They’re not quite back on the positive side of the ledger yet, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are on the precipice of returning to .500 for the first time since October 18. That night they fell to 3-3 after a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, and that kicked off a six-game slide that ended on Halloween with a 2-1 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks. Including and since that game, the Penguins are 9-6-3 and they have recovered from their embarrassingly bad start just enough to be on the edge of a playoff spot as well. They have managed to have this winning record despite allowing the third-most goals against on the sixth-most shots against (per 60 minutes in all situations), so they’ve been very lucky despite their defense and goaltending not being very good.
From now until New Year’s Eve, Pittsburgh will have a relatively easier schedule than they have for the past few weeks, with ten games in twenty-one days, six on the road, and mostly against teams outside the playoff picture (tonight’s opponent, the Colored Avalanche, are not in that category).
After hosting Colorado tonight, the Penguins head north to Montreal to visit the last-in-the-Atlantic-Division Montreal Canadiens before swinging west to Ottawa to face the Senators. Pittsburgh then plays two second-place teams sandwiched by the second-worst team in the NHL as they host the Los Angeles Kings next Tuesday then travel to Nashville and New Jersey to face the Predators next Thursday then the Devils next Saturday. Then the Penguins finish the year with three games against two Metropolitan Division rivals as they host the Philadelphia Flyers on the 23rd before getting several days off to prepare for a back-to-back home-and-home against the New York Islanders before ending the year in Detroit against the Red Wings.
Pittsburgh still has a long way to go to recover from having one of the worst goal differentials in the NHL, still sitting tied with the San Jose Sharks for the second-worst number in the League. The good news on that front is that most of the opponents ahead are among the worst in the NHL defensively as Montreal is 31st overall, Colorado 29th, Philadelphia 27th, Ottawa 23rd, and Nashville 22nd in goals allowed per game. In fairness, the Penguins have been the worst team in the NHL in this regard as well, so it’s not like they’re not liable to sink themselves before their offense can do enough damage.
