Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Playoff Preview

NHL odds makers have made the Penguins the favored team in the East and with Fleury back on the ice, Pittsburgh could go a long way in 2008.

The Pittsburgh Penguins looked like they were going to be in big trouble this season when top forward Sidney Crosby and top goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury both suffered major injuries. Not only were the Pens’ Stanley Cup odds written off, but many hockey experts figured the team would fall out of the playoff picture.

However, the team got some stellar fill-in work from journeyman netminder Ty Conklin and an MVP-caliber campaign from Evgeni Malkin, and their odds to win the 2008 Stanley Cup now look much better. A mid-season surge carried Pittsburgh to the top of the Atlantic Division, and with Crosby and Fleury now back on the ice they’ll be looking to make some noise in this year’s postseason.

And while Conklin was good when the team needed him most, Malkin was a revelation. The Russian forward picked up 85 points as a rookie last season, but even without Crosby around to help for a long stretch this year he managed to turn in his first 100-point campaign. The Wizard of Croz was limited to just 54 games this season, but he still passed the 70-point plateau. The high-flying duo of Malkin and Crosby is now sure to give opponents fits when the playoffs begin.

Pittsburgh gets secondary scoring from the likes of Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone (who combined to provide over 50 goals for the team this year), and veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar has shown that he still has elite offensive skills. Gonchar is once again one of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, and a key component to the Penguins’ effective power play (over 20%).

And then there’s forward Marian Hossa, who the team acquired at the trade deadline from the Atlanta Thrashers. Pittsburgh mortgaged a chunk of their future to get the scoring threat into their lineup this spring, and he’s been producing at a point-a-game pace for them since returning from a bad knee injury in mid-March.

So the Pens will go as far as their elite scorers and Fleury can take them. Fleury’s strong play in March has made the Pens an even better target for NHL betting, and he’s a big reason why the team is currently priced at just 3.00 (price on April 9th, 2008) to win the East. The Pens are also listed at 8.00 on the NHL odds to bring home the Stanley Cup. Those lines make them the oddsmakers’ favored team in the Eastern Conference.