Here’s a quick glance at who’s hot (and who’s not) for the Penguins over their last ten games leading up to Saturday’s contest with Calgary. The Pens were 7-2-1 during that span.
HOT: The top six players on the scoring list have been doing their job —and then some. For good measure, we’ll throw in rookie defenseman Olli Maatta.
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
| James Neal | 10 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 15 | 8 |
| Sidney Crosby | 10 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 7 |
| Chris Kunitz | 10 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 8 |
| Jussi Jokinen | 10 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
| Matt Niskanen | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| Olli Maatta | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Evgeni Malkin | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
NOT: Some of the Pens’ foot soldiers—along with d-men Simon Despres and Rob Scuderi—have been on a downward spiral of late.
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
| Joe Vitale | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -4 |
| Simon Despres | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -4 |
| Craig Adams | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -9 |
| Tanner Glass | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| Rob Scuderi | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -7 |
| Zach Sill | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 |
How come Letang isn’t part of the HOT group??
Oh yeah he is not HOT and overated
Wow, has Letang ever become a lightning rod of discontent among Pens fans.
I’ll be the first to admit that Tanger’s had a Jekyll-and-Hyde season. When he’s good, he’s very, very good, and when he’s bad, well …
I was really hoping he and Scuderi would meld in an effective tandem that would cover each other’s sins (Letang’s overly risky play; Scuderi’s lack of mobility) while supporting their partner’s strengths. It remains to be seen whether that will happen.
For the record, Letang has played in three of the Pens last 10 games. He has 2 goals, 3 points, and is a plus-1 (with 2 PIM). So I guess he could qualify as “hot.”