As the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils -- the top 2 teams in the National Hockey League -- face off to settle that spot and the lead in the Atlantic Division tonight at Mellon Arena (7:30 PM EST), there are a few things to catch up on surrounding the team.
First, speaking of leading the league in the race for the President's Trophy, has everyone else come to realize that the Penguins have become an outstanding hockey club in close games the last several years?
This first developed under former coach Michel Therrein, and was at least in part due to the team's ability to crack down and play better defense in their own zone.
Of course, the first step to winning close games is actually being in them.
Once the Penguins learned to do that, their skill and youthful savvy started taking over. For as young as the Penguins' core is, nobody can dispute the meaningful, high-stakes experience that same core already has under their collective belts.
This year alone, the Penguins are 14-4 in one goal games.
Even taking away their 6 shootout victories, they still are 8-4 in the remaining 12 one-goal contests they have played in.
Winning close games over the last several seasons has helped make the Penguins one of the best teams in the game, and makes them feel comfortable whenever things get tight late in a key game ... or in a game 7. One needs to look no further than last year's playoff run to see that.
Winning 2 games 7's on the road -- including the Stanley Cup Final -- will ice any team's veins.
The next thing I wanted to mention is the Forbes Magazine story publicized over the weekend that the Penguins were ranked as having the best fans in the NHL.
That's no surprise to this author, but I bet it's a surprise to fans of teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, just to name two storied league franchises known for having loyal, rabid followings.
Forbes' rankings were based on average home attendance as a percentage of arena capacity, team merchandise sales, and local television ratings as a percentage of the area's population.
Obviously, with the Penguins selling out every game for about two full seasons running, selling Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin jerseys like they are going out of style, and long having local TV ratings that are among the best in the league, their spot at the tope of the list can't be a surprise.
Here's the piece from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/17/nhl-best-and-worst-fans-business-sports-nhl-fans.html
Third, there's still no word on the status of Pens' defenseman Mark Eaton, who injured a knee in Saturday night's 2-1 shootout victory over the Sabres.
Eaton is supposed to have an MRI today, and that should reveal the status of his injury -- if the Penguins announce the results, that is. I did hear that Eaton was on crutches after the game, so chances are he'll be out of the lineup for at least a little while.
Eaton is the only defenseman to suit up for every game this season. It looks like that streak is going to come to an end, and Martin Skoula will be back in the lineup tonight in his place.
Lastly, while Eaton left the contest Saturday night, forward Max Talbot returned to the lineup after having been a healthy scratch the last two games.
Enforcer Eric Godard watched from the press box in Talbot's place.
No word on what HCDB is going to do with his lineup from that standpoint against the Devils tonight.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
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