The Confluence
Winning streak hasn’t clinched a thing for Penguins
by Tony on 03/09/09 at 08:18 PM ET
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For as well as the Penguins have been playing lately, going 8-1-1 under IHCDB and sweeping their five-game road trip, they still woke up this morning finding themselves in a dogfight with six, probably seven, teams battling for the final playoff slots.
Going into tonight’s Rangers/Hurricanes tilt in Raleigh, the Pens, Rangers and Panthers are all tied for 6th, and only four points behind 4th place Philadelphia.
The main reason the Penguins haven’t gained more ground than they have is because other than Buffalo, none of the other teams have really slumped lately. Here are the records in the last 10 games for the teams in question;
Philly 6-3
Montreal 5-4-1
Panthers 6-4
Rangers 4-4-2
Pens 8-1-1
Canes 7-3
Sabres 4-5-1
So while the Penguins have taken a decent chunk out of their deficit, they’re certainly not out of the woods at all. They can’t afford to relax now, especially with four games this week, three of them being at home.
The dreaded “first game back home after a long road trip” is tomorrow night vs. the Panthers. If that sounds familiar, the roles were reversed this past Thursday, when the Pens rolled to a 4-1 win in Sunrise after the Panthers had returned home. The Panthers got some bad news today, however. Young center Nathan Horton is out 2-4 weeks with a broken finger.
Possibly one of the most difficult games for the Penguins to prepare for this week is Thursday night in Columbus. Playing a Western Conference team that you have relatively no history with may not bode well for a team that needs to keep the momentum going.
The weekend will have back to back tough matinee tasks at home, as the Penguins start their eight-game homestand. Saturday the Pens will host Ottawa, and Sunday the Boston Bruins will visit the Igloo. While I don’t believe the Pens will have any problem getting up for either of those games, they certainly haven’t enjoyed the day games this year.
It’s sure looking like it may go right down to the final week for all of these teams. Let’s just hope the coaching change and the new acquisitions will lead the Pens back into the playoffs.
Filed in: Pittsburgh Penguins | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
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