Short-handed situations rank at top

The Penguins have been short-handed 153 times this season, the third-highest total in the league going into Sunday. And even though their penalty-killers, after an early season hiccup, rank second in the NHL, with a success rate of 88.2 percent, being down a man so often is tempting fate. “We could take a little bit less penalties,” winger Steve Downie said. “We all know that. “I think the refs will start letting more and more go as we get to the playoffs, so I think we’ll see that number go down.” Downie has a vested interest in being correct about that, because his 141 minutes make him the NHL’s runaway leader. Vancouver’s Derek Dorsett was second with 93. Winger has 16 shots in three games since being acquired Jan. 2 from Edmonton. That’s an average of 5.33 per game, a pretty dramatic increase from his average of 1.94 [74 in 38 games] with the Oilers. Perron only has scored on one of those 16, but figures that working on a line with Crosby means he is going to continue getting David Perron quality opportunities. “You’re going to get a lot of shots from the slot,” Perron said. “If you’re ready for it, you’re probably going to score some goals.” Perron volunteered that there can be a downside to being on the ice with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, at least in the short term — “You get caught watching them sometimes instead of just being involved with the play,” he said — but believes he can forge a productive partnership with Crosby when they’re completely acclimated to each other. “Once we clear that up,” Perron said, “I think it will be amazing.” Shots increase