Penguins v Canes

It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh!  I wanted to provide some interesting statistics heading into tonight's game agains the Hurricanes.  Tonight will mark the 300th NHL game for Tyler Kennedy! Kennedy!  Going into tonight's game, much maligned defenseman Paul Martin is +2 in his past 5 games, with 2 assists and 5 shots.  He does have 200 career points, so he can chip in some offense.  Evgeni Malkin's natural hat trick Sunday was the the 19th in Penguins history, with Mario Lemieux having done it 4 times and Jagr twice.

The Penguins are tied for second in the NHL for fewest shots ALLOWED with St. Louis at 26.3 per game;

Matt Niskanen leads all Pens defensemen in shots on goal with 82 this season;

Optimistic projections show a possibility that Kris Letang could return to the lineup as early as Sunday against the Crapitals;

Geno averages 1.16 points per game with Crosby in the lineup and 1.39 without him, or 19.8% better!

The Pens have scored a power play goal in 15 of the past 16 home games against Carolina going 17 for 80 or 21.2%;

Malkin has assisted on 14 of 18 of James Neal's goals and 8 of his 12 power play goals;

Brooks Orpik has points in each of his past two games(2 assists), though he has never scored in 3 straight;

Over the past two victories, the Malkin, Kunitz, Neal line has 7 goals, 5 assists, 12 points, and is a plus 12 with 37 shots on goal;

The Hurricanes have scored first in 7 of the past 9 games against the Penguins;

James Neal is only 3 goals shy of his career high (27),  and 3 goals shy of 100 for his career;

And the odd stat of the night is the fact that the Penguins have lost 4 of the past six home games in which they have scored FIRST, but they are 5-2-1 in the past 8 home games where they did not! 

Enjoy the game!!