I'll be honest. I have serious concers about the Penguins chances of repeating last season's championship run.
I don't doubt Sidney Crosby. The Pens captain has a drive in him that is extremely rare. When you're the best player in the game and yet you analyze the weaknesses in your game and make them strong points, even after you win a championship... Well, you don't see that very often. Crosby was known as an elite playmaker, with a pass that is better than his shot. Another weakness was faceoffs.
This season, he's among the leaders in faceoff win percentage and may end up leading the NHL in goals. No reason to worry about Sid the Kid.
He still doesn't have wingers that produce consistently. Pascal Dupuis, Billy Guerin and Chris Kunitz have spent the most time on his wings, but none have nailed down a spot. It strikes me as ridiculous that Crosby can put up 100 points, yet there isn't a winger on this team that will finish the season with 30 goals or 70 points.
This team resembles a Brian Burke creation. Crosby and Malkin lead two scoring lines, and the bottom two lines focus on shutting down opponents.
Here are my concerns. Last season, the Pens were able to get contributions from al four of their lines. This version is top heavy. Jordan Staal may be among the best defensive centers in the game, but is it just me or should a #2 overall be registering seasons of at least 30 goals and/or 70 points by now, especially when he's among the team leaders in ice time among forwards?
The third line of Staal, Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy are among the most effective shut down lines in the game. Cooke is a master agitator who plays on the edge. Kennedy has rare speed and a slick right-handed wrist shot that show the potential of a deadly goalscorer, yet that potential doesn't seem any closer to being reached today than it did when he broke into the league. The fact he was a healthy scratch after the Pens acquired Alexei Ponikarovski tells me coach Dan Bylsma feels the same way.
The other main concern is the lack of defensive defensemen beyond Brooks Orpik. The Pens top six defenseman - Sergei Gonchar, Orpik, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, Mark Eaton and Jordan Leopold - don't exactly intimidate opponents. Last season, 6-7 human oak tree Hal Gill and shot-blocker extraordinaire Rob Scuderi teamed with offensive counter parts to make goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's life a little easier. This season, we have 4 puck movers, the all-around suberb Gonchar, and the physical Orpik. Letang has some nastiness to him, but a 6-0, 200 defenseman will only be so effective against the like of a 6-3, 230 pound dynamo like Alex Ovechkin. And that has shown this season as the Pens were swept in the 4 games they played the Caps.
For the Pens to compete for the Eastern Conference crown among the likes of the Capitals, Devils and Sabres, they will need to be flawless in a collapsing, eliminate shooting lanes and create turnovers style. This will hide the shortcomings of a small, puckmoving defense corps.
Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the run and gun games, but don't expect to watch them past the second round.
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