A Pittsburgh Penguins November to Remember

The Pittsburgh Penguins started the month of November with a win over the Philadelphia Flyers, on November 4th.  Things looked promising.  Then Covid-19 hit the team and combined with injuries, depleted the squad.  Five losses in six games from November 06th to November 16th, had us all scratching our heads and wondering if we should be booking our tee times early this year.

If you remember, the Pittsburgh Penguins began the season with an impressive 6-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  They alternated wins and losses for the rest of the month, ending October with a three-game losing streak, and a 3-3-2 record.

However, in mid November, the Penguins got healthy, took off to the Great White North (Road Trip against all Canadian teams), in seek of some much-needed W’s.  And W’s they found.  During this block of 9-games that I named, the “World Canadian Tour”, I predicted, the Penguins would go 6 wins and 3 losses.

As we speak, the Penguins are 5 wins and 2 losses, in this 9-game block, with road games in Edmonton and Vancouver, yet to come.

During this stretch, the Penguins reeled off a beautiful five game winning streak from November 18th to November 24th.  The Pittsburgh Penguins played arguably, as well as any team can possibly play.  They Scored Goals, Stopped Goals and got Timely Saves, including three shutouts from goaltender Jarry #35.

They played with puck precision and a passion for puck possession.    All players were pulling in the same direction, following the same game plan and executing that plan to perfection.

During this block of games, the team played picture perfect hockey and seems to have turned a corner, regaining their confidence along the way.  The Penguins however, lost their last couple of games in November to close out the month, with a 10-7-5 Record.

The Penguins played an “ok”, road game, against Calgary.  Losing a tough, 2-1 decision in the shootout.  I called this a litmus test game for the Penguins as well as the upcoming Oilers game.  I would suggest, based on what I have seen so far, the Penguins can hang with some of the better teams in the NHL as we speak.

It is to early to mention “Team Swagger”, but Wow, did they play fantastic in those five games.  Play like that, and I like the Penguins chances moving forward.

November:  Month in Review…a look at the numbers as of November 30.2021

10-7-5  =25pts          4th in the Metropolitan Division (Up from 7th Place in Oct)

25 Points                     7th in the Eastern conference (Up from 13th Place in Oct)

25 Points                     10th tied in the NHL overall (Up from 22nd overall in Oct)

Pittsburgh Penguins are holding the Wild Card #1 Playoff Spot.  (This is a good trend)

Remember last year, when won the Division.  I still believe they can this year.

Final Rank – Division   77pts               1st in East Division (Covid 19 year 2020-2021)*

Pittsburgh Penguins Home Record: 5-5-2

Pittsburgh Penguins Road Record: 5-2-3

Pittsburgh Penguins Win Streak:  5 games (Nov18-Nov26)

Pittsburgh Penguins Lose Streak:  3 games (Oct26-Oct30) + (Oct13-Nov16)

Based on their body of work to date, Money Puck has the Penguins with a 72.7% chance of making the Playoffs.

34.6% chance of getting out of the First Round

17% chance of making it to Round Three.

4.4% chance of Winning the Cup

They mention the Penguins look to have a 21% chance of placing 3rd in the Metropolitan Division.  This is not unreasonable, especially give that Malkin (knee injury), is set to return in the New Year (He’s skating with the team during practice-Nov29.2021…yay).

The Penguins Out Shoot their Opposition

The Penguins averaged 35.4 Shots per game, 2nd overall in the NHL. (Up from 4th overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

They average 33.8 Shots per game, when they win. This is a nice stat to know and understand.  If you are shooting the puck this much throughout a game, that means obviously, you have the puck and your opposition does not.  It sounds so simple, however team puck possession during a game is crucial to an overall victory and is overlooked in most games and a key component to picking up the W.

The Penguins Shooting Percentage is converting at 8% or 24th overall in the NHL.  It appears they are not so good at converting shots to goals.  Maybe they are not getting into the slot enough, where 34.3% of goals are scored in the NHL.  Something to watch in December. (This is a bad trend)

The Penguins Out Hit their Opposition

The Penguins averaged 26.6 Hits in the games they won.  We have talked about this before.  Hitting opponents causes mental errors over time.  The fact is, when the Penguins out hit their opponent, they win the game. (This is a good trend)

The Penguins Win More Faceoffs than their Opposition

The Penguins averaged 50.5% in Faceoffs Won, on average per game.  They rank 13th overall in the NHL.  (Up from 18th overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

The Penguins averaged 51.3% Faceoff Win Percentage in the games they won.

The Penguins Block the Opposition Shots

The Penguins averaged 14.3 Blocked Shots in the games they won.  Blocking shots is good and all, however it does speak again, to puck possession or lack thereof.  If your team is always blocking the opposition shots, it means you do not have the puck. (This is a bad trend) (Good trend for helping their goalie see less direct shots on goal.)

The Penguins get their Shots Blocked

The Penguins averaged 12.3 of their Shots Blocked, in the games they won.  Having your shots blocked does speak to your team having the puck, which is a good trend.  However not getting the puck on the net is a challenge for all teams in the NHL right now.  Finding a shooting lane today, is like mining for gold, it’s out there somewhere, however you have to do a lot of work to reap the benefits.  Passing the puck, tape to tape, is hugely important for the shot to actually hit the net, let alone snipe a goal.  Always remember, three passes equal a scoring opportunity.  The Penguins are a good and strong passing team.  (This is a good trend)

The Penguins rarely Turnover the puck

The Penguins averaged 9.7 Turnovers in the games they won.  It always comes down to turnovers in all sports.  Turnovers in Hockey, speak again about puck possession and controlling the play. (This is a good trend)

The Penguins cause their Opposition to Turnover the puck.

In the games they won, the Penguins forced their opposition to Turnover the puck 9.6 times on average per game.  The Penguins are always tough on the puck and a hard fore-checking team.  I love it. (This is a good trend)

The Penguins O-Zone Giveaways

The Penguins averaged 24th overall in the NHL for Offensive Zone Giveaways. (Down from 23rd overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

The Penguins D-Zone Giveaways

The Penguins averaged 15th overall in the NHL for Defensive Zone Giveaways. (Up from 29th overall in Oct) (This is a bad trend)

The Penguins Icing the Puck

The Penguins rank 4th overall in icing the puck. While I agree that if you are in trouble in your own end, you should ice the puck and re-set.  However, if this is happening to often, it speaks about lack of puck possession and your team will be scored on eventually.  It is simply the law of averages.  (Up from 11th overall in Oct) (This is a bad trend)

The Penguins Opposition Icing the Puck.

The Penguins rank 3rd overall in the NHL, causing their opposition to ice the puck.  I love this stat.  As mentioned above, it means your team has the possession of the puck and is creating so much sustained offensive zone pressure, the opposition must ice the puck to get relief.  This will eventually lead to scoring opportunities.  (Up from 12th overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

The Penguins Score Goals

The Penguins rank 12th overall in the NHL in Goals Scored 63. (Up from 15th overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

The Penguins averaged 4.0 Goals, in the games they won.

The Penguins Don’t Allow Goals

The Penguins rank 11th-tied overall in the NHL in Goals Allowed 61. (Up from 18th overall in Oct) (This is a bad trend)

The Penguins averaged 1.1 Goals Allowed in the games they won.  (This is a good trend)

The Penguins Team GAA is 2.59, 7th overall in the NHL.

The Penguins Team Save % is .925%, 4th overall in the NHL. (This is a good trend)

Jarry                            10-4—4        Wins-tied 6th  (This is a good trend)

Jarry                            .938 Save %   tied 6th overall (This is a good trend)

Jarry                            1.85 GAA       8th overall with 3 shutouts (This is a good trend)

DeSmith                      0-3-1              Wins  (This is a bad trend)

DeSmith                      .867 Save %   (This is a bad trend)

DeSmith                      4.32 GAA       No shutouts

The Penguins Stay Onside

The Penguins Rank 11th overall in the NHL in Offside.  What that means is, the Penguins stay onside when entering the Offensive Zone.  This allows for more offensive fluidity and potential creativity, when entering the offensive zone. (Up from 19th overall in Oct) (This is a bad trend)

The Penguins Rank 5th overall in the NHL for causing the opposition to become Offside.  The Penguins causing the opposition to be offside is an Offensive Disruptor.  Offside completely breaks down the opposition’s offensive flow, stops play, and allows the Pens to re-set their defensive alignment or change players. (Up from 28th overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

The Penguins on the Power Play

The Penguins Power Play of converting at 14.3%, 26th overall in the NHL.   The scheme they are using, is just not working.  Hard to watch at times.  (Was 26th overall in Oct) (This is a bad trend)

The Penguins on the Penalty Kill

The Penguins Penalty Kill is 90.9%, 1st overall in the NHL.  The scheme they are using, is working wonders.   Fun to watch.  (Was 1st overall in Oct) (This is a good trend)

Helping the Penalty Kill percentage is the fact that, the Penguins Limit Their Penalties

The Penguins average 6.59 penalty minutes per game, overall.

The Penguins averaged 6.1 Penalty minutes, in the games they won. (This is a good trend)

The Penguins Must Score First

The Penguins scored First in 9 of the 10 games they won. (This is a good trend)

My View from the Cheap Seats

As we can see, the Penguins are right back in the Race for the Stanley Cup.  Based on the Penguins body of work in November, we have determined how they must play in order to win (the Magic Formula).  We have recently witnessed some absolutely fantastic hockey by this team.  This leads me to believe, the Pittsburgh Penguins are overall trending in the right direction and there will be many more good nights ahead of us.  I can’t wait.  Hello December.  Let’s Go Pens.

Quote of the Day:

“Perseverance is not a long race, it is many short races one after the other.”
Walter Elliot