PENGUINS 77 In seasons where Sidney Crosby plays at least 77 games, he’s topped the 100-point mark. Projected Roster LW C RW 1st Line Chris Kunitz Sidney Crosby Pascal Dupuis 2nd Line Patric Hornqvist Evgeni Malkin Beau Bennett 3rd Line Nic Spaling Brandon Sutter Steve Downie 4th Line Blake Comeau Marcel Goc Kasperi Kaspanen D D #1 Paul Martin Christian Ehrhoff #2 Kris Letang Olli Maatta #3 Rob Scuderi Simon Depres G Starter: Marc-Andre Fleury Backup: Thomas Greiss Scoreboard 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 PLAYOFF FINISH Conf SF Conf Final Conf QF Conf QF Conf SF REGULAR SEASON 51-24-7 36-12-0 51-25-6 49-25-8 47-28-7 POINT TOTAL 109 72 108 106 101 SHOOTOUT RECORD 7-3 3-0 9-3 10-3 8-2 GOALS SCORED 249 165 282 238 257 GOALS ALLOWED 207 119 221 199 237 POWER PLAY % 23.38 24.71 19.72 15.76 17.18 PENALTY KILL % 85.04 79.64 87.78 86.11 84.10 swapping out James Neal and Jussi Jokinen for Patric Hornqvist, Nick Spaling, Steve Downie and Blake Comeau. Hornqvist scored 22 times last year and had 30 goals in 2009- 10, while Spaling hit the next on 13 occasions. They should help, but it would be even bigger if Pascal Dupuis came back 100 percent from his knee injury to work a full year on the first line. The Pens hope to get help from youngsters Beau Bennett and Kaspari Kapanen, last year’s first-round pick. Defense Pittsburgh should be plenty strong on its first two tandems, but depth could be a problem. Letting Brooks Orpik and Mats Niskanen, last year’s top-scoring defenseman, go was somewhat curious. Although the Pens were eighth in fewest goals allowed last year, they have never been known as an extremely stingy outfit, and that’s unlikely to change under new coach Mike Johnston, who wants to play fast and up-tempo. The Penguins did import a new front-line defenseman, veteran Christian Ehrhoff, who didn’t exactly overwhelm people last year in Buffalo, registering a minus-27 rating. Of course, he was plus-36 in 2009-10, so that might be a more accurate representation of his potential. He’ll likely team with Paul Martin, a sturdy veteran who isn’t known for scoring but is a strong force on the blue line. The second group includes Kris Letang and Olli Maatta. Letang scored a career-high 11 goals last year, but his minus-eight rating reversed a trend of three strong years in that category. Maata is only 20 but showed plenty last year, scoring nine times and finishing at plus-eight for the year. He has plenty of potential and could be a stalwart for a long time. There is some trouble after that. Orpik led the team with 221 hits last year, so Pittsburgh is surrendering some toughness by not having him. And Niskanen scored 10 times in 2013-14 and had a robust plus-33 rating. The Pens must hope Simon Depres and Rob Scuderi, who turns 36 in December, can provide necessary depth at the position. Robert Bortuzzo
Pittsburgh Penguins Gameday HQ
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