Christmas has come early for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins haven’t just beaten opposing NHL teams in December, they’ve taken a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat and bludgeoned them to death. It’s not fair to say the Penguins are simply dominating because they’re straight up murdering opponents. It’s merciless.
In six games this month, Pittsburgh has scored at least four goals in every game, each a dominant victory. During the stretch, the Penguins have routinely put up crooked scores: A five-goal win against the Dallas Stars, an 8-5 win over the Ottawa Senators, and most recently, a 7-0 victory over the hapless Arizona Coyotes. Loaded with an arsenal of offensive talent, the Penguins have skated circles around opponents.
In total, Pittsburgh has a +21 goal differential during the stretch (35/14) and are showing no signs of slowing down. For a team fresh off a Stanley Cup, the rest of the NHL should be scared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XouLOIRXGRY
Continuity under coach Mike Sullivan, who joined mid-season in 2015-16, plus a stellar lineup of stars including Sidney Crosby, Matt Murray, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang propelled the club to become the NHL’s best team. With 41 points, the Penguins are tied for the lead in the Metropolitan division and sit one point outside Montreal for most in the league. Looking into the stats, there’s little indication their success and the surge are a mirage.
Offensively, the Penguins are supercharged. The club ranks first in goals for per 60 minutes at even-strength at 2.98 and sport a differential of +0.79. Pittsburgh also leads in shots for per 60 minutes at even strength with 34.8, +2.6 ahead from second-place Boston.
Controlling the pace at even strength is a good way to win. Pittsburgh does rank fourth in even strength shooting percentage at 8.55, indicating they’ve benefited from some puck luck. That number will drop, but Pittsburgh’s generated shots at an elite rate, which is key for continued success.
The catalyst firing the offense is, surprise, surprise, Crosby. He’s decided to become the league’s best goal-scorer in his 12th season with 21 goals in 23 games. Crosby’s been unconscious with 32 points in just 23 games. That’s absurd. He’s not going to keep up his nearly goal per game pace, as his 26.9 shooting percentage is unsustainable (his career rate is 14.8), but the 30-year-old’s got a good shot at hitting 50 goals for the second time in his career, while keep opposing defenses frightened.
The @penguins are the 1st team to score 35+ goals in a 6-game span since the Senators did it during the 2005-06 season (via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/Cp4v7DH8Vn
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 13, 2016
Behind Crosby is some impressive supplemental scoring. Malkin and Kessel, both stars in their own right, both rank in the top-10 in points with 32 and 31, respectively. Three-quarters of the Penguins lineup has 10 points or more, with Letang and Crosby’s linemates, Patric Hornqvist and Conor Sheary, having 16 or more. Pittsburgh’s offensive depth is immaculate.
The organization has also benefited from incredible goaltending from Murray, who ranks sixth among netminders who have played at least 500 minutes at even strength with a .948 save percentage. Many teams hope to have one competent goalie (*cough* Dallas *cough*), but the Penguins have a former All-Star (as recently as 2015) in Marc-Andre Fleury as their backup and one of the league’s brightest stars ahead of him in Murray.
If Murray goes through rookie struggles or gets hurt, Fleury can step in and handle the job for a prolonged period of time. He’s struggled in 2016-17, but there’s little reason to believe he won’t improve as the season progresses — at least enough to keep the ship afloat. The duo, mainly Murray, will help the Penguins be competitive every single night. That’s an incredible luxury to have.
https://youtu.be/lrR8Gs3xCTw
However, if the Penguins have an Achilles heel, it is their defense and penalty kill.
Pittsburgh’s allowed the 18th-most shots against per even strength at just under 30 per game. That’s not great, Bob. Thanks to the stellar goaltending, the Penguins rank 14th with 2.19 goals against per 60 minutes. That band-aid won’t stick forever. Acquiring a shot-soaking defenseman would do wonders, but I’m not sure that kind of player is available at the moment.
The special teams have also stunk. Pittsburgh simply can’t kill penalties. The Penguins rank 27th in the league with a putrid 76.7 penalty kill rate. That has hurt. It’s a complete 180-degree turn from 2015-16 when the Pens had the fifth-best kill in the league. The power play ranks 12th, thanks to Crosby’s second-best seven PP goals.
Imagine if the Penguins had an average penalty kill? It would be unfair. But the flaw seems fairly minor compared to their offensive dominance. They’re already one of the best teams, if not the best, with a mediocre kill. If that can improve to league average, Pittsburgh will be as close to unbeatable as any team in the league.
Regardless, the Penguins have a hell of a roster, a great coach in Mike Sullivan and have been here before. In December, they’ve been an unstoppable freight train that has shown no signs of slowing down. If the club can tweak its special teams and play a more efficient defensive game, they’ll be hard to top. Heck, they’re already hard to top. Don’t be surprised when the Penguins are steamrolling teams for the rest of the season and deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
