Could Tonight Spark Penguins Turnaround?

Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jan 5, 01:02 PM | Hype this story!

Speculation is a tough thing to deal with. In the past weeks, we’ve read and listened to discussions pertaining to trades, new coaches, dismal power-plays, frustrated super-stars, locker-room dissension and the absolute vilification of Sidney Crosby by members of the media.

Welcome to a losing streak. Have a seat, your rant number is 63, and we’ll be calling you shortly.

I don’t need to sit and try to rationalize or explain what’s wrong with the Penguins. It’s been discussed to death. You, the readers of this site, have your own eyes. You have seen it just as I have.

That said; let’s look at tonight’s game with a bit of intrigue. After all, this is the first time in a long time that the Penguins have been on the outside looking in, currently sitting at ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

What we know is that the Rangers have only won 1 of their last 5 games, that single win coming against the lowly Islanders, and a 5-4 win at that.

But we also know that the Penguins have been playing well on the road recently. The hometown crowd is a little bit upset right now, and typically you play a loose, simplistic style on the road anyway. The time away from Mellon could serve them well. They’ve got a mini-road streak coming up after tomorrow’s game against Atlanta, visiting Nashville, Colorado and then Philadelphia.

We also know that the Rangers don’t score many goals, and that they don’t play a buck-wild style of offense. In fact, the Rangers are fairly similar to the Penguins in terms of style of play. When the Rangers play it’s often a boring, low-scoring game that is decided in-between the pipes.

Considering what happened with Sidney Crosby on Saturday, and noting the energy the Penguins took the ice with against Florida, I’m deeming this Monday the start of the turnaround for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Take a look at the schedule. If the Penguins can get a victory tonight in New York, they play an easily winnable game against Atlanta tomorrow night at home. They then go on the road, where they’ve been playing their best hockey, and face off against Nashville and Colorado. Both teams have struggled mightily this season and are fighting to stay above the .500 mark. With a bit of confidence, the Penguins have the chance to string together a few wins before they dance with the Flyers and Capitals next week.

The Rangers, who are seven points ahead of the Penguins, have escaped with two points in the last two meetings between the teams despite the Penguins having late leads.

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can right the ship. Rock bottom was Saturday afternoon.

If what happened in the late second period is an indication, Sidney Crosby will be up to his old Broadway tricks for the Penguins tonight.

With the way the schedule shakes out, I’d watch this game closely, it could be the start of a nice run for the Penguins.

Comments

  1. Chris

    Jan 5, 01:50 PM

    Jesse I sure hope you’re right. I thought that four-game block right before playing Montreal and Boston was going to be it. Maybe now is the time … we can only hope. You’ve got to love TK with Sid and Dupuis. Those are three players that play the game fast. Hopefully that’l provide a spark.

  2. Jon

    Jan 5, 01:59 PM

    Fleury really needs to step it up as well. I feel that he tends to get a free pass sometimes, but he’s been pretty awful. Yeah, the defense in front of him hasn’t been stellar, but a franchise goalie should be able to rise above that more often than not. Steve Mason has a better GAA and save % and he doesn’t exactly have stellar D in front of him. I’ve never really been convinced Fleury is a go to guy, and he’s not helping his case this season. Even Mike Smith has a better GAA and save %! Hopefully its just a case of not having confidence in the guys in front of him. If I was Fleury, I wouldn’t either.

  3. Jesse Marshall

    Jan 5, 02:22 PM

    Chris – I think the first line now features the three hardest working players on the team. That could be our recipe for success.

    Jon – I agree. We could have beaten Montreal save his soft goal and he didn’t do the job against Florida either. Hopefully staring at Lundqvist on the other side will motivate him.

  4. Chris

    Jan 5, 02:50 PM

    Jesse, I also agree that Fleury needs to be better but I think it’s unfair to pin the Montreal loss on him. Sure, if he hadn’t let in that softy they would have won. But if all five penguins skaters on the ice for the first two hadn’t been playing tom thumb everyone stare at the puck hockey then they would have won too.

    Fleury shouldn’t get a “free pass” but he also shouldn’t be singled out for blame in losses where the rest of the team plays like crap. Let’s not forget the fact that the team only scored 1 goal against Florida.

  5. Brandon

    Jan 5, 03:11 PM

    Chris the team however only allowed 5 shots in the first period, and none of them were “prime” scoring chances, while Fleury only stopped 3 of them. Playing hockey all my life and now coaching it I can tell you that a soft goal on a struggling team trying to get going can really take the life out of a team and the Pens gave up tons on Saturday.

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