Are The Pittsburgh Penguins Feeling The Heat?

The Pittsburgh Penguins are stumbling towards the finish line, and that’s not good

Can the Penguins right the ship and salvage their next 12 games on a high note? Can Marc-Andre Fleury show his true “flower” power in net? Can Sidney Crosby carry this team into the playoffs and make them once again a force to be reckon with?

The Penguins lost their third game in a row to the New Jersey Devils, 2-0, on Tuesday night. What was once a invincible, confident group of players appear to be a vulnerable, doubtful team.

For the past few years, the Penguins were among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. When you have names like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Fleury, how could you not include them in the preseason picks to win it all?

However, their play on the ice is becoming average. In their past 10 games, the Penguins are 5-4-1, including tonight’s loss. In their last three, they have been outscored 9-1, including being shutout twice. They sit third in the Metropolitan Division with 88 points, two points behind the New York Islanders for second place. But, the Washington Capitals are nipping at their heels as two points separate the two teams for a wild card spot in the playoffs.

Crosby leads the team in points with 71 (23 goals, 48 assists), power play points (27), and is tied with Malkin for power play goals (9). However, his antics away from the puck may be overshadowing the NHL superstar. At times, Crosby could be seen acting child-like whether it be to the referees, or his speering incidences towards other players. Perhaps that’s what separates him from say a player like Alexander Ovechkin. He knows when to skate away from confrontation. Ovechkin saves it for another time. As opposed to Crosby, who will push back no matter the situation.

Crosby still has some maturing to do. If he can get over his present play and occasional tantrums on the ice, then his offensive play will do the talking.

The Penguins’ faith in Marc-Andre Fleury as their netminder has to be wavering. Even though he has 31 victories for the season, he has looked average in his outings. There still seems to be a mental block or a flaw to his psyche when he is net. He doesn’t look to be strong in the head. In his last five games, he is 2-2-1. Statically, he dominated the defending Stanley Cup Champions Los Angeles Kings, in a 31-save shutout win on March 7th. He followed that up with a 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks, where he saved 29 of 30 shots faced. However, the other three games, Fleury gave up at least three goals, two of which he gave up four.

So will the real Fleury please stand up? If I were a Penguins fan, I’d have my doubts with Fleury in net. And with the playoffs coming, a strong goalie attribute is mental strength. He appears to be lacking this and needs to find it quick, if his team is to make a deep run.

As a team, the Penguins are in a lull right now. For the month of march, they are scoring 2.22 goals per game, while giving up an average of 2.44 goals a game. That may not be a cause for concern for some, but they are still being outscored. The offense has not been there to help out, whoever is in goal. The time is not now for a power outage. Their eight-ranked power play appears to be MIA, since March 1st. They only have converted 4 out of 28 opportunities with the man-advantage. That’s a 14.2 success rate, less than their season average of 19.4.

If the Penguins are to be the Penguins again, they have work to do. With only a dozen games left entering tonight, there is little time to waste.

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