Pittsburgh Penguins Look to Snap Drought Against New York Rangers
The Pittsburgh Penguins play the New York Rangers in New York Friday night at 7 p.m. Currently experiencing a four game losing streak, this is a crucial game for the Pens.
After going on a three game win streak, the Pittsburgh Penguins have unfortunately dropped four games straight beginning with a loss to the Ottawa Senators last Thursday.
The Penguins currently have 103 points and sit third in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins have to break out of this losing streak if they want to finish the season strong heading into the playoffs. Tonight’s game is crucial for a number of reasons. Here are a few of my thoughts heading into the game.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Injuries Really Sting
Seriously. It was just last week when I was writing about how the Penguins are still able to perform strongly even with so many injuries. Well I guess the injuries were bound to catch up with the team eventually and sure enough they did.
The Penguins have had key players like Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist, Carl Hagelin and Ron Hainsey out of the lineup this past week. Although Hornqvist and Hainsey may have returned this week, there are arguably more crucial players still needed on the Penguins roster.
Guentzel is expected to return tonight, so hopefully he will be able to make a difference. These injuries have to stop and most of our team has to be back before the playoffs if we want success.
Too Far Behind Washington
Before this losing streak, the Penguins were only a single point behind the Washington Capitals for first in the Metropolitan Division. After our four-game losing streak, we have fallen to third in the division, seven points behind Washington (110 points) and three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (106 points).
The division title was ours for the taking, and just like that we let it slip. It’s not necessarily impossible to still win it at this point, but it’s highly unlikely. Either way though, I think the Penguins should keep their mindset strong and think that they can still win it. Only then will they be determined enough to string together some wins here.
Fingers crossed, but lets hope Washington goes on another losing streak.
Don’t Let the Rangers Close the Gap
I’ve tried not to pay too much attention to the standings this week since the Penguins have been losing and I didn’t want to be shocked. But if you look, the Rangers have 97 points.
97 points puts them in the first wild card spot. They are nine points ahead of the Boston Bruins who holds the second wild card spot, so they’re not falling there. The only place the Rangers can go is up, and they’re surely looking to take the third division spot from us.
The gap between the Penguins and the Rangers are just six points. This is why tonight’s game is so important. If we win tonight, we’ll have a comfortable eight point lead on them. If we lose tonight though, the gap will be closed to a measly four points. At this point, we do not want to lose our rightful division spot and drop into a wild card spot.
The Rangers have been just as shaky as the Penguins though. Both teams have a 1-2-2 record in their last five games. Tonight’s game will truly be an intense battle for a lot more than just two points.
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