The NHL Team No One Wants To Play

One might say that the Pittsburgh's NHL season, to date, has been a disappointment. Firing a coach while in 10th place with 55 days left in the campaign usually means players are scheduling tee times rather than playing best-of-sevens.

But survey the fans in Boston, New Jersey, and Washington, and there will be one team that no one wants to see in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs: the defending Eastern Conference Champion Penguins.

No one is calling the Pens contenders, and there is no reason they should. Teams that are south of the eighth spot in February are generally not likely to skate around the rink with Lord Stanley's Cup. But still, this Pens team has enough firepower to play spoiler for a real power this spring.

Why? Consider the following:

1. The Penguins are not your typical borderline team. They are season-long underachievers who, in November, were considered contenders for the President's Cup. Teams in any professional sport can have trouble "flipping the switch" come playoff time, and anyone can get hot in a 10-day series. A team with two of the NHL's three leading scorers can beat anyone when their game is on.
2. Health has been a concern; the Penguins have had far more than their share of injuries this year. Young defenseman Ryan Whitney, goaltender Marc Andre-Fluery, and wingers Pascal Dupuis, Ruslan Fedetenko, and Tyler Kennedy have all spent time on injured reserve this year. Heading into the stretch run, Pittsburgh is finally healthy.
3. No. 55, Sergei Gonchar, has become perhaps the best powerplay quarterback in the game and is back after dislocating a shoulder late in the preseason. While Gonchar contributes in many ways, the powerplay might be the deficiency that has held the Pens back the most this year. Last year's powerplay was ranked fourth in the League, but this year's unit has slipped to 25th. The powerplay has connected on two of eight chances since No. 55 has been sliding laterally to the blueline and sending in booming one-timers, with Gonchar picking up assists on each goal. Eight powerplays isn't enough to make any certain evaluations, but one glance shows that there's more more puck control and more quality chances with Gonchar at the point.
4. The energy is palpable. Dan Bylsma has the Penguins playing a faster game, which, if nothing else, allows a hot Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin to take over a game. Michel Therrien preached safety and defense, but Bylsma will allow more freedom for defensemen to join a rush or get closer to the net to keep a puck in the zone. A higher-risk, higher-reward system may or may not be what the Pens need to win games, but it could easily be what they need to wake themselves up after 75 lackluster days of hockey.

Whichever company provides the air conditioners that keep Mellon Arena's ice solid in late May probably doesn't need to be handing out business cards just yet, as the Pens still have work to do to play past the ides of April. But Pittsburgh just might have a say in whether or not portable A/C systems are needed in Beantown, the nation's capital, or the Garden State when the NHL Playoffs move to the second round.