Faceoff Factor

The Pens At the 30-Game Point

Mike Adams | Inside The Numbers

Dec 12, 11:08 AM | Hype this story!

I break the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season into 5-game segments and compare them to where they stood last year. Here is how things look at the 30-game mark.

Record
2007-08: 15-13-2, 32 pts
2006-07: 14-11-5, 33 pts
Net: -1

The Pens continue to hang about even with last year’s pace, which is actually a very bad sign. There is no way they will be able to equal their second-half pace of last season. To make up for that, they needed to be well ahead of last year in the first half of this year. They’re not. Here’s another interesting tidbit to show how their fortunes have turned for the worse. Last night, in Game 30, they got slaughtered by the Flyers, 8-2, with two hat tricks against them. Last season, in Game 30, they killed the Flyers 8-4 and Sid had a 6-point night.

Goals for
2007-08: 88
2006-07: 96
Net: -8

They continue to sputter offensively. Even during this recent win streak, they averaged only 3 goals a game, and two of those goals were awarded because they won shootouts.

Goals allowed
2007-08: 88
2006-07: 97
Net: -9

Conversely, the defense has improved by about an equal amount. This could bode well come playoff time if they can keep it up.

Power play
2007-08: 30/142, 21.1%
2006-07: 32/179, 17.9%
Net: +3.2%

The power play percentage is way up, but they actually have less power play goals. This is a result of the striped buffoons calling less penalties overall in the league and other teams being very leery of taking penalties against the Pens. But the power play has, for the most part done a good job so far this year, though I’m not sure it is actually meeting expectations.

Penalty kill
2007-08: 115/143, 80.4%
2006-07: 142/175, 81.1%
Net: -0.7%

The penalty kill has been brutal the last 15 games, at 78.4 percent. Of course, included in that are two games against the Flyers where they gave up 4 power play goals in each. There is no other word for this than “embarrassing.”

Shorthanded goals For/Against
2007-08: 3/2
2006-07: 6/6
Net: +1

Where have all the shorties gone? Yes, Jordan Staal, I’m talking to you. But they are doing a much better job at preventing them, mainly because last year at this time, Mark Recchi was on the point giving up a shorty a game.

Special teams Action Rating*
2007-08: 102.2
2006-07: 99.1
Net: +3.1

The special teams overall are improved over last year, and and this number reflects that.

Even strength +/-
2007-08: -3
2006-07: +1
Net: -4

This team continues to struggle at even strength, and that is not a good sign. The goalscoring needs to improve, because this is never going to be anything more than a mediocre defensive team. If it does not, the playoffs are a long shot.

Division Record:

2007-08: 3-8-1, .292
2006-07: 10-4-2, .688

I am adding this one because, as I said in the game grades, if you don’t have a winning record in your division, you don’t make the playoffs. Last year, even as the Pens hovered near .500 at the 30-game point, they were dominant in their division. This year, the exact opposite is true. The good news is that their schedule this season is really backloaded with division games, so they have some time to get their act together.