The Penguins have seemingly gotten off to a rocky start after some very questionable losses. On October 5th, the Pens were absolutely thrashed by Chicago 10-1 following an overtime loss on opening night to the Blues. They rebounded quickly and rattled off two wins to bring their record even at 2-2. After another few games including a few good overtime wins, the Penguins fell yet again with a football-type score 7-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 21st. Both massive losses came on starts by Antti Niemi who was picked up in the summer to replace the void left by Marc-Andre Fleury who departed for the Las Vegas Golden Knights. After going 0-3 in three games played, Niemi was placed on waivers and he was promptly claimed by the Florida Panthers. Niemi was pathetic in his three starts and that is an understatement but to his defence, the Penguins defense is mediocre in general but it always seems to catch the injury bug.
Every year seems to be the march of the Penguins defensemen to the trainer’s office at their training facility in Cranberry. With lots of defensive issues and the loss of Kris Letang last year, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. When a few defensmen go down in October that is hardly cause for panic in the 412. The Penguins have been resilient. Through injury and difficulty, they always find ways to win in spite of whatever stands in their way. With struggles by their former backup goaltender, and some very embarrassing defeats, the Penguins have still managed to emerge as the top team in the Atlantic Division. The Pens have found a way to stay afloat again. Their scoring is being led by Evgeni Malkin with 3 goals and 8 assists. Sidney Crosby leads the team with 5 goals. The Penguins are getting points from their goal scorers; Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel and solid performances from Matt Murray in net. Though embarrassing routs by Tampa Bay and Chicago may reflect negatively on the team as they defend back to back Stanley Cups, this team has the talent and experience to compete for a third consecutive championship this spring. To the passerby or casual fan, it may seem that there is cause for alarm but, defensive assistant coach Jacques Martin has stitched together a subpar defense core full of holes and the offensive talent and teamwork. Their offensive ability is overwhelming. They still have a hunger to reach the top. They show no signs of slowing down even with two short summers filled with celebrations with Lord Stanley’s cup. A few hiccups along the way are part of any team’s season.
Looking ahead, they have a fairly favorable schedule against a few Western Conference teams which should help to boost their lead over the second place New Jersey Devils though the Devils currently have two games in hand. The Penguins ability to throw young players into the starting lineup and get great production from them as they have from players like Carter Rowney, Jake Guentzel, and Tom Kuhnhackl. The Penguins minor league affiliate, The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins deserve a ton of credit for developing countless up and coming talents into game-ready skaters ready to make an impact from the day they arrive. The Penguins ability to capitalize on their young talent and reestablish themselves as the team to beat in the East even with huge targets on their backs that come with winning the last two Cups. The Penguins should try to make this count but everyone knows that the team that catches fire towards the end of the year is the team that will come out on top. The Penguins continue to carry on despite huge losses in Nick Bonino, Chris Kunitz and Marc-Andre Fleury. They also said goodbye to Trevor Daly and Mark Streit among others. This team is perfectly equipped to roll with the punches of a rigorous season.
