Losses Pile Up
The Pittsburgh Penguins have not had much to be proud of this season, aside from the play of rookie sensation Sidney Crosby. Lately their game has started to improve but the league does not award points for hard work. The team has turned in some of their finest efforts only to have them end in losses, 5 in a row if you are scoring at home.
The Penguins seemed to get a little shot in the arm from the recall of goaltender Marc Andre Fleury last Monday, and their play during the last week has been much better. Fleury has given them the steady goaltending that they were not getting from Sebastien Caron or Jocelyn Thibault, but they just don't seem to be able to get over the hump. The team got off to a strong start last Tuesday night, but could only generate one first period goal against Buffalo goaltender Martin Biron. The team defense was much better and it only yielded 26 shots on goal, unfortunately it translated into a 3-2 defeat. Then came a match up with the rival New York Rangers. Once again they generated many scoring chances, but Hendrik Lundquist was up to the task and allowed only one goal to rookie defenseman Ryan Whitney. The Penguins took 36 shots but lost the game 2-1. Next up was a Saturday night match up with the Calgary Flames. The Penguins have owned the flames on home ice, but not on this night. The Flames got on the board first with a much contested goal, many in the organization thought the goal should have been waived off. This seemed to break the squad's momentum a bit and they fell behind 3-1, before losing 3-2.
During this three game stretch you could see certain things beginning to happen. The team defense has gotten much better and they have drastically cut the shots on goal that they were allowing during the first month and a half of the season. The defensemen are playing much better in their own zone, and the turnovers have dropped off. The third and fourth lines have begun to generate some scoring chances, though the lines had to be shuffled again due to groin injuries to Jon LeClair and Ziggy Palffy.
There are many things that the team can build on as it ventures into December, but they have got to start turning their hard work and effort into victories. They are now tied with Washington for last place in the Eastern Conference and are 13 points out of the last playoff spot. Even more daunting is the fact that the two teams occupying the 7th and 8th spot, Toronto and Tampa Bay are on pace to put up 97 points. That means that it would take 98 to slide into the final playoff spot. The Penguins will have to play at a .709 click during their remaining 55 games or average 1.42 points per game to make it in. Based on the past 2 months, I am not sure that they are capable of producing those results. The talent is there, but the results haven't been, only time will tell if these Penguins can learn to fly.
The Penguins seemed to get a little shot in the arm from the recall of goaltender Marc Andre Fleury last Monday, and their play during the last week has been much better. Fleury has given them the steady goaltending that they were not getting from Sebastien Caron or Jocelyn Thibault, but they just don't seem to be able to get over the hump. The team got off to a strong start last Tuesday night, but could only generate one first period goal against Buffalo goaltender Martin Biron. The team defense was much better and it only yielded 26 shots on goal, unfortunately it translated into a 3-2 defeat. Then came a match up with the rival New York Rangers. Once again they generated many scoring chances, but Hendrik Lundquist was up to the task and allowed only one goal to rookie defenseman Ryan Whitney. The Penguins took 36 shots but lost the game 2-1. Next up was a Saturday night match up with the Calgary Flames. The Penguins have owned the flames on home ice, but not on this night. The Flames got on the board first with a much contested goal, many in the organization thought the goal should have been waived off. This seemed to break the squad's momentum a bit and they fell behind 3-1, before losing 3-2.
During this three game stretch you could see certain things beginning to happen. The team defense has gotten much better and they have drastically cut the shots on goal that they were allowing during the first month and a half of the season. The defensemen are playing much better in their own zone, and the turnovers have dropped off. The third and fourth lines have begun to generate some scoring chances, though the lines had to be shuffled again due to groin injuries to Jon LeClair and Ziggy Palffy.
There are many things that the team can build on as it ventures into December, but they have got to start turning their hard work and effort into victories. They are now tied with Washington for last place in the Eastern Conference and are 13 points out of the last playoff spot. Even more daunting is the fact that the two teams occupying the 7th and 8th spot, Toronto and Tampa Bay are on pace to put up 97 points. That means that it would take 98 to slide into the final playoff spot. The Penguins will have to play at a .709 click during their remaining 55 games or average 1.42 points per game to make it in. Based on the past 2 months, I am not sure that they are capable of producing those results. The talent is there, but the results haven't been, only time will tell if these Penguins can learn to fly.
posted by Bmetzer66 at 11:37 AM
1 Comments:
I didn't see a replay yet, so I don't have an opinion other than what I have heard...I was at my work Christmas party that night, just keeping taps on the game via cell phone etc. It seemed like it was a decent one though...
My girlfriend and I have talked about trying to develop some kind of sensor that would tell if it was in or not...you could use that for Hockey, Football(touchdowns, first downs etc), Home runs. Just about any sport would benefit from that!
How are things going with you??
B
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