Pittsburgh Penguins: Not Just Offensively Stacked!

10-1

Yes, the above record is the Pittsburgh Penguins' overall playoff record this season.  Not only is this very impressive, but pretty much a 500 percent improvement from last year. (1-4)

This success is not just coming from one aspect of the Penguins' play.  Yes, they are the most offensively stacked team in the playoffs (Crosby, Malkin, Hossa, Sykora), but they are also rock solid in the defensive aspect as well (Gonchar, Gil, Orpik, Whitney, and of course Fleury).

The Pens are an offense threat waiting to happen when you turn the puck over right to their sticks. Example: Friday's night game.  All four lines for the Pens can score pretty much on command. 

The top two lines (Malkin, Malone, Sykora), and (Crosby, Hossa, Dupius) are doing some heavy damage to opponents right now with both Crosby and Malkin having 17 points in 11 games.

If a team plays Pittsburgh at home they can expect a six man advantage at all times with the crowd being as into the game as they have been.  This is why the Pens have won the last seven games at home.

As the saying goes, "Offense wins games, defense wins championships." 

By the looks of it, Pittsburgh will be well on their way to winning their third Stanley Cup if they keep up their defensive game as they have been.  The Penguins have only allowed 21 goals against in the last 11 games, while they have been able to score 39 goals in the same amount. 

Special teams is the key to winning or losing against the Pens because they will definitely make you pay for taking a stupid penalty. They have cashed in 23.6 percent of the time and have killed off 88.6 percent of their own penalties.

Philly will have to get their fans into this game early, not turn over the puck and get fewer than three penalties against the powerhouse Pittsburgh Penguins.

On the other hand, the Penguins will have to break through the sixth man advantage the Flyers will have, not take bad penalties, and get their scoring groove on early and often to win game three. It will be a very hard fought battle in Pennsylvania.