Pittsburgh Penguins eyeing another victory as they host Florida Panthers – NHL Preview
The surging Pittsburgh Penguins have an opportunity to crush another opponent as they host the regressing Florida Panthers in a National Hockey League (NHL) game on Friday, March 9, 2012, at CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Both teams are ranked in the comfort zone of the Eastern Conference and can easily qualify for the playoffs, but Panthers have more questions to answer as they have been struggling equally on offence and defence of late.
Here is a look at both teams.
Penguins
They are ranked second in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference with 85 points after 66 games.
At present, Penguins are on a seven-game winning streak with the recent victories coming against New York Rangers (2-0), Tampa Bay Lightning (8-1), Columbus Blue Jackets (4-2), Dallas Stars (4-3 after shootout), Colorado Avalanche (5-1), Phoenix Coyotes
(2-1) and Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2).
In the last game, Penguins were two goals down during the second period, but they staged a commendable comeback and scored one goal in the same period and two in the final to get the victory.
Pascal Dupuis, who scored twice for Penguins, said after the game:
"The way we've been playing, we feel like we can come back in every game and we proved it again tonight.”
Panthers
They are ranked above Penguins in the Eastern Conference, but it is only because they are leading the Southeast division.
However, their recent form is really miserable as they have lost three of their last four games with the recent defeat coming against Philadelphia Flyers.
Flyers scored one goal in the first period and got two goals in the second and third period respectively, while Panthers could not manage even a single scoring move.
Panthers’ coach, Kevin Dineen, said after the game:
"This is a tough one to take. Composure is the biggest issue for us right now. We have veterans here that need to start playing 60 minutes."
Defenseman, Brian Campbell, added:
"We have to keep battling. We have to keep finding some chances any way we can. Any good team in this league is going to take advantage against us if we keep playing like this."
Panthers are ranked at third spot in the conference with 74 points after 66 games.
Predictions
Penguins have an edge.
The sum of goals scored by both teams might exceed six.
If Flyers win, the goal difference will be less than two.
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