Behind the Numbers: A look inside the Penguins one month into 2011-12 season
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Ten players have suited up for all 13 games thus far, including:
James Neal, Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Matt Niskanen, Joe Vitale, Deryk Engelland, Steve Sullivan, Paul Martin and Craig Adams.
Only Kris Letang and Max Talbot played in all 82 regular season games for the Pens last year and neither will match that feature again this season. Letang has already served a two-game suspension and Talbot skates on the East side of the state.
The biggest surprise among those 10 players has to be Joe Vitale, who was thought to
have a 50-50 of making the club prior to camp. Steve Sullivan’s ability to stay healthy has been impressive, but his goal total (0) has not.
Some of the team’s brightest stars have missed considerable action. Sidney Crosby has yet to play, although that’s to have been expected. Evgeni Malkin has missed seven games, which has been disappointing, if only because of his tremendous pre-season efforts. Tyler Kennedy suffered a concussion after six games. The buzz around him has gone from whether he could be a consistent top-six forward to questions about just how much time he might miss. Brooks Orpik missed the Pens’ first eight contests as did Dustin Jeffrey. Jeffrey is still looking for his first point. He’s understandably rusty. It might be a while until he regains the luster of his rookie campaign.
Jordan Staal sat out his first game of the season Saturday night with a lower body injury that coach Dan Bylsma labeled as a day-to-day ailment. The team might catch a break with Staal’s injury, as it doesn’t play its next game until Thursday in San Jose.
We probably shouldn’t leave out defenseman Brian Strait. After all, he fit right in with the rest of the walking wounded. Strait suffered a hyper-extended elbow in his first game with the Pens, an injury that is expected to cost him 4-6 weeks.
Neal leads the Pens with nine goals. It’s amazing just how fast the talk of whether he’d ever score another goal changed to how much the Pens will have to pay the soon-to-be restricted free agent, but that’s what happens when you light the lamp nine times in 13 games.
Neal doesn’t own the highest shooting percentage, however. That number belongs to Staal and his 23.1 percent sniper’s mark. Two of Staal’s six goals have come as empty netters, but they count just as much as any other score.
Cooke and Kunitz are tied with four goals apiece. Cooke snapped an eight-game goal-less stretch with a goal in Toronto on Saturday. He now has as many goals as penalty minutes for the season. Kunitz also scored against the Maple Leafs. The hard-checking forward has four goals in his last six games and leads the team with 31 registered hits.
Not surprisingly, Letang leads the Penguins with 10 assists in 11 games, five of which have come on the power play. He appears headed for a 50-plus point season; so long as either Malkin or Crosby stays in the lineup.
Pascal Dupuis has six assists among his nine points in 13 contests. It’s not a stretch to say that Dupuis had as good of an October as any player on the team.
Despite missing over half of Pittsburgh’s games, Malkin ranks third with five assists, four of which have come courtesy of the man advantage. Malkin looked bad in his own end Saturday, but hopefully he picks up his defensive game to go along with his excellent offensive prowess. Most Penguins fans probably just want him to stay healthy. He’s played in each of the team’s last three games.
There haven’t been too many disappointments offensively. Steve Sullivan likely stands out more than anyone else. Sullivan ranks fourth on the team in average power-play time (4:14 TOI per game), but has yet to score – he has three helpers. He was robbed by Toronto’s Jonas Gustavsson on Saturday, but showed great physical play on a couple of occasions. He dished out a beautiful hip check in his own end during a Toronto short-handed rush and laid into defenseman Dion Phaneuf behind the Pens’ net despite a half-foot size difference. At some point, though, he’s got to score.
Jeffrey still hasn’t picked up a goal or an assist in five games. Pittsburgh’s light schedule the next two weeks could help him find his game in practice, even if it won’t give him many chances to score.
Kunitz leads the team with 31 hits and three players are tied for second with 26 hits apiece. Deryk Engelland, Craig Adams and Staal do their best to keep teams honest. Staal, in fact, suffered his injury while delivering an open-ice blow to the Isles’ John Tavares on Thursday.
No player has more blocked shots than Engelland, who has 21. Letang has 20 and three players – Matt Niskanen, Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek – have 17 blocks each. Blocked shots are part of a defenseman’s game. Even Geno laid out Saturday in the slot to make a block, but injuries are a constant concern. Pittsburgh has already lost Michalek with a broken finger following a block. Let’s hope the likes of Letang and Martin don’t suffer the same fate.
The Pens’ power play operates like night and day, depending upon whether Malkin is in the lineup. Neal leads with three power-play scores while Malkin, Staal and Kunitz have two. This might blow your mind, but Mario Lemieux potted 31 goals on the man advantage – twice. Yes, it’s a different era (and another way of saying I’m old), but numbers don’t do Le Magnifique justice.
Letang (5) and Malkin (4) are the only players with more than two power-play assists.
The Penguins allowed two 5-on-4 power-play goals Saturday night for the first time. It’s no coincidence that neither Staal nor Michalek played. Staal is one of five Penguins to average more than two minutes (2:21 TOI) per game on the penalty kill. Michalek leads the team as the only player averaging greater than three minutes in short-handed situations (3:34 TOI). Michalek’s absence will likely become more glaring the longer he’s out.
Only Nashville’s Pekka Rinne (8) has more victories than does Marc-Andre Fleury (7). The Flower continues to play some of the best hockey of his career. He’s compiled a sparkling 1.86 GAA and .934 save percentage in nine starts. He earned a 33-save shutout against the Islanders on Oct. 25.
What makes Fleury so good is his shootout stopping ability. Arguably the best in the NHL, has yet to allow a shootout score in five attempts. Last year he yielded only six goals on 38 attempts for an .842 save percentage, second-best among goalies who faced at least 30 attempts – Henrik Lundqvist gave up seven scores on 46 shots for an .848 mark.
Brent Johnson has lost only one time in regulation in four starts, going 1-1-2. With a 2.44 GAA and .909 save percentage, Johnson affords the Pens the opportunity to rest Fleury whenever necessary and still gives the team a good chance to win.
Looking ahead at the Penguins’ November schedule, Pittsburgh plays a relatively light 12-game docket. The Pens play only five times at the CONSOL Energy Center, traveling for the other seven games. Five of the road games come against Western Conference foes.
In fact, Pittsburgh plays just two games in the Atlantic Division, once at home against the Islanders on Nov. 21 and once at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 29.
There will be two back-to-back matchups. Pittsburgh is home versus Dallas on Nov. 11 in a game that could feature the return of Sidney Crosby. The next night the Pens travel to Carolina to play the ‘Canes. Then, on Nov. 25, the Penguins host Ottawa before flying to Montreal to play the Canadiens the following night.
All in all, the schedule gives fans the opportunity to watch opponents they don’t get to see much of on a regular basis. The biggest news hopefully will be the return of Crosby at some point.
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A quick look around the rest of the NHL reveals teams with heavy schedules, something that could help out fantasy hockey owners.
Carolina and Minnesota both play an NHL-high 15 times in November. The Hurricanes have 10 home games and the Wild, eight.
Ten teams play 14 times. The following list shows how many times the teams with 14 games play at home.
Colorado – 10.
Buffalo – 9.
Detroit – 9.
Washington – 7.
Canadiens – 6.
Devils – 6.
Maple Leafs – 6.
Flames – 5.
Oilers – 4.
Blackhawks – 4.
Four teams have favorable 13 game schedules.
Kings – 9 home games.
Ducks – 8.
Bruins – 8.
Blues – 8.
Finally, the Sharks play only 11 times, but eight of the games are at home.
Here are some of the fantasy rules I usually go by.
Regarding teams with heavy schedules and lots of home games. These games are good to activate second liners and defensemen. Of course it’s good to play superstars in these games, but this is when lesser players seem to do their best work. For example, look for Eric Staal to turn his early-season woes around, but don’t forget about someone like Jussi Jokinen. Defensemen for the ‘Canes should see a nice run, too.
Regarding teams with heavy schedules, but mostly on the road. Keep your first-line superstars active. For the Wild, look for someone like Mikko Koivu to put up decent numbers, even away from home.
Regarding teams with light schedules at home. These are the best times to load up on whichever players from that team you have available. The Sharks figure to do some major damage with eight of 11 games at home in November. The best players to go with from teams like this are usually the goalies. They are well rested and teams at home statistically do better than teams on the road. Antti Niemi figures to put up good numbers and even Thomas Greiss, when he gets the nod.
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RINK LINKS
Practice looks like a thing of beauty, as per the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"Hitting Crosby sounds a lot easier than it actually is," defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. "If you're running at him, trying to be physical with him, he's going to beat you and make you look stupid."
Impressive month enhances the rep of Pens, the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
"I thought they were elite last year when Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin were out," Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn said. "They've got Malkin now, which makes them better. Give them Crosby? I already view them as elite, and that just makes it scary."
Injury sidelines Jordan Staal – for now, the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
"Malkin and Staal are two of the league's top 10 centers," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "Staal is playing great hockey for them."
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Have a great Monday & Happy Halloween!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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