Trouble in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the middle of a fairly rough stretch losing five of the last seven and with the exception of a 9-2 thrashing of the lowly New York Islanders scoring has been a problem. For most of the season to this point Pittsburgh has had trouble keeping opponents off the score board but were able to post enough goals to win games 6-5, 7-6, etc. However, not only have the defensive struggles continued but now the Penguins are not scoring a lot of goals. Games they have been able to come back to win or overcome blown leads by basically “scoring” their way out of it simply is not happening anymore. Injuries have seemed to plagued this team from day one of training camp and despite all that they currently sit sixth in the east but the standings will not be forgiving for much longer. No matter the amount of injuries, long road trips, normal slumps of a long season or otherwise the excuses have to stop. There is no position in the playoffs reserved for the team who had the most injuries but still did “pretty well” considering the circumstances. Last year’s success has no bearing on this season and no one is entitled to anything because of what they have done in the past in professional sports (see the 2007 Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes of the last two years). There is time to right the ship but it better be righted quickly or Pittsburgh will have a bunch of talented hockey players populating golf courses everywhere come mid April.