Do the Penguins Play Up (or Down) to the Competition?

I was working the front desk yesterday afternoon at Wright’s Gym when one of our members, Jim Hartley, commented on the Penguins’ dramatic 4-3 overtime win over New Jersey on Thursday night.

After giving the black-and-gold mostly high marks for their collective effort, he added, “Hey, at least they showed up.”

Smoke began pouring from the mostly empty space between my ears and a light bulb turned on…always a dangerous thing. I wondered…do the Pens play up (or down) to their competition?

Based on a recent history that includes thoroughly uninspired losses to non-playoff teams like Detroit and the Islanders, not to mention a near-catastrophic slip-up against tonight’s foe, the equally hapless Habs, I sensed it’s true.

Nor is this a brand-new issue. Truth be told, the Pens have had trouble getting their game on for non-sexy opponents all season long.

There was another dismal loss to the Red Wings back on New Year’s Eve, not to mention dual losses by a combined score of 9-4 to woebegone Vancouver, when we made Canucks rookie Brock Boeser look like the second coming of Bobby Hull. Throw in a pair of lackluster defeats at the hands of the bottom-feeding Blackhawks, including the epic 10-1 shellacking back in October? It appears to support my assumption.

Conversely, the Pens seem to raise their battle level to new heights for big games. Perfectly natural, since high-stakes hockey gets the competitive juices flowing. Heck, given our back-to-back Cups and recent playoff history, I wonder if our guys need a challenge to rise to the occasion, like a key divisional matchup.

The numbers seem to bear that out. The Pens are a very impressive 16-7-2 against their Metropolitan Division brethren, including a combined 9-1 against bitter rivals Columbus, Philadelphia and Washington. Perhaps not by coincidence, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel have six goals apiece in those 10 games against crosshair foes, Patric Hornqvist five.

Big players play big in big games…or something like that.

Put another way? Much like a hot-air balloon, our temperature determines our altitude.

With our remaining slate featuring contests against lesser lights Montreal and Ottawa, I decided to break down our record against current playoff and non-playoff teams. The numbers surprised me. As of Friday, the Pens are 23-13-3 against the latter group—way better than I thought—and 21-15-3 against playoff-bound squads.

However, our record against the respective conferences seems to support my theory that inspiration equals perspiration. Against teams from the West, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and there’s nary a heated rivalry, the Pens are basically a .500 team (14-12-4). The fact that we played 19 of our first 37 games against Western clubs—and went a languid 6-10-3—contributed mightily to our wretched start.

Against the East, where familiarity breeds contempt? We’re a sparkling 30-16-2.

Where am I going with this?

I’m hoping against hope that once the playoffs start and each game takes on added importance, the Pens won’t lack for motivation. With a core consisting of Malkin, Kessel and all-around stud Sidney Crosby—who’s hitting his stride at precisely the right time—to say nothing of Swedish pile driver Hornqvist, I’m betting they’ll find that elusive on switch…and their mojo.

After all, a three-peat’s at stake.