Pens rely on big stars to beat Flyers

Pittsburgh managed to eventually beat the Flyers in Saturday nights game against their rivals in what was a pretty eventful game that finished 5-4. This is Pittsburgh's first of a four game road trip and they relied heavily on their stars showing up to offset the defensive frailties shown across the team.

Being completely honest, the Flyers had most of the chances in this game and should really have won and they would have were it not for an apathetic performance from Mason and their defence. In full honesty, Fleury as awful for the Penguins as well. He looked very uncomfortable and wasn't sure of his decision making at a number of times.

Sidney Crosby had a huge game continuing his superb start to the season with two goals within 43 seconds of each other in the first half. His two goals were part of a quick three goal burst in around 55 seconds that completely turned the game around in Pittsburgh's favour. They were 2-0 down after a rough start with some poor plays by Fleury with an errant poke check and defensive positioning.

Matt Cullen has continued his good start, capitalising off a poor attempt at a save by Mason at the side of the net. Cullen is a quick player and his quick instincts allowed him to wrap the puck around the net for a 3-2 lead. But perhaps the biggest moment and event of the game was Malkin converting his 300th NHL goal in his 653rd game. He is only the sixth Penguin to score 300 or more goals with the team after Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, Kehoe and Pronovost.

This was a statement by the Penguins offence and the ability to come back from behind, shown against the Sharks as well. But there are still questions hanging over the defence and in particular, Fleury. They need answering.

This was meant to be up yesterday but I had internet problems.

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Penguins head to Philadelphia

The Penguins are travelling across the state to Philadelphia for tomorrows opening season rivalry match-up against the Flyers. This is the first of a four game road trip for the Penguins who head off to South California afterwards to face the Ducks, Kings and Sharks.

The Penguins are heading into the game after a competitive win over the Islanders, 3-2. The Penguins dominated on the man advantage throughout the game and capitalised on poor defensive setups by the Islanders. Crosby is showing no signs of rust through his first two games finishing with a goal and an assist. On the other side of the state Philadelphia go into this game having lost 3 of their last 5 games with the most recent being a 5-4 loss against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

With Crosby back and the top two lines shuffled around the Penguins will need them to link and continue the good play shown against the Islanders. Crosby is riding a five game goal scoring streak dating back to the end of the 2015-16 regular season. He has already had a 7 game streak in early January. The Crosby line had 14 shots between them so that kind of pressure will be big.

Discipline is something that is lacking in the team. Malkin has been a prominent member at fault of this, committing weak penalties at key junctures in the game. The Penguins used to get in all sorts of trouble in rivalry games but under Sullivan they have improved. So far this season the Penguins are fourth in penalties conceded with 38. The penalty kill has not been good and currently sits at 80.0%. Philadelphia's powerplay is 5th best in the league at 26.5%. Staying out the box will be key.

Fleury has been announced as the starter and his record against Philadelphia in Wells Fargo isn't great, a SV% of .903% through 20 games and a GAA of 2.87. That isn't good and so far this season Fleury hasn't been as comfortable as he usually is. Steve Mason is likely to play tonight and has had a rough start to the season posting a .886SV% and 3.15 GAA. Shot volume on Mason is needed, to pressure Mason.

Tonights game starts at 7:00pm and the next match between the two is on the 26th February at Heinz Field as part of the Stadium Series.

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Cullen leading the Penguins early on

Matt Cullen currently leads the Penguins early on and is showing no sign of age slowing him down. Cullen was a superb signing last season on a one year contract for just $800k. He proved to be one of the most value for money signings in the league. Cullen returned after much deliberation over potential retirement and has so far show that his cap hit of $1m. A raise of $200k is absolutely deserved. Cullen is the fourth line player that Dan Bylsma wished Craig Adams was.

Cullen is 40 on November the 2nd and is currently leading the Penguins on scoring with 5 points in 6 games. Obviously, this is very early in the season with only 7% of games completed so far for the Penguins. But, the signs are encouraging and he may well taper off as the season grows due to the physicality, but he didn't last year. Last year 22 of his 32 points came from January onwards.

It is an interesting case as to why Matt Cullen is doing so well for the Penguins. I think if the Penguins were so deep at center, he could play on the third line. Speed isn't an issue for Cullen, shown best in the Penguins 3-1 win in Game 3 of the playoffs. Cullen stripped the defender of the puck and raced past to bury a shot through Lundqvist's 5 hole.

Cullen has been a superb possession driven player this season and through 6 games he has a CF% above 50% in five of them, three are at 70% and above. That includes the 5-1 humiliation against Nashville previously. The only game were Cullen struggled was the season opener. Outside of that, he has helped create a number of chances and part of this is down to his 59.6 FO%. He currently leads the Penguins in this regards, ahead of even Malkin who is fourth on 49.1%.

Hopefully Cullen continues his good play and whilst he will almost certainly see a drop in production if he can keep his off the puck play at the same level, he will be a real asset again. Cullen only need to score more than 22 points to have the most as a 40+ player for the Penguins, beating even what Lemieux set.  Although, to be fair, that was only through 26 games. But with the way he is going Cullen could beat that. Who knows, maybe he returns next year?

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Pens celebrate banner raise with SO win over Caps

Four months after winning the franchises fourth Stanley Cup the Penguins players finally got to witness the banner being raised above the newly named PPG Paints Arena Ice. The banner joins the three others although, rather annoyingly, not in chronological order. Barry Trotz mentioned that the Caps would either watch from the bench or their room and as they were nowhere to be seen, we can assume they watched with jealousy from their locker room.

With the Washington Nationals being eliminated from the MLB play-offs on the same night, the Capitals were hoping to give Washington something to cheer. They started brightly and scored the first goal of the game just 56 seconds in through Andre Burakovsky when he fired through Fleury's traditional five hole weakspot.

The Capitals were ineffective on the extra man and twice failed to convert before Patric Hornqvist scored a tipped shot from the blue line from Letang. Washington originally appealed for a high-stick but it was given after a review. Malkin scored his first goal of the season shortly after and Burakovsky tied it late in the third to send it to a shoot-out.

Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin both went high on Holtby, whilst Letang went low. All three scored with Nick Bonino missing on the first shot. The Capitals ran the Penguins close with TJ Oshie, the best at the penalty shootout in the game and Nicklas Backstrom both extending it. Following Kessel's goal, which had to be reviewed as it was originally thought you have hit the post and stayed out, Fleury stood tall to prevent Ovie.

This was a strong win without Crosby and Ovechkin had a particularly poor game extending his pointless streak in Pittsburgh to 6 games. He had his usual number of shots on goal but failed to produce. Both goalies stood strong but Fleury had the larger workload, stopping 39 of the Capitals 41 shots. The Penguins play Anaheim on Saturday, hopefully Crosby will be back.

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Penguins claim Condon off Waivers

Today is the final day before the season begins tomorrow and the Pittsburgh Penguins made a move in acquiring Mike Condon from the Montreal Canadiens, who they will play next week, on waivers. In response to this the Penguins sent down Tristan Jarry to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. This makes sense really when you think about it. Jarry needs playing time and if he remained with the Penguins whilst Murray was injured he would likely spend most of it on the bench whilst Fleury played.

Mike Condon is on a one-way contract valued at $575k for this year.  Next season he will be an unattached free agent and should Fleury be moved it is possible he returns as a back-up to Murray. Condon stepped in for Carey Price when he was injured and performed well to begin with but the demands of the role became more apparent later on and he regressed to a 2.71 GAA and .903SV% by seasons end through 55 games.

When Murray returns from his injury you can expect that Condon will be sent through on waivers to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and should he pass them he will become one of their top goalies. He will have to battle against Jarry, Maguire and DeSmith however. Musical Goalies.

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Three things to hope for this season

The season is nearly upon us with the banner raising against the Capitals a fine way to open the season as we start our defence of the cup. Pittsburgh are aiming to become the first team since the 1998 Detroit Red Wings to repeat as cup champions. Unlike most teams after winning a cup the  Penguins have kept their core together and only lost Ben Lovejoy and Jeff Zatkoff. This season will be fine to watch and I have highlighted three things to hope for this season if the Penguins are to do well, as many have predicted.

1. Crosby continues his good form and performances under Sullivan

Before Mike Sullivan was brought in Crosby was struggling heavily under Mike Johnston and was not producing anywhere near the expected rate. This was mostly due to the defensive and passive style system that Johnston implemented which nullified offense. After Johnston was canned the speed and skill based system implemented by Sullivan saw a rapid change and the return of a dominant Crosby, feared by all defences. 

Under Johnston Crosby was kept to a poultry 19 points in 28 games whilst under Sullivan he improved to 66 points in the following 52 games and managed to finish over a point per game. Crosby really benefited from the change in system. Crosby is one of the best at quick decisions and he has superb vision. With a fast team others took longer to react giving him an edge. This season he will hopefully continue his performances under Sullivan and, barring injuries, I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit 100 points again.

Typically, after posting this he was diagnosed with a concussion. Lets hope it is a minor injury and just a precaution.

2. The likes of Sheary, Rust and Kuhnhackl take the next step in their game

Pittsburgh really benefited from their young players stepping up when it mattered, especially when they were so unknown which I think really surprised teams. They just couldn't cope with them and when you have confidence, as they did, you can do anything.

With the last season now history they will need to adapt their game as the Penguins speed and skill with be copied across the league. They will need to prove that they're not just flash in the pans either as there are players waiting in the wings to take the chance should it come to them.

3. Matt Murray gets a solid number of games to showcase himself

Matt Murray unfortunately came back from the World Cup of Hockey with a broken hand which means he won't start the season and Tristan Jarry will deputise. However, his injury should only see him miss a short amount of time and he will be able to come back with plenty of the season left.

I want to see Murray face a larger number of games this season, nearer the 40 mark, to see if he is able to replace Fleury as the starter. Fleury shouldn't be a Penguin after this season if we want to keep Murray and this will be the season where Murray needs to stake his claim. He had a good number of games last season when Fleury was out with concussion but I'd like to see him repeat that form, showing it isn't a run of luck.

This season starts on Thursday with the banner raising ceremony against Washington and whilst we will be without Matt Murray and Sidney Crosby, we should be a strong bet to win.

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Jake Guentzel impressing in pre-season

The Penguins are nearly finished with their pre-season ahead of the cup raising banner match against the Washington Capitals on October 13th. A few players, namely Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist and Hagelin have only just returned from the World Cup of Hockey so will finally be taking to the ice tomorrow. That has given the younger players a chance to impress and potentially take an open spot for the seasons start.

Tristan Jarry has been receiving a lot of praise and has been chosen to be the Penguins back-up goalie whilst Matt Murray recovers from his hand injury. However, another young player impressing is Jake Guentzel, the Penguins drafted him in the third round in 2013. With Bryan Rust suffering from injuries that could rule him out for the start of the season, there is a spot for a few games there.

Guentzel was fantastic for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins down the stretch last season three years at the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he scored 119 points in 108 games. In just 11 regular season and 10 playoff games in the AHL last season Guentzel showcased his impressive attacking talents.

Pre-season games aren't the best barometer of performance, nor are they inducive of guaranteed success for a player. However, they can show the talent a player has and the improvements they have made in their game. Guentzel can play both Center and Left Wing and whilst the Penguins are stacked at center, they're not blessed on the Left hand side.

Guentzel is going to play tomorrow night against Detroit in the first game at the newly branded, PPG Paints Arena. He could play on any line and whilst there is no indication of who he could play with at this moment in time, the best line would be the HBK line. The well vaulted line became popular but I would like to see Kessel with Crosby more long-term and if Guentzel is able to fit in on the left hand side, he could solve the problem of a replacement.

Pittsburgh will get injuries throughout the season, it is part and parcel of our seasons so I think we can be very confident in seeing Guentzel coming up at some point this season when the opportunity present itself, for now, I expect at most he will get a game or two before being sent down for Wilkes-Barres Season to continue his development.

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