The Pittsburgh Penguins have three really difficult games ahead this week.
The Pittsburgh Penguins did their part to salvage the Pittsburgh sports weekend by not only beating the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night, but by also outscoring the local football team. So there is that to hang your hat on.
It was a much-needed win for the Penguins, and one that they quite frankly should have been able to get. That Blackhawks team is awful, and it is especially awful without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar in the lineup. Turning that game into a laugher was the only acceptable outcome.
The Penguins did that.
There were also a lot of positive developments about it.
Justin Brazeau’s hat trick and Anthony Mantha’s multiple-point game were big results because it showed they can at least make some sort of an impact when Evgeni Malkin is not centering them.
The Kid Line pushed play — again — at an impressive rate.
They built a big early lead and not only added to it, they held on to it relatively smoothly.
There was, however, still something a little funny about them giving up a last second goal, even in a game that they won comfortably. Old habits, I guess.
Either way, they have now won two out of three games since that eight-game losing streak and now face a pretty tough schedule over the next three games.
It begins on Tuesday night with a big divisional game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina has been a brutal matchup for the Penguins in recent years, and they usually find themselves getting worn down territorially, unable to score, and eventually losing a 3-1 game that is not anywhere near as close as the final score indicates. The Penguins have won just three of their past 14 games against the Hurricanes, and this particular Hurricanes team plays the same brand of hockey with the same deep lineup that has produced those one-sided results against the Penguins.
The Hurricanes have the fourth-best points percentage in the NHL, the best points percentage in the Eastern Conference and, once again, have some of the most dominant underlying possession metrics in the league. They are in the top-three in expected goals share, scoring chance share, high-danger scoring chance share and shot attempt share during 5-on-5 play. They just dominate the puck, own it, and grind you down. It is going to be a major test for the Penguins defense.
The only thing the Penguins might have going for them is the schedule benefit.
While the Penguins have Monday off, the Hurricanes are playing at home against the New York Rangers and will be traveling to Pittsburgh after the game. It will also be Carolina’s third game in four days. Maybe you can catch them tired.
After that the Penguins get a home-and-home with a really interesting Detroit Red Wings team.
The Red Wings have put themselves in a pretty good position to potentially end their nine-year playoff drought. But it is still a team that has its share of flaws. They are extraordinarily top-heavy with a great core at the top, but not much else around them.
Nowhere is this more obvious than on their defense.
Their top-pairing of Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson is as good as any defense pairing in the NHL. When those two are on the ice together the Red Wings dominate play like a Stanley Cup contender, outscoring teams by a 28-19 margin and tilting the ice at a Hurricanes-like level.
When neither of them is on the ice? The Red Wings are outscored 30-48 and get dominated territorially. You have to pounce against their second-and third-pairings. Even then it might not be enough given how good the first pairing is.
(Those numbers via Natural Stat Trick)
It is a similar story at forward where Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin are doing pretty much all of the heavy lifting. Those three players have combined for 51 of the team’s 123 goals.
Those are also massive games in the standings, given that the Red Wings could end up as a team on that wild-card bubble at sone point.
These are not going to be easy games, and it feels like another week that could ultimately push the Penguins season in a particular direction. Get four or six points out of it and you are still in the thick of the playoff race. Get swept and end up with zero or one point and you really start to know for sure you are out of it.
Category: General Sports
