Pittsburgh Penguins Maintain Lead In Metropolitan Division Power Rankings

Pittsburgh snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout of Nashville on Saturday, and by erupting for eight goals against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. The Penguins now have 33 goals on the season and have allowed 22.

The Black and Gold continue to enjoy the penthouse in the National Hockey League when it comes to the power play as they have 13 goals on 32 opportunities for an astronomical 45.4 percentage.

Everyone is focused on Olli Maatta and for good reason as we wish the defenseman smooth sailing in his surgery next week. One overlooked stat is that goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is now seven wins away from 300 in his career.

1) Pittsburgh Penguins (5-2-1) – Last Week #1: In eight games, Mike Johnston’s squad has put up 257 shots while the opposition has 225. They like to get on the scoreboard early and often as they have scored 13 goals in the first period, 11 in the second, and nine in the third.

2) New York Islanders (6-3-0) – Last Week #2: The Isles have been burning up the score sheet themselves with 35 goals scored, but they have also given up 31 to opposing teams. Perhaps the loss on Tuesday to the Winnipeg Jets (4-3) could be a signal of Jack Capuano‘s crew coming back down to earth a little bit.

3) Washington Capitals (4-2-2) – Last Week #3: Barry Trotz has gotten the Caps to buy in so far this season. Rookie left wing Andre Burakovsky has been a surprise with two goals and five assists for seven points in eight games. He is going to center the Alex Ovechkin line Wednesday. One other note, in their three overtime contests this season, they are 1-2 in the shootout, so there is still some work to be done.

4) New York Rangers (5-4-0) – Last Week #6: While Rick Nash is off to a great start for the Blueshirts, not all the news is good as Chris Peters of cbssports.com is reporting that the Department of Player Safety has offered the Rangers an in-person hearing regarding John Moore‘s illegal check to the head of Minnesota Wild forward Erik Haula. Moore could receive a suspension exceeding five games as he is a repeat offender.

5) Philadelphia Flyers (4-3-2) – Last Week #7: The Bullies from Broad Street have won three in a row. Ray Emery has a .914 save percentage in four games between the pipes while Steve Mason sits on the bench with .878 save percentage. The blueline is banged up with defenseman Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald down for the count at the moment.

6) New Jersey Devils (4-2-2) – Last Week #5: The bad news for the Boys from Jersey is that they are now the owners of the worst penalty kill unit in the National Hockey League. Their 66.7 percentage rate means they are giving up a power play score one out of every three times that they are a man down.

7) Columbus Blue Jackets (4-5-0) – Last Week #4: Forward Artem Anisimov is being checked out after a blow to the head against the Senators. Already on the injured list is James Wisniewski with a broken finger; goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky also with a broken finger; forwards Nathan Horton with a back injury; Nick Foligno, neck; Matt Calvert, upper body; Brandon Dubinsky, abdomen; and Boone Jenner, broken hand.

8) Carolina Hurricanes (0-6-2, 2 points) – Last Week #8: Eight games played and eight losses in the books with six defeats in regulation. The Canes have scored 15 goals while surrendering 33 on the scoreboard. They are tied with the Devils in the division on the latter stat.