The Pittsburgh Penguins sit 14 points away from a wild card spot in the playoffs with 22 games (as of March 7) to go. This season has been a struggle for the Penguins, they are 28-24-8 and haven’t made themselves much of a threat to opposing teams. The Penguins have won five of their last 10 games losing three straight to playoff caliber teams. The team has lacked in almost everything this season, they have lacked in every aspect of the game. Their defense is aging fast with 36 year old Kris Letang and 33 year old Erik Karlsonn who, earlier in the season, scored on their own empty net.
The Pens have especially lacked on the power play; the power play is a term for when there is a five vs four on the ice due to a penalty on the opposing team. The Penguins rank 29th in the league on power play with a 14.6% in efficiency with 199 opp (Power Play Opportunities). If you ever watched any of their games and have seen them on the powerplay, you would know how hard it is to watch. They struggle to execute on the powerplay and like to play an ice hockey equivalent of hot potato with the puck instead of shooting it.
Defense has been an issue for the Penguins, from individual efforts, to the entire defensive lines. The Penguins have let up eight shorthanded goals. Shorthanded goals are goals given up by the team with the man advantage on a power play. They’ve let up multiple third period comebacks, with lazy defensive efforts. On Saturday Mar. 2nd, the Penguins lost 4-3 after giving up a 2-1 lead in the third. The Flames scored three unanswered goals and capitalized on a Letang turnover to create a 3 on 1 scenario to win the game 4-3.
One thing that has been consistent for the Penguins are their Captain Sidney Crosby and their goalie Tristan Jarry. In sixty games played the 36 year old Crosby has amassed thirty-two goals, thirty-one assists, and sixty-three points. On the other side of the ice, Jarry has been playing lights out hockey in the past couple of games. This season, Jarry has eighteen wins in forty-two games played, a .910 save percentage and six shutouts. Sadly the Penguins struggles get put onto the goaltender, but most of the goals Jarry hasn’t been able to save haven’t been his fault and go back to the offense and defense of the Penguins.
