Penguins Face Brutal Western Trip; Could Define Season

There’s an old hockey adage that a team can come together on an extended road trip. Can a team also fall apart? The truth might be somewhere in the middle, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are about to find out.

The team left Saturday for its annual Western Canada trek after practicing at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. First stop is Winnipeg for a Sunday afternoon game, followed by dates in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Sitting at .500 (3-3-0), the Penguins have been anything but consistent.

“We definitely need to find that in us,” Penguins forward Noel Acciari said of consistency.

The past week was a prime example. There was a somewhat sloppy but emotional 6-5 comeback win Wednesday over Buffalo during which Evgeni Malkin reached 500 goals and Sidney Crosby reached 1,600 points plus scored in overtime.

Then came the letdown, a lackluster 4-1 loss to Carolina.

“Being .500 right now, hopefully, we can get above that and have a good trip,” team captain Sidney Crosby said. “We’ve got four games. We’ve got to make sure that we play a little better, especially than (Friday) night.”

It seems that the players have made winning the road trip and coming home with a winning overall record something of a mission.

“We want to be above .500 when we get back,” Acciari said.

Trips to the West can always be trying. There is long travel through different time zones. For this time, which comes earlier than usual, consider this:

• Winnipeg is 4-0-0 and has outscored its opponents 18-5.
• Calgary, too, is 4-0-0, and has nearly doubled up in outscoring its opponents, 19-10. The Penguins have not won in Calgary since Dec. 17, 2019.
• Edmonton could be just as desperate as the Penguins, if not more so, after a 2-3-0 start, and there’s always the dynamic of Crosby and Malkin against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. McDavid just notched his first goal, in the Oilers’ fifth game, Thursday. The Penguins last won at Edmonton on Dec. 20, 2019 and have not beaten the Oilers since a game at home Feb. 13, 2019.
• Vancouver is 1-1-2 and also looking for its footing. The Penguins will be playing for the second consecutive night, with travel from Edmonton, while the Canucks will have been off since Tuesday.

Bleak much?

Well, there is a flip side. And no, not just the idea that they could go the whole trip without risking frostbite.

The Penguins could use the trip to do some of that old-fashioned bonding and always-in-fashion winning.

“We’ve got a lot of road games in the first month,” Crosby said. This trip will make seven on the road in October, 10 in the first full month.

“It’s good for the team to get together. The road’s always a challenge. You’re tested that way, too.”