The Penguins, with some of the best young talent on skates today, host the St. Louis Blues tonight at Mellon Center in Pittsburgh. It will be only the second meeting since the 2004-05 strike, but with the Blues on an 11-game skid and the Penguins on an offensive run of late, it's easy to take Pittsburgh.
The St. Louis Blues' problems are well documented. They've lost 11-straight by an amazing 40-18 aggregate and have scored just seven goals in their last five games.
Picking Penguins on the Puckline
The Penguins saw their four game win streak snapped in Montreal in their last contest, but have lit the lamp 27 times in their last five games. Pittsburgh, without question, have the best young talent in the NHL and arguably the two best players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby leads the team with 36 assists, nine of those in the last three games, and also tops Pitt with 52 total points as both he and Malkin are tied with 16 goals.
Bill Guerin, St. Louis' leading goal scorer with 12, has found the net just once in his last six games. And Keith Tkachuk, who leads the team with 24 points and 16 assists, has managed to score just two points in his last five skates and has been shutout nine times in the Blues' last 13 games dating back to Nov 22.
The Penguins have owned the series and are 6-1 in their last seven trips on home ice. But as this is just second meeting post-strike - - First was a 3-0 Blues win last season in St. Louis - - the head-to-head may not be real applicable. It''s virtually impossible to find any positive tech with these current and former doormats, but Pittsburgh is on the rise with lots of firepower. We're not anxious to lay $2.50 with the young and sometimes unreliable Penguins. But on the puckline we're at positive money in a game where just four goals will likely do the trick. Take Pittsburgh.
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Dennis Macklin: Picking Penguins on the Puckline
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