Pens Should be in Great Shape

Before we dive head first into the Super Bowl this week, I thought it might be a good time to take a quick look at the Penguins as they begin the second half, or more appropriately, the post All-Star break portion of their season. The Pens currently sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 66 points and a record of 31-15-4. Dan Bylsma’s bunch sits fourth simply because the three division leaders are seeded one through three, but the Penguins are actually third in the conference in points and only trail second place Tampa Bay by one point with a game in hand. Digging a little deeper, however, and one can see just how good of a position that the Penguins are in.

Through their first 50 games, the Penguins have seen Sidney Crosby miss the last nine games with post-concussion symptoms, Evgeni Malkin miss eight games due to knee and sinus problems and Jordan Staal miss the first 39 games with an infection on his surgically repaired foot and a broken hand. That’s over one-third of the possible man-games that the Penguins have been without at least one of their top three forwards yet they sit with the fourth most points in the entire NHL. The Penguins have only played two games this season with all three of their top forwards in the line-up, the New Year’s Day game loss to the Capitals and an 8-1 beat down of the Lightning. While Malkin’s injured knee has lingered a bit, none of the injuries should hinder the three players’ abilities come playoff time.

To think that the Penguins have been one of the best teams in NHL without one of their best players pretty much every single night has to have the rest of the Eastern Conference worried about how potent this team will be when everyone is healthy. That is because the biggest difference between this team and the Stanley Cup Championship team of just two years ago is their ability on the blue line. Not only do the Penguins feature the playmaking and skating ability of Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski’s shot on the point, and the puck-moving capabilities of newcomer Paul Martin, they are downright stingy in the defensive end. Brooks Orpik is his usual solid self, providing the hitting and defensive zone responsibilities he always does, the other newcomer Zbynek Michalek has been a solid two-way player and the Penguins have received above average play from their sixth defensemen whether that be Ben Lovejoy or Deryk Engelland. The Penguins regular seven defensemen are a combined plus 60 on the year.

Part of that stellar play on the blue line has been the continued development of All-Star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. It sure seems like an eternity ago that Fleury was off to a rough start with fans calling for the Pens to go with back-up Brent Johnson. Fleury has rebounded to post the league’s fifth best goals-against average at 2.19, sixth best save-percentage at .925 and tied for fifth most wins with 23, only two off the leader. As a team, the Penguins are second in the NHL in goals against trailing only the Boston Bruins by two goals. This is a remarkable improvement from just two years ago when the Penguins were ninth in the Eastern Conference in goals against…and it’s not like the offense has been suffering as a result. The Pens are 3rd in the Conference in goals despite playing without one of their stars on a nightly basis.

I am not suggesting that this team is better than the Stanley Cup championship team of two years ago just yet. That team gelled at the right time, had Malkin playing at a level we haven’t seen since and basically had three different lines all playing at a very high level together. This team, however, has the potential to be as good if not better than that team. It is reasonable to assume that Crosby and Malkin will be back in the near future with time for the lines to get sorted out and accustomed to playing with each other heading into playoffs. If Malkin, who I called out earlier this year as needing to raise his level of play, can return to even close to that 2008 form this team will be just as good in their offensive end as the Cup team while being markedly improved in their own end. Throw in the continued upward ascension form Marc-Andre Fleury and this team has the look of another championship-caliber team.

In a week that we are celebrating the potential championship of one Pittsburgh team, it is very possible we could be breaking down another championship match-up in just a few short months.