Encouraging Stretch for Penguins Provides Hope

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Kuljit Parmar

The game has certainly changed for the Pittsburgh Penguins since the loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Picking up 3 wins in the last three contests, this team is starting to show the dominance it possesses in the NHL  -- and in my opinion will start to take it up another notch, so to speak. The team formation has been excellent in the offensive zone, where the Pens are hustling hard and creating turnovers from the neutral zone and capitalizing with goals.

The extra strides the players are taking in order to get past the defense is quite the nifty type of offensive attack that hasn’t been seen since the Detroit Red Wings dynasty. Not to mention the puck possession the Penguins team plays with overall to secure a strong forecheck, especially from the top-two lines that are performing incredibly well.

The passing for the Pens has been the bread and butter for the offensive onslaught, and the way the team gets past the defense and scores is genuinely textbook hockey.

Most importantly, the defensemen for the Penguins are getting involved and taking away chances most of the time from the opposing team’s gameplay as well. The Pens have turned their fortunes with most of the forwards contributing with points, stemming from plays made on a regular forecheck that turns into opportunities.

The skating has significantly improved as well as the team plays with more poise.

The captain is leading the way on his line with Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell, along with Evgeni Malkin taking charge with his line that consists of Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust.

Like I said, the top-two lines are just raking in the points for the Penguins team.

This team has improved drastically and seems to be moving forward towards a high-percentage winning record, keeping pace in the Metropolitan Division. The defense is playing with a certain mission, but sometimes unoriented with a few close calls during that span.

However, nothing coach Mike Sullivan cannot figure out with his brilliant coaching staff.

Goaltending has been nothing short of fantastic as the workload seems to be balanced between Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith, both who have played their hearts out getting the wins.

Looking into the future, the main word is consistency and with that consistency the wins will come. But, to make a run for the Stanley Cup a few tweaks will have to be made, not taking anything from the current roster. With these tweaks I would work on the defense just a tad bit to make it a brick wall in the playoffs, and down the stretch near the end of the regular season.

Depending on how this team fares down the stretch towards January, we will see what is truly needed and how these moves will take shape, if need be.

One thing is for sure, the yinzers can think about heading to the promise land if it all comes together (especially in net!)