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The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 to close out their Western Canada road trip 2-0-1. By taking 5 out of 6 points on the road trip the Penguins were able to maintain their healthy cushion atop the Metropolitan Division. They currently have an 18 point lead in the division over the Washington Capitals (Penguins have played in 3 more games).
It was important for the Penguins to have a successful trip because they will not be playing a lot of games in the near future. The only game on the schedule this week is the Wednesday night matchup against the Washington Capitals.
Here are the game highlights from last night:
The time off from game action is not very exciting for fans but it is probably just what the Penguins need right now. The Penguins are still waiting for key players such as Paul Martin, Beau Bennett, and Jayson Megna to heal up. I believe the current way the Penguins have been winning games (star players carrying offensive load)is not sustainable over the course of a large sample size and getting healthy bodies back is imperative for consistent quality play.
There is some good news to report on the injury front:
Hello from Calgary. Updates: Martin and Megna are skating in Pittsburgh, Bennett had cast removed from wrist, no surgery for Dupuis yet.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) January 12, 2014Getting Paul Martin back is a huge boost and considering the Penguins bottom 6 struggles, the mere thought of adding a guy like Megna to the lineup is very exciting (probably more so than it should be).
Here is the cold stark reality of the Penguins bottom 6 scoring:
Adams no goals in 42 games; Pyatt none in 26; Glass none in 19; Vitale none in 18; Sill none in 17; Sutter none in 9.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) January 12, 2014It does not appear that there will be any further disciplinary action taken against Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo. Bortuzzo was given a match penalty for his hit on Flames defenseman Mark Giordano. Given that the principal point of contact was the shoulder I believe that the match penalty was suffice punishment.
There was a good amount of criticism over the Penguins penalty killing unit that was implemented in the overtime loss against the Oilers. Craig Adams, Tanner Glass, and Brooks Orpik had a solid bounce back performance against Calgary. Craig Adams led all Penguins forwards in ice time shorthanded against the Flames with 4:09, Tanner Glass was 2nd amongst forwards at 4:01, and Brooks Orpik led all Penguins defensemen with 3:52 of shorthanded ice time. The Flames went 0-5 on the power play including the Bortuzzo 5 minute major.
In your gossip update of the day former Penguins legend Mike Comrie has recently separated from his wife Hillary Duff.
Thanks for reading!
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