but also chipped in a great assist short handed after stealing the puck behind the net and setting up Adams for a rare goal, and adding a late goal. The penalty kill was strong giving up one goal in 8 tries including two 5 extended five on threes, and adding a short handed goal at a critical time in the game. Now to Crosby.......his 25 game scoring streak has netted him 26 goals and 24 assists for a total of 50 points. That is 2 points per game for those of you who are a bit slow. With 38 games played (3 short of midseason) Crosby leads the league in points with 65, goals with 32, and +/- with a + 21. He is also winning faceoffs at a 55.8% clip and is third in shooting percentage with 21.1%, and second is assists with 33. His current scoring streak of 25 games is the longest since the lockout, and 11th longest in NHL history. He has 3 or more points in 7 of the 25 games during the streak. He is 3 games shy of Lemieux's second longest scoring streak of 28 games, but a ways away from the franchise record of 42 held by Lemieux. The Penguins are 19-5-1 during the streak....can you say MVP?? Aside from the Crosby storyline, I liked the Pens getting some secondary scoring with goals by Kunitz, Letestu, Cooke, and Adams. Now to avoid the classic trap game tomorrow against a weak divsional rival right before the Winter Classic. Take the 2 points tomorrow night, and go into the Classic with some momentum!
I did a little more homework to see where the Pens stack up in vital statistics v the conference and league so here goes:
First in wins with 25 and in points with 52. The Pens are now 9-1 against the Southern Division this season. The team has balance, as they are second in the Conference and fifth in the league with 3.21 goals per game, second only to Philadelphia at 3.28. In goals against they are 3rd in the conference, and 4th in the league with 2.34 goals against per game, behind Montreal and Boston in the East. Their penalty kill at 87.3% is second in the league and the conference, as is their plus/minus at +27. So the Penguins are top 2 to 5 in the LEAGUE in most categories, and top 2 or 3 in the conference. Their one area that remains mediocre is the power play, which defines mediocre by being 15th of 30 in the league, and 8th of 15 in the conference. This is a key area for improvement for the Pens. Finally, scoring first matters to this team as they are 16-3 for an .842 winning percentage when they score first, and they are 9-8-2 for a .474 winning percentage when they trail at first.
No comments:
Post a Comment