The Pittsburgh Penguins won their 15th straight game on Saturday, beating the New York Islanders 2-0. They are now just 2 wins behind the franchise and NHL record of 17 straight wins. However, early in the game, Sidney Crosby, the leading scorer in hockey, took a deflected puck to the jaw, that knocked out several of his teeth. He had oral surgery to repair his broken jaw on Sunday, and is out of the Penguins’ line-up indefinitely. The slapshot that took down Crosby was actually shot by his teammate, Brooks Orpik. The playoffs start in a month, and it is doubtful that Crosby will be back by then. Friendly fire could be very costly for the Penguins in this case.
To me the Penguins’ 15 game winning streak is more impressive than the Chicago Blackhawks’ 21-0-3 start to the season. While that was a great start, it did include 3 losses in overtime or shootouts, that don’t count as regular losses, because they didn’t occur in regulation. The Blackhawks still hold the best record in the NHL, but only by one point over the Penguins, but they have played one less game. Those 2 teams were commonly picked as the favorites to meet for the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the season. But the Anaheim Ducks and the Montreal Canadiens, the teams with the 3rd and 4th best records, have been pleasant surprises. Both teams not only missed the playoffs last year, but were among the 5 worst teams in the league.
The big question with Pittsburgh now, is how good they will be without Crosby. Crosby leads the league in scoring, with 56 points. No one else has more than 46 points. However, only 15 of those points, are from goals. This puts Crosby 4th on his own team in goals scored, and 10 behind league leader Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. But Crosby is the captain of the Penguins, and they will miss his leadership, and play-making ability. He was having a great comeback season, after returning from the concussion problems that started back in January 2011.
With the acquisition last week of former Calgary Flame, Jarome Iginla, and the recent return of Evgeni Malkin from injury, the Penguins should be able to replace the scoring lost without Crosby. Malkin has been out since March 9th. He has 26 points in just 23 games played so far this season. Also, the next 6 games are against teams ranking no better than 8th in the conference. After that, things get more difficult, as they have a home game against the Canadiens, then a road game against the Boston Bruins.
Even if the Penguins finish the season as the top team in the Eastern Conference, recent years have proven that success during the regular season, certainly doesn’t guarantee success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last year the Los Angeles Kings had just the 8th best record in the Western Conference, but ended up the Stanley Cup Champions. Let’s see how long the Penguins’ winning streak will last without Captain Crosby.
To have future commentaries sent to you, just go to my website and enter your email address – www.frankcthomas.com
