Faceoff Factor

Penguins Continue To Climb

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Dec 7, 12:05 PM | Hype this story!

After a less than stellar start to the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have put together a solid stretch of 10 games that is helping them climb the the ladder.

The following is a look at the Atlantic Division standings. Prior to last night, the Penguins sat in fifth place, but their shootout victory, the team moved into fourth place, and now sits just two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers.

Atlantic Division Standings
	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	GF	GA	H	A	Div	L 10	Streak
Philadelphia	26	15	9	2	32	80	72	6-3-2	9-6-0	5-3-1	5-3-2	1
New Jersey	27	15	10	2	32	71	66	7-4-0	8-6-2	5-6-2	8-2-0	8W
NY Rangers	28	15	11	2	32	64	61	9-6-0	6-5-2	8-4-0	5-4-1	2L
Pittsburgh	28	14	12	2	30	84	79	7-6-2	7-6-0	3-7-1	7-2-1	3W
NY Islanders	26	13	11	2	28	60	72	9-5-1	4-6-1	7-4-0	3-5-2	4L

To be fair, however, the Penguins have played in two more games than the Flyers and one more game than the Devils, thus skewing the stats slightly.

And, though the Flyers have cooled significantly, they continue to pick up points in a large percentage of games, as indicated by their 12 points in their previous 10 games. The Devils, conversely, have turned it on and regained traditional form with an eight-game winning streak, giving them 16 points in their previous 10 games.

With the way the Penguins are playing, they aren’t far out and, in fact, have the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, which would be good for the final playoff spot if the season was to end today.

Not too shabby for a team that appeared to have taken a step backward after an impressive season just a year ago.

Now, let’s take a look at how the Penguins compare to the rest of the NHL.

Below is a look at several stats I believe to be good indications of how the Penguins truly are playing.

The top row of the table shows the stat category and the Penguins’ number. Each subsequent row shows the Penguins’ rank and number of teams they are being compared with.

Penguins rank compared to their division, conference and the NHL
	PTS: 30	GF: 84	GA: 79	PP: 20.6%	PK: 81.0%
Atlantic Div.	4/5	1/5	5/5	2/5	4/5
Eastern Conf.	8/15	5/15	8/15	5/15	9/15
NHL	16/30	6/30	20/30	8/30	19/30

The points category already has been discussed above, so let’s move on.

As predicted prior to the season, goal scoring has not been a problem for the Penguins, despite what many perceive to be a lack of true scoring wingers. The fact is, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are doing more than enough to lead the Atlantic Division’s top offense, which ranks sixth in the entire league.

Sticking with offense, the power play also has been impressive, checking in at 20.6 percent. Lead by Sergei Gonchar, the NHL’s top offensive defenseman statistically, the Penguins rank eighth in the NHL. Interestingly, the Penguins have been blanked on the power play just four times this season.

Defensively, the Penguins have struggled a bit, but with solid performances both by the defense and the goaltenders, this is an area that certainly looks to be on the upswing, and is a big factor in the team’s recent success.

But, despite giving up the most goals in the Atlantic, and being ranked 20th in the NHL in this category, the Penguins sit at eighth in the Eastern Conference.

The penalty kill, successful 81 percent of the time, is almost identical to the goals-against stat. The Penguins are fourth in the division, ninth in the conference and 19th in the NHL. None of these numbers are worthy of showing pride, but, as mentioned earlier, the team is on an upswing, and this area certainly has been improving of late.

Overall, the Penguins certainly appear to be salvaging what certainly looked to be a lost season.

Typically, teams should strive to be in the top 16 of each category mentioned above, as 16 teams make the playoffs.

With players such as Kristopher Letang and Tyler Kennedy emerging as solid contributors at both ends of the ice, the present, as well as the future, bodes well.

But, maybe more importantly, Crosby and Malkin quickly have become the NHL’s best one-two punch, and Jordan Staal has regained his groove on a hybrid checking-scoring third line, providing a third line that keeps the opposition on their heels.

And, with Marc-Andre Fleury posing as a brick wall and the defense posing as the Devils’ defense, scoring on the Penguins in recent games has been a problem for most teams.

Things are looking up, but as was said many timed during the early slump, the season is 82 games long, and, while a successfully 10-game stretch is nice, it does not tell the whole story.

The marathon is two-thirds over, but the Penguins definitely are coming into stride.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy what promises to be an entertaining 54 games.