Impressive Winning Stretch Has Salvaged Penguins Season

The Pittsburgh Penguins have climbed out of their early season slump.

Dec 7, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) congratulates center Blake Lizotte (46) after Lizotte scored an empty net goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The story of the Pittsburgh Penguins was simple early this season. They were good enough to beat bad teams but not good enough to compete with teams above .500.

Last month, they lost 6-1 to the Utah Hockey Club, dropping them to the bottom of the division and muted the celebration of Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby's 600th career goal. That loss awakened something in the Penguins.

Since then, they have won five of their last six games (all against teams well above .500) and pulled them within one point of the final wild-card spot in the East.

No one is mistaking the Penguins for a playoff team just yet, but erasing the damage they inflicted upon themselves through the opening six weeks is a massive step forward. Several players have a hand in this run, perhaps none more pivotal than Tristan Jarry.

Jarry's struggles have been well documented, but he appears to have turned a bit of a corner. 4-0 in his last four starts, Jarry has produced a .929 save percentage against the top three teams in the Atlantic division in his past three.

His continued resurgence is paramount if the Penguins want to continue moving back up the standings.

Their schedule gets slightly easier leading into the holiday break, playing four of their seven games against teams at or below .500. They have zero back-to-back games after playing at least one set of those in five consecutive weeks.

The Penguins have salvaged their season but need to continue their hot stretch to climb back into the driver's seat in the Wild Card race.

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