The Pittsburgh Penguins Can’t Handle Chicago

The Pittsburgh Penguins were not able to extend their win streak to 9 games, as they dropped a close one to the Blackhawks last night.

Watching these Pittsburgh Penguins recently has been quite an enjoyable experience, no matter who your favorite team is. Last night, the win streak was snapped, versus a team that somehow seems to have the Penguins’ number this season. The first encounter between these two teams was only a few weeks ago, and the Blackhawks controlled that game, ultimately winning by three goals.

The same result occurred last night, but only by two goals, as you could tell early on that DeSmith was having a rough time seeing the puck. Ironically, DeSmith was actually the starter for both of these contests, so maybe he just has bad luck against this team. Either way, the Pens will not have to worry about this team again, as they have no further contests against each other.

The most interesting stat from last night probably comes from looking at the power play opportunities. The power play unit for Pittsburgh has basically been unstoppable over the past few weeks, but last night… they were stopped. The Pens were unsuccessful in their three opportunities in the game, and that is something that is bound to happen. The Pens will have one more home game tomorrow, before heading on their West Coast trip.

This game was also one of the rare recent occasions recently where Crosby did not record a point. Crosby has been the catalyst for this offensive resurgence, but did not have a large impact last night. As long as the Pens keep moving forwards – which they will – they will be more than alright.