Pens Gear Up for Stretch Run

Now that the Olympic Games are behind us, Sidney Crosby is a national hero, Brooks Orpik has a nice, new Silver Medal, and the Russians can begin hoping for a chance at redemption in 2014, we can get back to our regularly scheduled NHL Season. The Penguins began their stretch drive on a good note last night with a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, getting a couple of goals from their much scrutinized wingers, Pascal Dupuis and Ruslan Fedotenko to be more specific. Sergei Gonchar also notched his 200th career goal, on the power play no less, in what some experts are beginning to call his swan song season in a Penguins’ uniform. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though, and focus on this particular season and the Pens’ quest to defend their Stanley Cup championship.

The win leaves the Penguins trailing the division leading New Jersey Devils by one point in the standings, with the Devils also possessing a game in hand. Last night’s win was not the only good news for Penguins fans in the last 48 hours as Ray Shero worked his magic once again. We talked before the Olympic break that if the Penguins had any needs, it was a defensive defenseman and possibly a goal scoring winger for the top two lines…check and check. Shero has proven over the last two years that he is not afraid to make a move at the deadline to bolster his club’s hopes at a Stanley Cup, and this year proved no different.

Ray Shero made his first deal Monday night, acquiring defenseman Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers for a 2nd round draft choice. Leopold was once a highly regarded young defenseman in the NHL before falling victim to a number of injuries. Leopold, when healthy, is known as a good puck-moving defenseman that is solid in his own end. He is not the perfect “defensive defenseman” in the Rob Scuderi mold, but he is a good fit on the fast moving Penguins and strengthens a defensive unit that now is sound and deep, with seven more than capable bodies.

Shero’s other move to boost the Penguins’ title defense occurred last night when he traded now useless defenseman Martin Skoula and prospect Luca Caputi to the Toronto Maple Leafs for winger Alexei Ponikarovsky, Skoula being a part of the deal to make the Penguins salary cap situation work with the addition of Ponikarovsky’s prorated salary. “Pons” (as we will refer to him from now on) will not debut for the Pens until at least Saturday as he works out some Visa problems, but looks to be another shrewd move by the Pens’ GM. I know Penguin fans will not be especially happy about trading Caputi, who has grown into a bit of a fan favorite among Pens prospects, but Shero is trying to win now and Caputi would not help with that. Whether Caputi fulfills his potential or not, and let’s not forget he was a 4th round draft choice and not a top pick, I like this move for the Penguins. Pons has 19 goals in 61 games this season and has averaged nearly 21 goals a season over the past four years. Pons is also big, strong and known for his grinding ability in the corners. His acquisition will give coach Dan Bylsma more options to pair with Malkin and the option to go with the hot hand come playoff time. The move also makes the Penguins much deeper, which is a necessity in the grueling Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I said before the Olympic break that I was quite comfortable with the Penguins current line-up and chances at a repeat. I felt that they were already the favorites in the Eastern Conference and with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin that I liked their chances in a 7-game series with anyone. I also thought that Ray Shero has proven his ability as a deadline deal-maker and once again Shero has come through to put his team in the best position that he could to make a deep run. While a number of other Eastern Conference teams also made moves to help their rosters, including the Conference leading Capitals, the Penguins are in prime position to make another run at the Cup. It’s now on the players to gear up for the final stretch, win their division and gain the #2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Here’s betting that the Penguins come on strong down the stretch and we can all start anticipating a Crosby-Ovechkin Eastern Conference Final…