The Pittsburgh Penguins were not weighed down by too much turkey on Thansksgiving as on Friday night they won a hard fought game against the Ottawa Senators 2-1 and on Saturday they breezed past the Calgary Flames 4-1. The Senators, now 9th in the East, have struggled.

Through Saturday the Senators had scored 14 less goals than they have allowed and are 4-6-0 in their last ten. Despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead against the Pens, Evgeni Malkin (8 – PPG) and Alex Goligoski (5) provided all the offense needed in front of Marc-Andre Fleuy’s 43 save performance. Despite 21 shot in the first period, Ottawa just could not find the net.

Calgary has been on of the worst teams in the Western Conference this year. After loosing to the Penguins their record stood at just 9-12-2 but with a goal differential of just -5 on the year they are capable of staying in games. But the Penguins jumped on them early in the second with a goal by Arron Asham (3) and a hat trick by Sidney Crosby (16, 17 & 18) thanks to the empty net to make the game never in doubt. Brent Johnson spelled Fleury who has been red hot lately and made 30 saves as the Penguins shot the puck 43 times.

The win against the Flames was the Penguins sixth in a row and they have points in their last 9 going 8-0-1 in that time. Over their last ten games the Penguins are 8-1-1.

Next up for the 15-8-2 Penguins are the 14-10-1 Rangers on Monday night. Last time these two teams met the Penguins scored two late goals to take a 2-1 lead only to see the Rangers score late to tie the game and then finish the Pens off in overtime.

The Penguins are making another run for Lord Stanley’s Cup this year and while they get a lot of credit for their offensive domination of opposing teams, their defense is playing among some of the league’s best hockey heading into the new year.

Pittsburgh’s goal scoring prowess is unquestionable. They are third in the league in goals scored at 124 behind only San Jose (127) and Washington (139). Don’t forget, that was with literally a third of their roster sitting out for the better part of a month due to injuries too including Evgeni Malkin.

But the Pen’s defense was decimated too! Making it all the more impressive that they are 8th in the league in goals allowed with just 97. That differential of +27 is 5th in the league heading into tonight’s action against the Toronto Maple Leafs who are the exact opposite at -27 (109 goals for and 136 goals allowed).

Marc-Andre Fleury is a big reason for those good numbers on defense too. His 22 wins are tied for second best in the NHL and .911 save percentage and 2.39 save percentage are big contributors to the team’s winning.