Few weeks into NHL season, Penguins on a New Mission
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
When a new season arrives, new achievements are reached but only one goal remains the same: win the Stanley Cup again. That is how the Pittsburgh Penguins are treating this season. The past is the past and are living in the present. It seems to be working so far because they are 6-2-1 with 13 points and sit in first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Sidney Crosby missed the first 6 games of the season. In his 3 games played, he has 4 goals and 1 assist. The other top tier players on the team have been playing exceptionally well. Evgeni Malkin has 5 goals and 5 assists, Phil Kessel has 3 goals and 6 assists, and Patric Hornqvist has 3 goals and 5 assists.
As for the defenseman, that is another story. It is by far the weakest link on this team. Other than Kris Letang, who is currently injured right now, who is really that good on this team? I have told people last year Ian Cole, Brian Dumoulin and a couple others played over their heads in the postseason. They aren't off to a hot start this year. Trevor Daley is off to a good start.
Olli Maatta seems to be getting burned every time he is on defense. I saw a rumor recently that a trade could be in the works to acquire defenseman Jacob Trouba from Winnipeg for Olli Maatta. I would be all for it, but I don't think it will happen.
David Warsofsky has played really well as a defenseman. He knows where to go in his zone and he doesn't over pursuit. I feel like at times some of our wingers are better defenseman at times than the actual defenseman themselves.
Marc-Andre Fleury has a 6-2-1 record with a 3.09 GAA and .906 save percentage. The GAA is a little high because his defense leaves him in the dust most of the time, trying to bail them out. Fleury has to make these acrobatic saves to keep them in games. Forget the stats, he is one of the reasons why this team is good.
That being said, I have thought at times this team has given up on him, but that isn't the case. Their offense is too powerful for them not to be helping him out. Matt Murray has yet to play in a game this year because of a thumb injury, but expect to see him a lot in net in November.
Mike Sullivan has this team heading down the right direction once again.
