Pittsburgh Penguins Are Close To "Getting to Their Game"

On the surface, Monday's bizarre 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers at CONSOL Energy Center seemed to be an unsightly blemish on the Pittsburgh Penguins' already pockmarked season.

The Penguins scored twice in less than a minute to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead with 1:53 left in regulation, only to surrender the tying shorthanded goal and the overtime winner on blatant defensive errors. These unique circumstances contribute to the idea that it might place a long-lasting mental burden on the team.

Even though the Penguins' home record remains at 3-5-1, and the point they squandered to the Rangers kept them from winning three in a row, a look through the wide-angle lens reveals that Pittsburgh is much closer to "getting to [their] game," to use coach Dan Bylsma's pet phrase.

At 9-8-2 entering Wednesday's game, Pittsburgh is seven points behind Philadelphia for first place in the Atlantic Division, but the Black and Vegas Gold is far from in serious trouble. Their 20 points place them fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Standings aside, the Penguins have recovered nicely from last Wednesday's third-period implosion that resulted in a 7-4 home loss to Boston. Since that epic collapse, Pittsburgh has gone 2-0-1 and has largely looked strong in the process.

Just as importantly, when the Penguins haven't controlled play, franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has made enough above-average saves to convince players, coaches and fans that he's well on his way to recovering from an abysmal first month.

With Selke Trophy finalist Jordan Staal still two to three weeks away from returning to the ice after sustaining an unfortunate broken hand in practice, the Penguins have certainly not played themselves out of contention. It's a modest accomplishment, for sure, but considering how many storylines have gone askew thus far, it's something to be proud of nonetheless.

The sourest aspect of the season's first 19 games, the 24th-ranked power play, has been conveniently counteracted by the stout penalty-killing unit, which is fourth in the NHL with a remarkable 87.5 percent success rate. Factoring in Staal's absence makes the PK's success even more astounding. The 6-foot-4 center has effectively gobbled up huge quantities of shorthanded minutes throughout his five-year career.

(Interestingly enough, while the Michel Therrien regime produced elite power-play units on a consistent basis, the first two seasons of Bylsma's reign have seen the Penguins kill penalties at rates rarely seen in the club's 43-year history.)

Even Evgeni Malkin has started to turn his season in a more prolific direction, as his hat trick in Atlanta last Saturday showed his return to the center position has the potential to bear much fruit. While the Penguins' preseason plan featured Staal (center) and Malkin (wing) teaming up on the second line, the explosive Russian has a chance to throw that unification into doubt with more productive play.

Certainly the Penguins haven't exorcised all the demons from their game; witness Malkin's late giveaway that led to the Rangers' tying goal Wednesday, or defenseman Zybnek Michalek's series of errors since returning from a shoulder injury, for evidence of that.

But while mental and physical mistakes are still being made at an unsatisfactory rate, the past seven days in Penguins land have gone a long way toward steering the Good Ship Bylsma to its intended destination.