Keeping pace with the Peloton

Perhaps it's the Bruins that fixes what ails the Penguins, for the second time in less than week the Pens beat the B's.

Tonight's thoughts:
--Coming into today, a mere 6 points in the standings is the difference for being 2nd place in the Eastern Conference (New Jersey: 41) and being 13th (Atlanta: 35). It kind of reminds me of cycling where the majority of the field is bunched together in the peloton. Some teams might break away, such as Ottawa but really you just want to keep up with the main group and not lose pace with the field, like Washington (30) has and Tampa (33) is teetering on.

--Taking these two points mean the Penguins are up to 8th in the conference...Pretty good considering they were tied for 12th when the day begun. 38 points through 36 games isn't ideal, but considering the injuries and inconsistencies suffered, at least the team is firmly in the peloton for now and hopefully can make a little run to establish themselves as a playoff contender in the second half of the season.

--The tightness of the conference also extends to the competitive Atlantic division. 5 points separates those pesky Devils from the last place tie of Philadelphia and NYI. In the other two divisions, there's at least 11 points from top to bottom.


NOTE to readers: Things may be a little slow around here for the next week, as the holiday season is amongst us (but I'll likely have a recap and thoughts about the Bruins game up tomorrow thanks to actually having to work)...Apologies to that for regular readers, but perhaps you should be spending less time reading blogs this week as you do hang out with your families and loved ones and enjoy the holiday. So season's cheer for a safe and awesome holiday to you all.