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Just how are these Penguins at 11-4-2 ??

by Tony on 11/17/08 at 10:33 AM ET
Comments (8)

Let me stress this right off the bat; I am a happy Penguins fan.  Or, let me rephrase, I’m a content Penguins fan.

Seventeen games into the season, the Pens are 11-4-2 and off to their best start since the ‘95-’96 season during the days of Dave Roche, Chris Tamer and Frankie Leroux (oh, and Lemieux’s 161 points, and Jagr’s 149 and Francis’ 119).

But it’s how they’re 11-4-2 that is absolutely perplexing.

First, let’s throw out some stats;

- Their powerplay, once in the top handful in the NHL, is down to 13th.
- Their penalty kill, once in the top handful in the NHL, is down to 10th.
- Their franchise goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, is only ranked 23rd in the NHL with a .907 save percentage and 24th in GAA with 2.86.
- Five blown leads late in games, some leading to losses, but some eventually resulting in overtime/shootout wins.

Simply put, those are not the stats indicative of an 11-4-2 team.  A .500 team ??  Sure, but not 11-4-2.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

So how in the hell are they doing it ??

Some theories, in some kind of half-assed order;

1.  Talent - Certainly, a “duh” kind of excuse, but it can’t be overlooked as well.  Even with centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both down on their goal counts so far this season (6 and 7, respectively), it’s a testament to their world-class talent that they’ve been somehow overcoming some of those poor team performances.  With Malkin, specifically, he’s been doing his best Crosby imitation by leading the NHL in assists with 23 (Crosby is tied for second with 16, by the way).

2.  Secondary scoring - I don’t know if you’d call Miro Satan’s 8 goals secondary, but it’s a little surprising he’s leading the team in goals.  However, recent play by the Penguins’ third and fourth lines has really been an asset.  Jordan Staal, after a horrendous start to the season, has been en fuego lately, with six goals in his last four games.  His linemates, grinders Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, have provided sparks not only related to forechecking and physical play, but specifically towards generating goals.  It should also be mentioned that they’ve gotten recent good play from Ruslan Fedotenko.

3.  Goaltending - Although Fleury has been inconsistent lately, you can’t overlook the performance of Dany Sabourin.  Sabourin is 3-1 with a .942 save pct. and a 1.68 GAA.  Included in those wins is his recent relief of Fleury during the recent Flyers game after Fleury gave up four goals after two periods.  His only blemish came in a 2-1 loss to the Sharks on Oct. 28th.

4.  Defense - The hobbled Penguins’ defensive corps has done a yeoman’s job in keeping their heads above water until such time that Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar can return.  The Pens’ are giving up 2.76 goals per game for a respectable tie for 13th in the NHL.  Naturally, there have been some mistakes.  Mark Eaton has not rebounded as well as hoped, hopefully recent Pens’ addition Philippe Boucher will counteract that.  But overall, the Penguins’ defense has been more than adequate.

I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration to suggest that the Penguins haven’t played a full 60 minute game yet this year.  However, as is often said, good teams find ways to win.  Boy oh boy, isn’t that the truth with these Penguins.

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 Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Comments

They are real fun to watch, thats for sure.  That Detroit game the other night on vrs was great!

Posted by GoodTimes from Maryland on 11/17/08 at 12:18 PM ET

Fleury Has an Undisclosed Injury & Did Not Practice today & MIGHT not play Tuesday Night against Wild

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=392900

Posted by Evilpens on 11/17/08 at 01:17 PM ET

on the defensive note...good job forgetting goligoski.  nobody thought he’d be playing this well this early on in his career.  makes a difference when a rookie d-man nets 4 for you when you’re two big names are out. 

malkin and crosby make other players better.  which is why 8 from satan leading the team makes sense because their scoring is pretty evenly spread out below that unlike other teams that have one or two big guys and then have some riff raff picking up the garbage.

its also interesting to note when and how the pens have scored.  maybe it came from lasting into the finals last season, but they’ve scored when they’ve needed to.  the PP hasn’t been up to snuff, but when they’re down by one or 3 as we saw in detroit, they find a way to score, no matter who it comes from.  they’ve won in OT as well.  when you score when you need to to grab a point, or pick up the second one, its not that unbelievable that they have the record they have.

Posted by whatev from pittsburgh on 11/17/08 at 01:52 PM ET

@Evilpens - Thanks for the heads up.

@whatev - Actually you’re right, I intended to put not only GoGo in the defense section, but also Letang, but flat out forgot.  It happens.

Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/17/08 at 02:13 PM ET

I think they are winning for the same reason they won last year, teams cannot match up against three lines of solid centers.  Most teams don’t have four solid defenseman that can shut down the Crosby and Malkin lines so they are going to get their points.  When they have the ability to send out Staal-Cooke-Kennedy against a team’s fifth and sixth defensemen, I like our chances.  I have been criticial of Staal for the past year, but if he continues anywhere near this pace I will be extremely happy.

Another thing that I think gets overlooked is situational faceoff wins.  They do not win that game in Detroit without Mike Zigomanis.  They are winning draws in the offensive zone now with regularity which sets up scoring opportunities.  This is something they haven’t had since Francis left. 

I’m starting to believe they might be better than they were last year, even with losing Hossa and the injuries to Whitney and Gonchar.  Satan has been more than adequate, Cooke is a better passer than Ruutu, Fedotenko is going to get goals on Malkin’s line just like Malone did (just ask Tampa Bay), Godard actually goes after people, and Goligoski is blossoming into a young Gonchar.  Everyone is a year older, a year wiser, and with a Stanley Cup run under their belts, a lot more experienced.  This has to be the scariest team in the league right now.

Posted by Hept-Rossi from PA on 11/17/08 at 02:39 PM ET

Excellent point re: faceoffs, forgot that one too…

Damn, I need to slow down when I write these…

Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/17/08 at 02:44 PM ET

on the flip side, take out their collapses against the Devils, Rangers, and Capitals and they could easily be what, 14-3 if my math is right?

Posted by Sean Leahy on 11/17/08 at 03:16 PM ET

Something like that Sean… But they did have those collapses, along with lots of blown leads.... Trust me, 11-4-2 looks great to me, considering how it could have been....

Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/17/08 at 03:38 PM ET

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Welcome to The Confluence, a Pittsburgh Penguins blog since 2006.  Originally at Blogspot, then at MVN, The Confluence has over 1000 articles reporting Penguins news as well as jumping on my soapbox to opine constructive Penguins criticism.  My posts are regularly linked by hockey websites such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters and Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, and I’ve done guest blogger spots on such websites as the New York Times.  I invite you to spend a little time and peruse the archives at all of the sites for some of my better work.  I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.

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