Pittsburgh Penguins Season Update 2

21 games into the season, you would think the first place Pittsburgh Penguins would be happy with their performance a quarter of the way through the season.  The reality, it is not all that impressive.  Their record is 13-8, which is good enough for 1st place in the newly constructed (and poorly named) Metropolitan Division and 2nd in the Eastern Conference.  While all of these are great achievements, it's early in the season and anything could happen.  The truth is, as of late the Pens have been playing well below standards.  Recently they lost 3 straight games, 2 of which are were division opponents in the Rangers and Flyers, who as of now aren't even contending to take the top spot in the division.  The problem is, that in the month of November, the Penguins are 3-4, and only scoring just 2.25 goals a game and giving up 2.125,  the only bright spot coming in a 3-0 shutout of the average at best Columbus Blue Jackets.  A loss to the Flyers, being shutout by the Rangers, and getting played off the ice by a very good St. Louis Blues team should have made the Pens want to work harder.  Evgeni Malkin has not hit the back of the net in 14 straight games, Pascal Dupuis has been removed from the first line, and the Fleury's play hasn't been all that spectacular.  The Penguins better get their act together before things get too out of hand.

Penguins Season Update 1

So far the 2014 season is looking bright for the Penguins.  They are off to an 11-4 start at the end of October. The team recently underwent a small 3 games slide where they were outscored 9-4, but this short streak may have been overshadowed by the return of Kris Letang, who was out with an injury for most of this month, and a few injuries to key players such as James Neal and Rob Scuderi.  Being without James Neal for nearly the whole month of October has hurt the team's production.  The return of defensive star Kris Letang has seemed to put a little jolt in the team, but the team is still missing something.  With the possibility of Neal returning to the lineup in the upcoming week, it gives hope to the fans and the team.  The return of Neal may also spark a pitiful power play.  Hopefully the Penguins can make a habit of winning in the month of November to help keep their playoff hopes alive.