2006-2007 Pittsburgh Penguins: Youngsters

2006-2007 Pittsburgh Penguins: Youngsters

2006-2007 Pittsburgh Penguins: Youngsters

The middle to late 2000’s was the beginning of a change back to winning hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they begun the era of center Sidney Crosby in 2005. The year prior to that left winger Evgeni Malkin was taken by the Penguins with the 2nd overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Successfully negotiating a deal for a new hockey arena, the Penguins were guaranteed to stay in the Steel City.

The Penguins went 47-24-11 (overtime losses) in 2006-2007, finishing just 2 points behind the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic division. The Penguins went 26-10-5 at their home arena called the Mellon Arena, and they went 21-14-6 on the road.

In head-to-head play the Penguins went 8-0 against the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1-2 against the New York Rangers, 4-0 against the Washington Capitals, 3-0-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 against the Ottawa Senators, 2-0-2 against the Boston Bruins, 2-1-1 against the Atlanta Thrashers and the Montreal Canadiens, and 2-2 against the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers.

In his 2nd NHL season at the age of 19 Sidney Crosby had 36 goals and 84 assists for 120 points with 13 power play goals, 48 power play assists and 4 game-winning goals off 250 shots. Evgeni Malkin played his first season at the age of 20 and had 33 goals and 52 assists for 85 points with 16 power play goals, 24 power play assists and 6 game-winning goals off 242 shots. Added to the group of talented youngsters with the 2nd overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft would be center Jordan Staal, who played his first season at the age of 18. Staal had 29 goals and 13 assists for 42 points with 7 short-handed goals and 4 game-winning goals off 131 shots.

Being anything but young in hockey, the 38-year-old right winger Mark Recchi signed with the Penguins out of free agency to go on a 3rd stint with the organization. Recchi mentored the young players while dialing back the clock on his own play as he had 24 goals and 44 assists for 68 points with 14 power play goals and 13 power play assists off 190 shots. Right winger Michel Ouellet had 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points with 11 power play goals and 8 power play assists off 148 shots. Center Erik Christensen had 18 goals and 15 assists off 133 shots.

Left winger Ryan Malone had 16 goals and 15 assists off 125 shots. Defenseman Ryan Whitney had 14 goals and 45 assists for 59 points with 9 power play goals and 24 power play assists off 129 shots. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar had 13 goals and 54 assists for 67 points with 10 power play goals and 38 power play assists off 191 shots. Center Maxime Talbot had 13 goals and 11 assists with 4 short-handed goals and 4 game-winning goals off 88 shots. Right winger Colby Armstrong had 12 goals and 22 assists off 145 shots.

The youth movement that was on display with the Pittsburgh Penguins manifested into a great abundance of power play opportunities, which led to much scoring. The Penguins as a team scored 04 power play goals, which led the NHL for the most, and they also obtained 463 power play opportunities, which was also the most in the NHL.

While the Penguins had an explosive offense that posed as a big problem for the rest of the NHL, they did have a reliable goaltender who prevented goals from being scored. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury went 40-16-9, allowing 184 goals off 1954 shots in 3905 minutes, recording 1770 saves, a .906 save percentage, a 2.83 goals against average and 5 shutouts.

While November and December were shaky months for the Penguins, the team fared well in every other month during the regular season as they went 6-6 in October, 8-2-2 in January, 9-3-1 in February, 12-3-2 in March and 2-1 in April. The Penguins went on a 6-game winning streak which began with a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on February 6, and it ended with a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on February 18.

While the regular season turned out to be a clear indicator of future success for the team, there unfortunately wouldn’t be success in the immediate future for the Penguins as they would be bumped out of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by the Ottawa Senators 4 games to 1. The only game the Penguins won would be Game 2 on April 14 at the Scotiabank Place by the score of 4-3.

The scoring began with a power play goal by Ryan Whitney 3:01 into the 1st period. The Senators put the pressure on in the 2nd period as center Jason Spezza scored a goal at 8:28 in, and then right winger Daniel Alfredsson scored a power play goal at 16:44 in. 2:04 into the 3rd period left winger Gary Roberts scored a power play goal for Pittsburgh, and then at 6:18 in center and left winger Chris Kelly scored a goal for Ottawa. At 9:34 in Jordan Staal scored a goal to tie the game, and then at 11:44 in Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal.

The abrupt end to their playoff run in 2007 only motivated the Pittsburgh Penguins to band together as a team and improve their skills. 2 years later in 2009 Crosby, Malkin, Staal and the young crew would realize their potential and win the Stanley Cup.