Common science could lead one to think that penguins can not fly but the streak that Pittsburgh’s NHL team is presently on may have zoologists revisiting that theory. The Penguins have won six consecutive matches and have cashed 11 straight OVERs, beating their opponents by an average score of 5.83-2.33 during the winning streak.
The Pens are scoring goals in an impressive rate right now and are pacing the league in five-on-five shots by a large margin. Pittsburgh’s high-powered crime got out of the gates a little slow but has finally punched the throttle and jammed the shifter into top gear.
Throughout their streak of 11 straight OVERs, the Pens are averaging 4.7 aims and have scored five or more goals five times. They’ve been breaching these totals by themselves and it’s hard to understand that stopping any time soon — but I am pretty gullible and almost always fall into the recency bias snare.
If the Penguins keep this up, we may start seeing some totals of 6 pop up at the betting window but the way in which they are scoring right now, that would not even matter. When the totals for all their games during the OVER series were 6, rather than 5.5, their OVER/UNDER record would still be 10-0-1. Although the Rangers still lead the league in goals , the Penguins can overtake them when they play with the Bruins. A triumph against the B’s tonight would break the deadlock on top of the Metropolitan Division and if the Penguins score three goals or more, they will go into first position in goals scored for the year. Given that they have not scored fewer than three because November 25, Tuukka Rask may have to stand on his mind if he would like to maintain the Pens below three.
The largest contributors to the Pens’ success right now are the big three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, who have combined for 30 — yes, 30 — points in their past six matches. That’s 1.67 points a game for every one of these guys if you divide their complete production into three equal pieces.
Provided that these men keep snapping, you are safe to keep backing the Penguins on either the moneyline (6-0 in their past 6) and puckline (5-1 in their last 6) and will pretty much bet the OVER liberally until Pittsburgh articles a stinker or the total moves .
This is actually the same Penguins team we saw march their way throughout the playoffs last year and they’ve put the entire league on notice. Pittsburgh is rapidly cementing itself at the top of all the futures boards and could easily become the second team to acquire back-to-back Stanley Cups since the Mario Lemieux-led Pens lifted Lord Stanley’s mug in the conclusion of the’90-91 and’91-92 seasons.
Fly Penguins Fly.