I'm back boys and girls. Sorry for the absence. I thought it might be difficult to get things up here while I was away the last 4 days --- and I was right. My apologies. It may have been a good thing, though, because there certainly hasn't been a lot of positives to come out of Penguin camp lately.
After absorbing consecutive 5-2 and 5-0 road defeats to the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, respectively, the Penguins will finish their coast-to-coast road trip in Boston tonight against the Bruins.
The losses to the Kings and Sharks represented not only the Penguins' first and second road defeats of the season after starting the year 7-0 away from the Mellon, they marked the first games this season where the Penguins have given up more than 4 goals.
That sequence also was the first time Pittsburgh has failed to get at least one point in consecutive games since Dan Bylsma took over behind the bench in February.
Needless to say, there isn't much the Penguins want to take from those two games -- other than what can happen if they play unmotivated, undisciplined, without energy and get average goaltending in the process. While the Penguins were leading the Kings 2-1 in the third period in their game Thursday night, the result was mostly a mirage at that point, because Los Angeles had the much better of the play. After breaking out with 4 goals in the final frame, they finally justified the way the ice was tilted with the result on the scoreboard.
Pittsburgh was never in the game against San Jose from the beginning. Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled just minutes into the 2nd period and at that point, the Pens' were already down 3-0 to one of the best teams in the NHL.
What's really hurt the Penguins is the injuries they've been suffering, although they're not unlike most other teams in that regard, as this year has been one of the worst for injuries to key players in recent memory. Star players like Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Towes, Daniel Sedin, Cam Ward, Marion Hossa, Marc Savard, and many more have all missed chunks of time this season already.
Look at the Detroit Red Wings for heaven's sake. They're losing key players every few games, and their injuries are expected to be even more long-term. It's certainly not helping their cause in the standings.
Of course, injuries are no excuse ..... but they are at least an explanation.
The latest casualty for Pittsburgh came Saturday night when defenseman Kris Letang left the game against the Sharks early in the contest after falling on his right shoulder and arm.
Letang accompanied the team to Boston, but then flew from there back to Pittsburgh where word came yestrday that he has a shoulder contusion and will be out about 2 weeks.
Letang joins regulars -- and key contributors -- Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot on the shelf.
The bright news is that all of these guys should be back within the next several weeks. Malkin and Kennedy likely will be the first to get back.
Malkin is probably about 5 days away. He's been skating and was hoping to return Thursday at home against New Jersey, but he also hasn't been cleared for contact yet. That clearance may come today or tomorrow, after which I would expect that Bylsma will want to get #71 back up to speed with multiple full-participation practices.
Kennedy continues to skate, but it's not looking like he'll play tonight. It may be Thursday for him, or maybe the weekend.
Talbot is still probably a few weeks away. He's still wearing a red no-contact jersey in practice, but should be cleared to bang bodies again soon.
Gonchar is hoping for a return around Thanksgiving.
Letang should be ready around the same time.
Heck, the Penguins' injury bug has been so bad, it reached the near-pinnacle of their organization, when team President David Moorehouse suffered a heart attack while with the team in San Jose on Saturday. Moorehouse was admitted to the hospital there, but is okay now, and is expected to make a full recovery.
What else is hurting Pittsburgh is that, in the absence of so many of the Penguins' important contributors, star center Sidney Crosby has struggled.
Crosby is pointless in his last 4 games, and really needs to pick his game up.
Bylsma changed a lot of the line combinations in practice yesterday -- including Sid's, who played with Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Cooke -- and we may see some of those different units tonight as the Pens' try to salvage a .500 trip.
Defenseman Deryk Engelland -- recalled last Friday because defenseman Alex Goligoski was battling an illness -- will probably play tonight in Letang's place, instead.
It will be interesting to see how we come out this evening. Even with a half-cast, the Penguins have to play with more focus and more intensity. They need to pay attention to detail and win a close, low-scoring game.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens'!
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