Penguins Weekly Winners and Losers; Continuing to Roll

PITTSBURGH - Another week of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey has come and gone, and they’ve morphed into one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

Riding a six-game winning streak, the Penguins have had plenty to be happy about and there aren’t many holes that can be poked into their game.

It didn’t really matter how well Kris Letang played this last week, he was going to be considered a winner the second he came back to the lineup after missing only 12 days recovering from a stroke.

As an added bonus, though, Letang has returned and is playing like he never left; no point since his return, but did lead the Penguins in time on ice in both games.

Originally penciled in on the second line, Letang played over 22 minutes in his return game, then followed that up with a 27:35 outing.

Through the two games, Letang has recorded 12 hits and blocked six shots.

The current run of Tristan Jarry has spanned further than a week, but it was his last two matches that highlighted his run.

Jarry is on a career run with a 9-0-2 record in his last 11 games and has played a huge part in the Penguins recent successful stretch.

In the last week, Jarry has played in a pair of games and stopped 53 shots.

A late entry to the winners and losers, but the Penguins are once again dealing with injuries to crucial players.

Jeff Petry was moved to long term injured reserve with an upper-body injury while Jason Zucker is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

It wasn’t long ago that the Penguins were having a stretch of health not seen since 2000-01.

Now, they have to fight for ways to fill the roles being left open by Petry and Zucker.

This choice is a soft decision; Brian Dumoulin’s play has improved since being demoted off of the first defensive pairing, but there are moments where things look brutal.

While the numbers have been ok with a couple of assists in recent games, there are times that Dumoulin has struggled with puck possession or catching passes.

Thanks to pucks skipping over Dumoulin’s stick, either the Penguins have lost momentum in the attacking zone or opportunities have opened up for opposing offenses.

It’s not the worst Dumoulin has looked this season, but it’s the little things that can be killers sometimes.

The Penguins continue to roll along; another perfect week under their belts as they continue to build momentum all over the lineup.

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