Goaltending in the Pittsburgh organization has been very good from top to bottom in 2015-16
Here is evidence on the AHL side of things
So PIT's AHL affiliate is getting decent goaltending. Starter Matt Murray (21 YO) has a .937 SV%, backup Tristan Jarry (20 YO) a .941 SV%.
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) January 24, 2016
You can't do much better than that.
Here is evidence on the NHL side of things
Fleury is clustered with other goaltenders who are having good years.
Pittsburgh's next opponent is New Jersey and you can see that during 5v5 play Cory Schneider has been incredibly tough to beat. Schneider hasn't been as great while shorthanded so earning power plays will be important on Tuesday evening. That used to be quite the difficult task (earning PP's vs NJ) but New Jersey has taken the 12th most penalties in the league this year and last year they took the seventh most.
Possession does not always correlate with penalties called but New Jersey is one of the worst possession teams in the league and Pittsburgh is climbing towards the league leaders in this category. If Pittsburgh can drive play at even-strength I like their chances of earning those much needed power plays.
The Devils play the least eventful hockey in the NHL at even-strength. I added up the total amount of shot attempt events for each team during 5v5 play this year and New Jersey was by far the lowest with only 3,468.
Pittsburgh is lower on this chart but it also includes the Mike Johnston sample size which was low event hockey. Mike Sullivan's Penguins are playing a much higher event style in the mold of Dallas these days. This game will be a clash of two very different styles of play.
The good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins is that they have increased the probability of making the playoffs by getting some results in January via comeback wins. That bad news is that they are still in coin flip territory as far as their probability of making the playoffs
The Carl Hagelin/David Perron trade has worked out nicely for both parties so far.
Perron has three points in three games with the Ducks and a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 52.0%.
Hagelin has three points in four games with the Penguins and a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 55.7%.
Thanks for reading!