The Pittsburgh Penguins will need their top guys to contribute to start winning consistently again.
PITTSBURGH - Sure, the entire Pittsburgh Penguins lineup needs to improve their play from the last two games, but the top stars have been a little too quiet.
As the Penguins look to make a statement against the New Jersey Devils, they’re going to need their top players to find a different level.
You can easily link the lack of scoring touch from key guys to the last two losses; as painful as they were, the top six struggled to produce in both games.
There are still a few players on the roster that are seeing scoring droughts, but these players need a quick turn around before things get out of hand.
Sidney Crosby has been on a torrid pace this season, at one point projected to record 111 points, but he’s been silent the last two games.
Since returning from the Christmas break, Crosby is yet to record a point and is a minus-4 in the last two contests.
Any kind of scoring help from Crosby would have been useful against the Detroit Red Wings, especially during desperation time.
Crosby’s linemates have also been snake bitten recently in their own way; both Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell have been blanked in the last three games and Guentzel has a growing goaless streak.
It wouldn’t have been surprising to see Guetnzel flirt with a 50-goal season this year, but that looks harder to reach as he hasn’t found the back of the net in five contests.
Evgeni Malkin is still looking for his one point to push him past Sergei Fedorov for second most points by a Russian-born player.
Absent from the score sheet in three consecutive games, the Penguins need Malkin to contribute as the second line center.
There’s no doubt all of these players will produce again, but it needs to happen sooner rather than later to help the Penguins start winning again.
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