Feb 14, 2007 3 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – The high-scoring Pittsburgh Penguins are conjuring up memories of some of the franchise’s finest teams. Although coach Michael Therrien has a defense-first reputation, Pittsburgh has ascended to the upper reaches of the top offensive teams in the league.

The high-flying Penguins teams of the 1990’s featuring Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and company regularly were at or near the top of the league’s offensive statistical categories. This season, the Penguins are not only poised to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since Lemieux and Jagr last skated together in 2001, they’re also scoring goals with a frequency not seen since the two shared the same line.

“When you’re scoring four or five goals a game, you have a good chance of winning games,” forward Erik Christensen said. “It’s tough to win games only getting one or two a game, but when you’re getting four or five, you can afford to make a few mistakes.”

The Penguins are second in the league in goals per game behind only Buffalo. To put the 186 goals Pittsburgh has scored through barely more than two-thirds of a season into perspective, consider that the Penguins averaged 192 goals in the three years after Jagr was traded.

“It’s always better knowing I can give up a bad goal … and the guys will score six to get the win,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “It seems like they are always there to come back and win the game.”

The Penguins are averaging 3.38 goals on the season; they last had comparable numbers in 2000-01 (Lemieux’s comeback year from retirement) and 1996-97 (the year Lemieux initially retired). But while the goal production for the season is impressive, the rate during the team’s current 11-0-2 streak is blistering.

Heading into tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Penguins are averaging 4.46 goals during 13 consecutive games in which they earned at least a point. That stat doesn’t count three shootout victories.

“We definitely came together and have a lot of guys stepping up,” forward Ryan Malone said. “The young guys are leading the charge. You can’t say enough about how fast they’ve developed. It’s a great situation to be in, that’s for sure.”

Malone was referring to his top scorers: rookie scoring leader Evgeni Malkin (27), league scoring leader Sidney Crosby (25) and Jordan Staal (23), who range in age from 20 to 18.

The Penguins are also getting solid production from all four lines.

“A month ago, before the streak happened,” center Max Talbot said, “(Therrien) came in and said we need everyone to contribute; it’s not only Sidney’s line or the power play that needs to score. And I think that’s what we started doing. Right now, every line can score goals. It’s definitely fun right now scoring goals.”