Penguins Callup Letang, Host Islanders

The Pittsburgh Penguins (7-10-1) host division rival New York Islanders (9-5-0) on Thursday night at the Mellon Arena. The struggling Penguins, who have dropped to last place in the Atlantic Division, have lost 4 straight games and 8 of their last 10. The slide has left many fans and some sports writers questioning the coach's wisdom in constantly juggling line combinations and poor selection of healthy scratches. In a Pittsburgh Tribune Review article today, columnist Joe Starkey questioned whether benching goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and Colby Armstrong has further contributed to their confidence issues. He suggests that benching low producing veterans Recchi and/or Roberts for a game would make more sense than making scapegoats out of the younger players who need experience and opportunity to play through adversity. I tend to agree with this sentiment. Nothing undermines a team quicker than a coach showing preferential treatment of selected players. The players need consistency of linemates, and consistency of treatment by their coach when players underperform. The New York Islanders have been playing well of late, having won 6 of 7 before losing 3-2 at Philadelphia on Monday. With some key additions in the off-season, the Islanders appear to be thriving under 2nd year coach Ted Nolan. Perhaps the best off-season acquisition....click the link below to read the rest of the article