Penguins Need Confidence...and QUICK!

The Penguins Need To Find THEIR Way to Win

I realize it is still extremely early in this young lockout shortened season, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are a staggering team.  A team that not only lacks motivation and energy, but they lack confidence.  This is all new ground for the Penguins and the fan base since the Penguins finally broke through in the playoffs in 2008 and made it to the Stanley Cup Final.  Back then, they were considered the young team that was on the rise.  Now those young players (Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Fleury) are seasoned veterans, and quite frankly, I don't think anyone in that room knows how to deal with this lack of confidence.

On Twitter, Pittsburgh fans are going nuts about the comparisons of the Pens and Steelers.  The Steelers coming off a season where those seasoned veterans now looked old and slow.  The Penguins are not old, but they sure do look slow.  This is something that you would expect to see from a team that is learning a new system, like the Washington Capitals, but the Penguins have had the same head coach for the last 4+ seasons.  This system is transitioning, but there is no reason for the Penguins to be getting out skated in 3 of their last 4 games.  The Penguins might not have a team full of "speedsters", but that doesn't mean that they are also a team full of guys like Hall Gill who can't even move on the ice.  This Penguins team is fast, but not the fastest, but unlike other teams that don't blow your doors off (the Boston Bruins) they aren't able to play the "tough guy" game where you bully your way to wins.  The Bruins this year are nasty, and thats how they win.  The Penguins don't have that capability, but they need to find THEIR way to win...and they need to find it soon.

Look, I understand that confidence comes and goes, and right now the Penguins are not really feeling that confidence in their game.  However, confidence is a person that can change address rather quickly, and tonight is one of those chances where the Pens can get confidence back into the Pittsburgh area code.  The New York Rangers are more than just a bitter Atlantic Division rival.  They are going to be pumped up to prove that the loss in the second game of this young season where the Penguins defeated the Rangers with a sizeable margin and pushed "King" Henrik out of his cage...that all of that was an aberration. 

The Penguins have their work cut out for them, but the energy and emotion needs to improve, or else the stretch of their next 10 games (vs the Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Capitals) could be a long one.  I have a feeling the Penguins put on a good offensive show tonight, and they make the plays necessary to win the game...and hopefully Mr. Momentum and Mr. Confidence decide to change their address to the 'Burgh.