Will the Pittsburgh Penguins Current Injury Issues Impact Their Playoff Run?

Pittsburgh Penguins fans: It's time to panic.

Over the past month, the Penguins have returned to their usual position as one of the most injury-ridden teams in the NHL. With five players now diagnosed with mumps (per Jimmy Hascup of USA Today) and a long list of other ailments from blood clots to wrist and foot problems, the Pens are on a season-worst four-game winless streak and, once again, could be setting themselves up for trouble in the playoffs.

With 10 regular skaters out of the lineup as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the New Jersey Devils on Monday night (per TSN), the Pens have now lost 108 man-games to injury this season, according the website Man Games Lost. Only the Anaheim Ducks have been hit harder.

It's sadly familiar territory for the Penguins, who have suffered more than their fair share of misfortune since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. Here's how they've ranked among NHL teams over the past five regular seasons:

Season	Games Lost	Rank in NHL	Most Notable Injuries	Playoff Result
2013-14	429	1st	• Kris Letang (played 37 games) • Paul Martin (played 39 games) • Pascal Dupuis (played 39 games)	lost in second round
2012-13	78 (48 game season)	26th	• Sidney Crosby (played 36 games) • Paul Martin (played 34 games) • Kris Letang (played 35 games)	lost in third round
2011-12	355	5th	• Sidney Crosby (played 22 games) • Kris Letang (played 51 games) • Jordan Staal (played 62 games)	lost in first round
2010-11	348	7th	• Sidney Crosby (played 41 games) • Jordan Staal (played 42 games) • Evgeni Malkin (played 43 games)	lost in first round
2009-10	182	20th	• Evgeni Malkin (played 67 games) • Kris Letang (played 50 games) • Sergei Gonchar (played 62 games)	lost in second round

Data from 2013-14 and from this season counts only games lost to injury and illness. Earlier seasons reflect a broader "man-games lost" number that can includes suspensions and did-not-dress.

It looks like there is a correlation between the Penguins injury woes and their playoff performances.

That seemed crystal clear in 2011, when Pittsburgh fell in the first round to the Tampa Bay Lightning without the services of superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Last season, the impact of the team's league-leading injury count was more subtle, but still present.

In January of 2014, Kevin Allen of USA Today lauded the Penguins for continuing to lead the Eastern Conference despite their lengthy injured list at that time. Pittsburgh kept up the pace, finishing the year ranked first in the Metropolitan Division and second in the conference.

By playoff time, most of the team's key players were healthy. Pascal Dupuis and Kris Letang remained sidelined with their season-ending ailments, and Brooks Orpik started the postseason on the injured list.

With a healthy Malkin and Crosby in Art Ross Trophy form, the Penguins were hoping to build on their Eastern Conference Final appearance from 2013 and get all the way back to the Stanley Cup Final. Instead, the team took a step backward when it fell to the New York Rangers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Crosby posted just one postseason goal. We learned after the playoffs were over that he had suffered a wrist injury back on March 23, which had affected his shot. But was the real damage done earlier, when Crosby and his teammates all gave a little extra to help patch the holes in the Penguins roster?

Crosby ended the regular season ranked second among forwards in average ice time per game at 21:58. Defenders like Matt Niskanen and Olli Maatta had stepped up in a big way during the regular season but didn't have much more to give once the Rangers started their second-round comeback. Over a long season, energy expended when players play big minutes in December or January might turn out to be unavailable when needed during the tough playoff grind.

This season, young blueliners like Scott Harrington, Brian Dumoulin and Derrick Pouliot have picked up the slack while top defensemen Maatta, Letang and Christian Ehrhoff have been on the injured list. Their performance has started to dip in recent games, and it's unlikely that they'll be able to sustain their initial high level of play for the second half of the season and into the playoffs.

The same likely holds true up front, where bottom-six forwards like Blake Comeau, Steve Downie and Nick Spaling have made solid offensive contributions when asked to step into top-line and power-play roles—before Comeau injured his wrist and Downie got the mumps, that is. Malkin deserves full credit for his fine play as one of just three Penguins to appear in all 36 games this season. But he's practically a one-man show these days: How worn down will he be by April?

Penguins fans got some good news from Tuesday's practice. According to Michele Crechiolo of the Penguins website, Ehrhoff, Beau Bennett and Craig Adams are close to rejoining the lineup, Thomas Greiss is ready to resume backup-goaltending duties, and Paul Martin could also get back this week. Downie, Zach Sill and Maatta also skated before practice, leaving "only" Dupuis (blood clots), Scott Wilson (leg), Comeau (upper body) and Patric Hornqvist (lower body) off the ice. At this point, only Dupuis' situation is expected to be season-ending.

Even as the bodies come back, it might already be too little, too late. If the Penguins once again find themselves among league leaders in man-games lost at the end of the regular season, we could see another disappointing spring for hockey in Steeltown.