Penguins in a Battle

It sure was heartening to see our Penguins stave off the Rangers Sunday afternoon in a rousing 6-5 scoring duel to kick off Hockey Day in America. It marked the black-and-gold’s third win in four games…one that at least temporarily vaulted them back into a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

But make no mistake…our boys are in a battle. And, as I’d noted a couple of weeks earlier, the playoffs are anything but a sure bet.

I’m especially concerned about our defense…or lack of. The Pens haven’t allowed less than 30 shots on goal in a game since a 5-2 loss to San Jose on January 15. Since that time, they’ve yielded an average of 36.6 shots per 60 minutes. Overall, they’ve yielded 33.6 shots on goal per game…fourth most in the league.

Broadening the scope, we’ve yielded a staggering 2908 shot attempts in five-on-five play. Only the rebuilding Senators have allowed more.

Factor in the countless breakaways and odd-man breaks against, goalies Matt Murray and Casey DeSmith are facing down a veritable blizzard of rubber, not to mention sustained pressure on a nightly basis.

While our success has never been predicated on defense, that’s way too much shot activity, never mind all the pucks trickling past Murray and DeSmith of late.

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