8-0-2 Run Has Pittsburgh Penguins Challenging For Home Ice in First Round

A lot can change in a month.

Whether it's considered one unbroken unit or reduced to four weeks, 28 days, 672 hours, 40,320 minutes or 2,419,200 seconds, the fact remains that a month is a reasonable amount of time from which to gauge how a given situation has changed.

The Pittsburgh Penguins underwent no small amount of change from Feb. 15 to March 15. The methods of the team's metamorphosis were primarily subtraction—head coach Michel Therrien was fired, defenseman Ryan Whitney was dealt away—and addition—Dan Bylsma took over behind the bench and Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, and Craig Adams were acquired prior to the NHL's trade deadline.

Interim coach Bylsma has applied his personal hockey philosophy to the Penguins' retooled roster, transforming a club that had learned to rely on a patient, counterpunching approach into an assertive bunch that aims to exhaust the opposition by possessing the puck in the offensive zone.

More importantly, the Pens have risen from a 27-25-5 record that held them outside the Eastern Conference's projected playoff field to a 37-26-8 mark that has pulled the No. 4 seed and home-ice advantage in the first round into reach.

Sunday afternoon's 6-4 outgunning of the conference-leading Boston Bruins not only gave Pittsburgh a 10-1-3 record over the past month, but also extended a season-best 10-game unbeaten streak heading into Tuesday's home tilt with the Atlanta Thrashers.

That the Penguins managed to rally from a deficit after trailing through two periods for the league-leading 11th time this season was significant for reasons besides the fact that front-running Boston was the opponent.

The comeback win also functioned as a palate cleanser following two straight shootout losses, the latter of which occurred after Pittsburgh squandered a 3-1 lead with eight minutes to play Saturday against the non-contending Ottawa Senators.

Sunday's triumph highlighted just how much the Penguins' forward depth has improved after general manager Ray Shero's recent tinkering.

Less than a minute into the contest, Guerin one-timed a bullet past Boston goalie Tim Thomas off a sweet setup from Sidney Crosby behind the goal. It was Guerin's second goal in six games wearing the black and gold to complement his six assists.

Later in the first period, with the Bruins having taken the lead back at 2-1, Kunitz redirected a short Crosby feed into the cage during a 5-on-3 power play. The gritty goal was Kunitz' fourth in his ninth game with Pittsburgh, and there was more to come from the former Anaheim Duck.

The Pens trailed 3-2 heading into the final frame, but quickly earned a man-advantage and capitalized to tie the score. Sergei Gonchar floated a 50-foot wrister into the twine through a double screen set by Kunitz and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin.

While the puck appeared to deflect off Kunitz' glove, he insisted to the contrary, which cost him his second career hat trick when he converted a breakaway pass from Guerin into an electrifying go-ahead tally just 18 seconds later. Kunitz now has 11 points (5+6) in nine games as a Penguin.

Even though Boston knotted the game again courtesy of a Michael Ryder unassisted goal, Jordan Staal set up Petr Sykora in the left circle for the game-winner at 9:29 of the period, then Staal himself stole the puck and potted an empty-netter in the final minute.

The Penguins' 20-year-old third-line center has points in six of his last nine games, corresponding nicely with his team's 8-0-2 run. Beyond the scoresheet, the 6'4" Staal has been a puck-possession dynamo of late, putting his angular frame between the puck and his checker with consistency.

Also, captain Crosby has quietly  constructed a 10-game point streak, dating back to Feb. 16 at the Islanders, the first game of the Bylsma era (he missed four games due to a groin injury). It's not a coincidence that the Penguins have surged in the midst of Sid's 18-point burst.

In the gridlocked East, Pittsburgh is four points ahead of the ninth-place Florida Panthers, yet only two points back of the Philadelphia Flyers, who hold the No. 4 spot. The precarious nature of playoff positioning ensures the Pens will have ample motivation to continue their high quality of play through the final 11 games.

If they do keep rolling, the fourth seed and the first-round home ice that accompanies it is an attainable goal, even if the Flyers have three games in hand. Six more consecutive home dates give the Penguins an honest chance at overtaking their Keystone State brethren.

Another four weeks remain in the NHL's regular season. The harsh truth is the Penguins need one more favorable month to guarantee a postseason berth.

The good news? They've already churned out one spectacular month.