With the spring semester ending and unpaid internships on the horizon, Pitt students staying in Oakland over the summer need some entertainment. Sports are a great way to pass the time, and Pittsburgh is one of the best sports cities in the country. If you’re looking for some excitement for the next couple weeks, the Pittsburgh Penguins may just have the answer: the NHL playoffs.
If you haven’t been keeping up, here’s a rundown of what you missed so far. The Penguins had a rather interesting regular season. Despite an injury-riddled season, the Pens clinched the Metropolitan Division and got the two seed in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins were led this year by their captain, Sidney Crosby, who won his second Hart Trophy by leading the NHL with 104 points (36 goals). Other notable forwards this year were Chris Kunitz who had a career-high 35-goal season and Evgeni Malkin who had 72 points despite missing 22 games. On the defensive side, Matt Niskanen had a career year. He led the league in +/- with +33 and recorded 46 points on the season (10 goals). With all the injuries on defense this season, 19-year-old rookie defenseman Olli Maatta saw some extended playing time averaging over 18 minutes on the ice this season. Maatta made his opportunity count with 9 goals and 20 assists on the season. Finally, starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had a solid season with 39 wins, a 2.37 goals against average, and a .915 save percentage.
The Penguins begin the Stanley Cup run against new Metropolitan Division rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Penguins swept the Jackets regular season winning all five matchups. The playoffs, however, are a completely new season. In the first game of the playoffs on April 16, the Penguins were down 3-1 after giving up a short-handed goal early in the second period. They powered back through, scoring three unanswered goals winning 4-3. Goals for the Pens came from Jussi Jokinen, Beau Bennett, Matt Niskanen, and Brandon Sutter. This game was very important for the Penguins. It showed me that they had the grit and offensive depth to come back from a rather significant deficit to win. I was also happy to see that after a shaky start, Marc-Andre Fleury was able to settle down and be solid in goal when it mattered. In the past, Fleury has not played well in the playoffs despite usually starting off very strong. If he can remain solid and the Penguins clamp down defensively, this team could certainly make a run for the cup.
Expect some exciting hockey in the coming weeks. This series with Columbus will only heat up and, if the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets, they will play the winner of the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers series. You don’t want to miss that. Buckle up baby!
Source: ESPN
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