Penguins Zero to Fifty: How We Got Here and Where We’re Headed

As our Penguins prepare to enter a stretch run that, hopefully, will lead to another glorious Stanley Cup triumph, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the season thus far and how we got here. Kind of a zero-to-fifty (games) if you will.

October (8-5)

The Pens were a bit streaky through the first month of the season. After reeling off five wins in a row mid-month against Western Conference foes, they lost three straight before righting themselves with month-ending victories over Dallas and Philly.

The injury bug wasted no time in biting as Nick Bjugstad, Alex Galchenyuk, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust missed chunks of time. Shorn of his erstwhile linemates, feisty newcomer Brandon Tanev quickly jelled with Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese to form a tenacious new energy line.

Nor did the injuries curtail the team’s output. Paced by the dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby (17 points) and Jake Guenztel (13 points), the black and gold struck for seven goals on four different occasions.

November (6-4-4)

November was a month to forget as key players continued to fall like dominoes. Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang, Justin Schultz and Crosby spent significant time on IR. To make matters worse, top defenseman Brian Dumoulin went down with an Achilles injury during a month-ending loss to St. Louis.

Injuries weren’t the only issue. Goaltender Matt Murray was dreadful, posting a 2-2-4 record along with a sorry .867 save percentage and bloated 3.53 goals against average while yielding several outcome-deciding goals.

There were bright spots, too. Malkin, Guentzel and Rust formed a dynamic new top line, and depth players like Dominik Kahun and Jared McCann began to produce. Rookie defenseman John Marino emerged as a pleasant surprise, picking the slack on the tattered blue line.

The Pens displayed a wonderful esprit de corps as well. After allowing an early two-goal lead to evaporate against Vancouver on November 27, the boys mounted a blistering third-period rally to win 8-6. A harbinger of things to come.

December (10-2)

After weathering the November storm, our guys put it all together in December. They were buoyed by a scintillating performance from Tristan Jarry, who assumed the goaltending reins from Murray and played flawlessly.

Number 35 opened the month by posting shutouts in three of four starts while establishing a new club regular-season record of 177:15 consecutive scoreless minutes. For the month, Jarry logged a microscopic 1.54 goals against average and stellar .947 save percentage to earn NHL Second Star honors for the month and All-Star recognition.

But the Pens were much more than a one-man show. The piping hot Malkin-Guentzel-Rust trio combined for 17 of the club’s 42 non-shootout goals. With 16 points during the month, Guentzel emerged as a legit MVP candidate.

Alas, after tallying his team-best 20th goal during a month-ending 5-2 rout of Ottawa, Jake tumbled into the boards and suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, putting a damper on the team’s extraordinary success.

January (7-3-1)

With Guentzel’s injury setting the tone the Pens fell back to earth, but only slightly, during the New Year. Sans its top scorer, the team still managed to find ways to produce and win.

The boys received a boost mid-month with the return of Crosby. Fully recovered from an abdominal wall injury, the Pens’ captain served notice to the rest of the league with an eye-popping four-point effort in his first game back to pace a 7-3 victory over Minnesota.

Murray recovered from his prolonged wobbly stretch and began to reassert himself, reeling off a personal five-game winning streak while splitting time with Jarry in goal.

Again, the Pens showed their mettle as a unit. After absorbing a 4-1 shellacking at the hands of the Bruins on January 16, they turned the tables in a return engagement and clipped the B’s 4-3…arguably their most impressive win of the campaign.

Where We’re At

We presently sit in second place in the tough Metropolitan Division with a record of 31-14-5 and 67 points, six points behind the front-running Capitals and four ahead of the third-place Islanders. Good enough for third in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall.

Where We’re Headed

Straight into the cauldron, it appears. The Pens have 17 games remaining against their Metro brethren, including four each against Washington and Carolina. That’s plenty of potential four-point swings that could heavily influence who gets into the playoffs and who stays home. I’m especially concerned with how we’ll stack up against the Caps given their physical style of play.

The Pens also have 11 games remaining against the Atlantic Division. These games could be crucial, given that we’re a poor 6-7 against the Atlantic. Indeed, while the black and gold fattened up against the west (20-4-2), they’ve been so-so against the east (11-10-3).

Although there’s no guarantee, hopefully the tide of injuries will abate. To that end, Kahun and Schultz appear poised to return. That’s good news. The Pens could surely use all hands on deck, or as close as they can get, for the home stretch.

GM Jim Rutherford is almost certain to swing a deal for scoring help ahead of the February 24 trade deadline. Stay tuned.

Puckpourri

The Pens recalled forwards Andrew Agozzino and Anthony Angello from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Of the two, Angello is far more intriguing. A hulking 6’5” 210-pound forward, he’s piled up a team-leading 16 goals with the Baby Pens, matching his total from last season. Befitting a player of his size, the 23-year-old Albany native plays a power game. Hopefully, he’ll provide a little shove-back against the Caps, who we square off against on Sunday.