The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the most successful expansion teams in the National Hockey League’s storied history. The team entered the league in 1967, when the NHL doubled in size from six teams to a dozen, and they have won five Stanley Cup championships. They barely escaped bankruptcy in 1999, but they came back to win three championships after that financial calamity. They won in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and remain a powerful force in the Eastern Conference, although their play has waned a bit this season. At this point in the 2019-20 campaign, Pittsburgh sits in third place in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind the young Philadelphia Flyers and five points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. However, the Penguins had dropped seven of ten when the league paused its season due to coronavirus concerns. The defense is having issues, and the offense is showing a little inconsistency. Could the unexpected break help the Penguins figure things out? It’s possible, and it’s hard to ever rule the Penguins out of playoff contention. If NHL futures are part of your sports betting, check out our thoughts on this Eastern Conference power.
NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins 2019-20 Season Analysis
If Pittsburgh makes the playoffs, that would give them 14 consecutive postseason berths, which would be the longest active streak in the league. One contributing factor to the team’s inconsistency is a total of 302 man-games lost as a result of injuries. Sidney Crosby, the team captain and the hub of the offense, has missed 28 games. Center Evgeni Malkin has missed 14, and forward Jake Guentzel has missed 30. In 2018-19, those three players were three of the four top scorers on the team, combining for 248 points, with 96 goals.
Offensive Analysis
Forward Bryan Rust, who was part of the team for the Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, has amped up his game and is having his best season as an NHL player. He already has set a career high with 27 goals. His assist total (29) and point total (56) are also both career bests as well. The offense has also benefited from the play of defenseman John Marino. Despite being a rookie, has contributed 26 points, with six goals, second among the Penguin blueliners to Kris Letang. Marino was brought in after injuries to Justin Schultz and Brian Dumoulin and has acquitted himself nicely.
Defensive Analysis
The goaltending in Pittsburgh was a concern this year. Matt Murray, who had been a stalwart in net during the Penguins’ Stanley Cup runs, did not have a good start to the year. Tristan Jarry came on and has played well, starting 31 games and playing in 33, posting a 20-12-1 record with a .921 save percentage, a 2.43 goals against average and three shutouts. For most of 2018-19, he was in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Murray has rebounded nicely to give the Penguins a serviceable tandem.
Key Numbers & Key Players
The Penguins have gotten key contributions from a lot of new names as well. Forward Brandon Tanev has 25 points in 68 games. Jared McCann has put up 35 points in 66 games. Teddy Blueger posted 22 points in 69 games. Evgeni Malkin, after a drop in 2018-19, leads the Penguins with 74 points (including 25 goals) in 55 games played. That is already more points than he posted in all of last season. Sidney Crosby has only played in 41 games due to an extended absence for core muscle surgery. He has 47 points, with 16 goals, in 41 games overall. Since he came back from surgery in January, he has 30 points, with 11 goals.
Playoffs panorama and Championship Odds
The Penguins currently have +2200 odds to win the Stanley Cup. Some of this has to do with their slide in the ten games before the league went dark. It is somewhat concerning that, even after the return of Crosby to the lineup, the team took off briefly but then has entered an extended downturn. Pittsburgh would face Philadelphia in the first round if the postseason began today, and the young Flyers might have the skill and the hunger to knock off their in-state rivals in the first round.
