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Pittsburgh Penguins Need to Start Boosting Their Offence

By Matthew Rodrigopulle

May 15, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Ottawa Senators right wing Bobby Ryan (9) and defenseman Marc Methot (3) and goalie Craig Anderson (41) defend Pittsburgh Penguins center Matt Cullen (7) during the second period in game two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the PPG PAINTS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
May 15, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Ottawa Senators right wing Bobby Ryan (9) and defenseman Marc Methot (3) and goalie Craig Anderson (41) defend Pittsburgh Penguins center Matt Cullen (7) during the second period in game two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the PPG PAINTS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators in game two of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night. This sounds like great news, until you heard the score.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Senators by a score of 1-0. Our defence and our goaltending was definitely there, and they played great. They kept the puck out of the net the whole game and made sure we got the win.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins /

Pittsburgh Penguins

But our offence on the other hand only scored one goal. I mean it was good enough to win the game with help from our strong defence, but our struggling offence has not been doing so well recently.

If the Penguins want to defeat Ottawa effectively, they are going to have to harness their offence better heading into the next stretch of games with the series tied at one a piece,

A Slow Round Two

The Pittsburgh Penguins just barely made it out of round two alive. After losing a 3-1 series lead, the team was able to survive round two with only two goals scored in game seven. Before this, the Penguins also only managed to score more than three goals in a game in that series once, which happened in their 6-2 win in game two.

The Penguins also failed to score more than one goal in the first period all playoffs. This has been a real problem for the Pens as they have been unable to establish dominance from the get go. This is how leads get blown and pressure is put on.

The Penguins have to solve this, As we’ve seen, our lack of offence has been a real problem for us in round two. We have to fix this as soon as possible if we want to defeat Ottawa, let alone win the Stanley Cup.

Getting Past Ottawa’s Defence

The Senators have a pretty tough defensive core. Of course if the Penguins want to generate offence, they’re going to have to figure the Sens defence out.

Erik Karlsson is a beast. We already know that. They are also pretty strong besides him. But we’ve been able to score against them before. In fact, during the regular season, we scored 10 goals on them in three games.

Next: 3 Factors in the Eastern Conference Finals

If we can play our style of hockey, I don’t think we should have any real issues. Craig Anderson is very good, but he still has some flaws. We can solve him, and I have no doubt in my mind about that. We can also get past these Senators. The Pens just need to work more on our offence.

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