Midway Point

Well, It's 2010. The Pens have fallen once again into a 4 game losing streak with losses to the mediocre Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, and Tampa Bay Lightning. The only credible loss came to the New Jersey Devils where Martin Brodeur once again blanked the Penguins for his 104th career shutout. The record-tying shutout, of course, came against the Penguins previously.

The only issue with this losing streak, besides the mediocrity, is that only Sergei Gonchar is out. Last time they had a losing streak like this, almost the entire team was injured. Malkin, Talbot, Gonchar, Letang, McKee, Goligoski, Kennedy, Kunitz, and multiple others were out. Maybe they need to change the lines. The line most would expect not to change is the "Sesame Street" line consisting of Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy, and Jordan Staal. They are quite a group of workhorses. Jordan Staal with his size and ability to score shorthanded goals, Matt Cooke with his grit and roughness, and Tyler Kennedy with his speed and ability to crash the net.

Some may call for a trade, or even a coaching change. The Pens' Power Play, which remains 30th in the league out of 30 teams, is run by coach Mike Yeo. I know Gonchar is out, yes, but even with Sarge, it was still awful. Is it Yeo? We may not find out. It is up to Ray Shero to figure out what is wrong and decide how to deal with it. He may trade someone, move players down to/up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton, or change coaches other than Dan Bylsma. One thing can be said, we know it is not Disco Dan's fault. Without him, there would be no Stanley Cup and we would still have Michel Therrien, the Defensive Dictator.