Huge West Coast Trip for Penguins

The Penguins are on a roll having won four games in a row and doing it in quite an impressive fashion. Beating playoff teams St. Louis and Washington, knocking off playoff hopeful Florida and rival Columbus. The power play is clicking at the right time. Evgeni Malkin is on fire and Marc- Andre Fleury continues to impressive.

The week ahead is brutal though as they go on their annual West Coast trip with stops in Colorado, Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. The Penguins have fared well this season against the competition from the West going 12-4-2 including a record of 5-2 against teams from the Pacific Division, which is the division they will primarily be playing against this week.

This trip could possibly propel the Penguins to the top of the division. A record of 3-1 after these four games would continue to build up their confidence has we get closer to the postseason.

Wednesday @Colorado 10 PM
Last meeting: December 18, 2014 Penguins win 1-0 in OT. Blake Comeau scores game winner. Marc- Andre Fleury stopped all 29 shots he faced.
Colorado has played better in recent weeks but is still far away from a playoff spot. Prediction: Penguins start off road trip on a good note winning 3-1.

Friday @Anaheim 10 PM
Last meeting: October 9, 2014 Penguins win 6-4 in season opener. Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals. Corey Perry nets hat trick in loss.
Anaheim hit a snag over the last couple weeks but in recent games has looked like the team they've been most of the year. Prediction: First game of a back to back I assume Thomas Greiss starts this game. Even though he has had a solid season as the backup I see him giving up some goals. Anaheim wins 4-2.

Saturday @Los Angeles 10 PM
Last meeting: October 30 ,2014 Penguins win 3-. Chris Kunitz scored 2 goals, Fleury stops all 36 shots.
The Kings recently won 8 games in a row to catapult into a playoff spot but have lost 3 straight games to fall behind Calgary. They are playing Edmonton tonight so I find it difficult to see them losing their 4th straight. Prediction: With Fleury back in net the Penguins win 2-1 in a tight low scoring game.

Monday @San Jose 10:30 PM
Will be first meeting of this season.
The Sharks are a team in "transition". Still competing for a playoff spot but also realizing they aren't the same Stanley Cup contending team they have been in recent seasons resulting in a rebuilding on the fly. Still a dangerous team. Prediction: Penguins win 5-3. Antii Niemi has been inconsistent this season while Joe Pavelski is having a career year. Penalty kill ranks 25th in the NHL, which will be their undoing in this game. Penguins finish the road trip on a high note.

A trip like this would have the Penguins 39-18-9, 87 points, possibly sitting in 1st place in the Metro Division.