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Penguins

Pens Back From Undefeated Road Trip

By: Sergei Feldman
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―

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It is a common belief among players and coaches that winning road games in the National Hockey League separates the upper-echelon teams from the merely mediocre.

If so, the Pittsburgh Penguins must be placed in a league of their own, as the defending Stanley Cup Champions are coming off an undefeated four-game test, all on foreign ice.

They're also a perfect 5-0-0 on the road to start the season, a franchise record.

But what's it all mean?

"Road trips early in the year can be a time when you tell a lot about your team and where they're at," head coach Dan Bylsma said.

"I think we answered some questions."

But not in any sort of traditional fashion, as the Penguins broke the universally-accepted rule that suggests you must play a conservative brand of hockey away from home ice to succeed.

Scoring a combined 21 goals in five road games to start the season certainly helped do that.

But if the undefeated road record and high-octane offensive performance is not indicative of the team's early season superiority over Eastern Conference foes, it is at the very least a reflection of Bylsma's aggressive, up-tempo coaching philosophy.

"We play the same [style of hockey] on the road as we do at home," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said.

That could spell doom for the Penguins' next opponents because the team is set to play six of their next seven games at Mellon Arena, including five in a row beginning with the Tampa Lay Lightning Saturday night.

Despite the obvious silver-platter opportunity to improve upon a 6-1-0 Octoberfest to start the season, these next few home games will also be about making a statement.

"We want to be a tough team to play [at home]," captain Sidney Crosby said.

'We want to make it tough on teams to come in."

Bylsma, meanwhile, hopes his players won't succumb to complacency.

"We've got to come back here at home and set the tempo in that first period," he said.

Before they get that chance, the road warriors must wait, albeit in familiar surroundings.