All good things eventually come to an end. In the case of the Pittsburgh Penguins, their winning streak failed to reach 16 games as the Buffalo Sabres won at home by a score of 4-1.
Now that their streak is officially a thing of the past, it's time to look back and marvel at what the Penguins were able to accomplish.
Hockey analysts and fans will surely debate which streak in 2013 was more impressive, Pittsburgh's 15-game win streak or Chicago's 24-game point streak. That's a debate that really has no right answer, but let's stop for a second and give Pittsburgh the credit they deserve.
The Penguins lost on February 28th to Carolina by a score of 4-1. Following that defeat, the Penguins rattled off 15 consecutive victories before falling on April 2nd to the Sabres by an identical score of 4-1. Between the two losses, the Penguins won every single game during the month of March. Of these 15 victories, five came on the road while 10 were in front of their home crowd.
During Pittsburgh's streak, the team scored 53 goals while allowing just 26. The Penguins posted four shutouts during their run and had five games where they limited the opponent to just one goal.
Sidney Crosby shined during the stretch, scoring 25 points in 15 games. In the team's final win of their streak against the Islanders, Crosby took a puck in the mouth that forced him to miss the club's game against Buffalo. That's right, this is all Crosby's fault. In all seriousness, Crosby was one of the biggest catalysts behind the team's run, along with Chris Kunitz (20 points in 15 games), James Neal (12 points in 15 games), Tomas Vokoun (7-0-0, 1.43 GAA) and Marc-Andre Fleury (8-0-0, 1.97 GAA).
As if Pittsburgh's victories out on the ice weren't enough, the Penguins also made plenty of noise by "winning" Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames. Yes, the Penguins traded and had to give up some resources, but the method in which the Penguins swooped in at the final moment to grab Iginla away from the Boston Bruins was a big victory for the organization.
Oh, and the Penguins added Brenden Morrow during their streak, as if you needed yet another positive to point to in the month of March.
How will the Penguins follow up their 15-game run of dominance? Honestly, the only thing that will satisfy them at this point would be a Stanley Cup. Whether they end up taking home the title or not, Pittsburgh should be proud of the run that saw them win just over 31% of their games in 2013 without dropping a point.
