NOT DEAD JUST YET?

Pittsburgh’s 6-3 win over the woeful San Jose Sharks was about as uninspiring it could get. Pittsburgh trailed 2-1 after one period and were involved in a tied hockey game after forty minutes. Facing a goaltender with a Goals Against Average heading towards the 5.00 range who couldn’t control a rebound all night, the dam was eventually going to break open and for the Penguins thankfully did in the third period as the Penguins outscored the Sharks 3-0 in the final frame for the win.

Pittsburgh’s play without the puck had moments where again the team looked disinterested and was quite alarming against the caliber of opponent, especially in the first period. Overall, in the game Pittsburgh was minus-20 in shot attempts during 5 vs 5 play. Pittsburgh comes out Saturday defending the way they did against the Sharks, it’s going to be a long day vs the Rangers.

But a win is a win and the abundance of average or even below average teams still hovering around for the final wildcard spot has given the Penguins to at least show some pride and get up for this next little stretch of games.

The Penguins enter Friday with a pretty woeful .516 points percentage, their math is still really bad, but somehow, they still sit just five points out of a wildcard spot and face two teams ahead of them over the next three games. Someone might win the final wildcard spot with 88-89 points. As bad as the Penguins have been over the last couple weeks, there’s also been a major shift where any hope of making the playoffs was going to be for third place in the Metropolitan Division, to now the final wild card spot with the Detroit Red Wings imploding and losing seven straight………..

Points Pace: NYI 91 pts | WSH 90 Pts | DET 89 pts | PIT 85 Pts | BUF 84 pts | NJD 84 Pts |

Pittsburgh is home vs the Rangers (3/16) and home vs Detroit (3/17) on back-to-back days for St. Patricks Day Weekend, followed by a road game against the New Jersey Devils Tuesday Night before a three-game gauntlet against @ Dallas, @ Colorado, vs Carolina.

The next three games will show if the team has really packed it in or not. They have life because of teams above them to at least get up for a weekend that still matters. If they come out just going through the motion it will again say a lot.

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Two Best Players on the Ice Thursday Night

Drew O’Connor and Yes Mikael Granlund.

O’Connor was a beast in the win. His puck hunting ability and presence on the forecheck was among his most impactful games of the year. Shift after shift he was best players on the ice, which saw him in the third period elevated to Sidney Crosby’s line in place of Michael Bunting.

Meanwhile, Granlund was very effective in the win from a possession standpoint and was a major presence in the offensive zone where he created 1-on-1 offense and gave the Penguins top-line fits at different times in the game which saw a switch being made. The Granlund line-controlled play at a 65% clip.

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#20’s

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