One Month to go, Pittsburgh Can Play at Higher Level
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
With one month to go before the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins need to get hot at the right time, like they did last season. They have 21 games remaining on the schedule, and they are 38-15-8 this season with 84 points.
If the season ended right now, they would be the number three seed in the Metro Division and face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round. Pittsburgh has scored 213 goals and given up 171 so far this season.
They also have looked better on the road lately, and they are still a dominate team at home.
Sidney Crosby has scored 34 goals and 33 assists so far this season. Evgeni Malkin has 26 goals and 36 assists so far this season. Phil Kessel has 21 goals and 35 assists so far this season.
Justin Schultz is the fourth leading point scorer on Pittsburgh with 39 points ( 9 goals and 30 assists). He has play solid defense all year long. He also does a solid on the power-play passing the puck to teammates and also shooting it as well.
Kris Letang seems to get hurt too much now. Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley are also injured and out for six weeks. That opened door for them to acquire Ron Hainsey from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Conor Sheary will probably return from his injury soon. Bryan Rust will probably miss the rest of the regular season.
Jake Guentzel is starting to find his legs at the NHL level. In 24 games played, he has 7 goals and 8 assists.
It looks like the Pittsburgh Penguins will probably hold on Marc-Andre Fleury for the rest of the season. Fleury has a 15-7-5 record with a 3.16 GAA and a .906 save percentage. Matt Murray has a 23-8-3 record with a 2.29 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
They have a 21.7% rate on the power play, which is 8th best in the NHL. They are 20th in the NHL on the penalty kill with a 80.2% rate.
Pittsburgh knows they can still play at a high level so they can defend their championship from last season.
