Pittsburgh Penguins Treading Water In This Round Of NHL Power Rankings
By Larry Snyder
After losing five of their last six contests, including a 3-2 overtime loss to St. Louis Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins (40-22-11, 91 points) are looking to claim victory Thursday against the Hurricanes in Carolina.
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The Black and Gold have gone 4-4-2 in their last ten contests. They remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Pens are just two points back of the second place New York Islanders (44-25-5, 93 points). The first-place New York Rangers (46-19-7, 99 points) have an eight point lead in the Metro.
Pittsburgh is still fifth overall in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. They are just one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings (39-21-12, 90 points).
Carolina is in last place in the Metro with a record of 26-36-10, 62 points and they are 2-5-3 in their last 10 contests. Coach Bill Peters crew is coming off a 3-1 loss Monday at home to the Chicago Blackhawks. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. Thursday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. It will be broadcast on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.
It is Game 74 for the Pens. Time again to check the Tale of the Tape for Mike Johnston’s crew:
Pens At Home: 21-12-4 / On The Road: 19-10-7
NHL Eastern Conference: 24-16-7
Metropolitan Division Record: 9-12-4 / Atlantic Division Record: 15-4-3
NHL Western Conference: 16-6-4
Central Division Record: 7-4-3 / Pacific Division Record: 9-2-1
Goals Scored: 202 / Goals Allowed: 181
Power Play Percentage: 19.6 (8th In NHL) / Penalty Kill Percentage: 85.6 (2nd In NHL – Tied with Vancouver)
Another round of injuries plague the Black and Gold as center Evgeni Malkin will miss his sixth straight game Thursday and it will be right wing Patric Hornqvist’s fifth absence in a row. It was reported by the AP that defenseman Christian Ehrhoff suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s loss to the Blues and will miss this evening’s match-up. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound blue liner is expected to be out for several days.
Pittsburgh center Nick Spaling and defenseman Rob Scuderi are the two players on the roster who have suited-up for all 73 games this season.
One other note from Tuesday night’s match-up with St. Louis: center Brandon Sutter played in his 200th career game with the Pens.
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Let’s skate out to center ice and see how the experts around the internet are rating the Penguins this week.
Bleacher Report – This Week #10 / Last Week #9 – Dave Lozo still believes in the offense and that the goals will come as the team is averaging 35.4 shots per game.
CBSSports – This Week: #10 / Last Week: #10 – Chris Peters does not like the Black and Gold’s recent lack of composure and feels they need to tighten up their game for the postseason.
ESPN – This Week: #14 / Last Week: #10 – Pierre LeBrun wants to see more this week before he moves Pittsburgh back up in the rankings.
FanSided – This Week: #11 / Last Week: #10 – Patrick Schmidt downgraded the Pens one this week as he is concerned about the amount of time that Malkin has missed of late.
FOX Sports – This Week: #11 / Last Week: #11 – Craig Morgan agrees that the sooner Malkin and Hornqvist return, the better the Penguins fortunes will be
NHL.com – This Week #7 / Last Week #9 – In Corey Masisak’s Super 16 column, he is impressed with how the Pens are preventing goals this season.
Puck Drunk Love – This Week #12 / Last Week #10 – Mike Burse’s weekly analytics has Pittsburgh moving down two spots, but still alive in the Top 15 overall.
USA Today – This Week #9 / Last Week #8 – The hockey writers join the chorus of those worried about when Malkin might return.
Up Next: The Black and Gold welcomes the Arizona Coyotes (22-44-8, 52 points) Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m to Consol Energy Center. The contest will be broadcast on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.