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The Pittsburgh Penguins kept rolling tonight with another win, beating the surging Florida Panthers by a score of 3-0.  Marc Andre Fleury picked up his fifth career shutout (his third this season), turning aside 32 shots.  The win makes them 6-0-1 in their last seven games (6 wins, no regulation losses and 1 overtime loss), outscoring their opponents 36-17.  Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each had an assist, and Michel Ouellet, Domonic Moore and Ryan Whitney each picked up a goal. 

Tonight’s win propelled the team to 56 points on the season and put them 2-points ahead of the Rangers for 7th place in the East, and a mere 5 points out of 4th place.  This is notable in that they have 4 games in hand against #6, 3 against #5 and 2 against #2.  Having ‘X’ games in hand against a team means that they have played ‘X’ less games than that team.  So, they can gain 2 points for each of the ‘X’ games they win.  In summary, they have the potential to gain 8 points on #6, 6 points on #5 and 4 points on #4 just by playing (and winning) the games they have yet to play to catch up in the schedule.  Confused?  Trust me, they are in a good position right now.   

Sidney Crosby now has 79 points (25 Goals, 54 Assists) and leads the NHL in total points and assists.  He is on track to win the Art Ross Trophy for top point scorer in the league during the regular season.  With 33 games left to play in the season for the Penguins, Crosby is currently on pace to score 138 points (he missed 4 games to injury).

Evgeni Malkin has 53 points (24 Goals, 29 Assists) and leads the NHL in goals and total points for rookies and is 21st in the league in total points for all players.  He is on track to win the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year.  He is currently on pace to score 92 points (he missed 5 games to injury).

I continue to believe that the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing the most entertaining and spirited hockey I have seen since the mid-90’s when I watched John LeClair, Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg play on the “Legion of Doom” line of the Philadelphia Flyers.  However, today’s hockey is much more fast paced and breathtaking in terms of the on-ice skills being displayed by the likes of Sidney Crosby.

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