The Pittsburgh Penguins, after fourteen games, are 10-3-1 and holding on to the number one spot in the Metropolitan Division and number three in the Eastern Conference. Until the match against the New York Rangers, the Pens were holding on to a couple of good looking streaks; a seven game win streak, a thirty nine consecutive penalty kill streak. A large reason for the great play is thanks to captain Sidney Crosby and some third line thunder from Brandon Sutter, Blake Comeau and Steve Downie.
On Saturday night, against the Buffalo Sabres, Crosby may not have put any pucks in the net but was a huge help in the 6-1 victory. Captain Crosby had five assists, the third time in his career he has been able to achieve such a stat. Crosby was also named the NHL’s second star of October, finishing the month with seven goals and eight assists putting him in a three way tie with Dallas’s Tyler Seguin and Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek for the NHL points lead. Since then Crosby has blown away and is leading the league in points with twenty-four.
The third line of Sutter, Downie and Comeau have had a pretty good spark the past few games. Combined the three have twenty-three points with nine goals to show for themselves. Downie, however, has spent a lot of time in the penalty box (fifty-six minutes to be exact) but that is what we signed him for. He was signed to be the guy that is not afraid of getting his hands dirty and protecting his teammates. As long as he can perform when he is on the ice then he should prove to be a good choice for the Pens to sign him, and so far so good.
Despite a tough shutout loss to the New York Rangers, the Penguins look good and should be in good shape if everyone can stay healthy and perform well. The Pens wrap up their five game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday November 14.