Chris Kunitz's resume reads as one of a consummate teammate.

Kunitz won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. He spent much of the 2010 season skating alongside Sidney Crosby as he won a share of the Rocket Richard trophy. Currently, he flanks Evgeni Malkin while the Russian playmaker leads the NHL in scoring, acting as a key cog in an efficient, effective machine.

But his value is found even more-so when watching him in action, and reading beyond the most highly celebrated of numbers.

When Kunitz is not scoring, he's using his physicality with great affect, leading all Penguins forwards in hits with 105. And when he's not hitting, he's causing havoc all around the offensive zone.

As the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review's Chris Harlan wrote earlier this week:

Ask Evgeni Malkin or James Neal, and they'll say without hesitation that teammate Chris Kunitz is always getting in the way.

For instance, when Malkin was making a quick pass and Neal was scoring the game-tying goal Sunday, Kunitz was standing in the way.

And earlier that game, when Kris Letang was blasting a 60-foot goal from the blue line, Kunitz was there in the way.

Both times the Penguins forward was skating in front of Washington's net, blocking the view of Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth. Kunitz didn't earn an assist on either goal, but neither happened without his subtle help.

Or not-so-subtle help, if you were Neuvirth trying to see around him.

"Kunitz may not be the flashiest first-line player in the league, but there's speed, there's grit, and there's a net-front presence," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "There's a lot to his game that maybe doesn't get on the scoresheet. (Against the Capitals), he did some of his best work in and around the net."

...

"His screen takes the vision away from the goalie just for a split-second and I get a chance to shoot it," said Neal, whose goal with 12:54 left helped extend the team's winning streak to six entering tonight's game in St. Louis. "We're playing as a line. Kuny does those things that go unnoticed every night."

Kunitz's work on two of the Penguins' goals against the Capitals is evidenced in the following clip:

On Letang's goal it's fairly simple to see Kuntiz doggedly screening Neuvirth. Nothing against Letang's capable shot from the point, but an NHL goaltender makes that save if he can see the puck.

The second goal is far more subtle. Pay attention to Kunitz lined up to the right of the faceoff circle, with Malkin taking the draw. Neal is lined up behind to take a shot should Malkin win the draw cleanly, which he does. Immediately after the drop of the puck, Kunitz skates directly into the circle, briefly obstructing the path of a potential Capital shot-blocker and simultaneously creating a screen.

Neal has time and space to shoot, and blasts a one-timed shot past Neuvirth.

Kunitz doesn't register a point on either play.

As Neal said:

"He's so hard to play against, so he opens up a lot of space for myself and Geno. Sometimes that goes unnoticed."

While his 14 goals and 18 assists account for the third highest point total on the Penguins' roster, it is this type of havoc Kunitz reeks against opposition that often goes unaccounted for, while he falls in the considerable shadows of linemates Malkin and Neal.

With the decisiveness of a Republican primary, Kunitz earned 26 percent of our popular vote and is PensBurgh's most-underrated Penguin at the midway point of the season.

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Independent Publishers Group got in touch with Pensburgh to check out Rick Buker's newest book 100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. They were also kind enough to provide us with a few books giveaway. Keep a lookout for a post from Jimmy tomorrow to see how you can win a copy.

On with the review after the jump...

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The Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues are both playing great hockey right now, make no mistake.

On Tuesday night, the Penguins took the winners' share of the spoils, and earned their seventh straight victory, 3-2 over the Blues after a shootout, on the strength of versatile offensive play and Marc-Andre Fleury's 32-save performance.

But for a second, take a step back from the result and consider what we saw on the ice.

The Penguins, with their north-south style, occasionally flipping the script and going east-west to work their way around the Blues' tight, harrying defense. They pelted all-star Brian Elliot's net to the tune of 39 shots on goal, a season high in shots surrendered for the Blues. Per game, the Blues surrender 26.2 shots, the lowest total in the NHL.

Funnily enough, the Penguins are second in this category at 26.6 shots against. And still, the Blues were able to test a very capable Marc-Andre Fleury 34 times, many of a higher quality than what the Penguins generated.

St. Louis generated much of their offense from the neutral zone, holding a 9-3 takeaway advantage against the Penguins. And both of St. Louis' goals came on chances created off of turnovers, both put away by Patrik Berglund.

For his part, Fleury was up to the task asked of him, pulling off a number of gasp-inducing stops near the end of regulation and in overtime.

If any Penguin deserves a break, it's Fleury, who has now played in 22 straight games. More importantly, he's played consistently solid in 22 straight games.

The shootout was tense, as shootouts are wont to be. Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz scored, so did T.J. Oshie. Using elite math skills, that's two Penguins and only one Blue, so the Pens steal an extra point. That's about all that needs to be said about the shootout.

On the whole, this was very much a tie. On the road against one of the hottest teams in the NHL, that's perfectly fine. This wasn't a steal or against the run of play. It was just two good performances from strong teams who went at each other blow for blow.

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St. Louis Blues 29-13-6 (64 points, currently 4th in the West)

122 goals for, 99 goals against

Last 10 games: 8-1-1

Pens’ record vs. STL in Season Series: 0-0-1 (Blues won 3-2 in OT on November 23)

Leading Scorer: David Backes- 37 points in 48 games (16 goals, 21 assists), 77 PIMs, +16
--Backes presents an interesting challenge- he's got strength and size in spades and knows how to go to the net and score goals. The former Team USA star will be a handful for the Pens defense.

Unsung Stud: David Perron- 23 gp, 17p (4g + 13a) 12 PIMs, +9
--Nice to see Perron recover from a concussion that kept him out of the action for 13 long, frustrating months. Perron's not only back, he's scoring at a great clip. For Pens fans who know the trials and tribulations of Sidney Crosby and concussion symptoms, it's a great story to see another talented and young player be able to bounce back and get back in the game after so much time away.

SB Nation Partner blog: St. Louis Gametime

The Good: Ken Hitchcock has the Blues at a 23-6-5 since taking over in early November, a positively Byslma-esque record. Hitchcock's teams are always excellently coached, shaped to play tough defense and be in position at all times. The Blues have totally bought into his concepts and are executing his systems to a T. Before losing their last game in Detroit, the Blues were rolling on an eight-game winning streak. In those eight games, they shut out opponents four times and conceded only eight goals. So yeah, they're capable of playing really good defense.

The Bad: It's grasping, but in the past four games St. Louis has only scored seven goals. And they lost their last time out, so this isn't an unbeatable team and it's not really a high-powered offensive one, either. The Blues only have six players with 10+ goals, so they also don't have that one superstar that can find an extra gear and carry them, so instead the rely on a very balanced and disciplined team game.

Old Friends: The Blues do not employ any former Penguins on their roster. They do have Brett Sterling on their minor league team; however in an earlier NHL stint this year, the pint-sized forward went pointless in four games.

Fight Watch: Ryan Reaves, Scott Nichol, B.J. Crombeen, Chris Stewart …..Deryk Engelland, the recently recalled Steve MacIntyre

-The Blues rank 10th in the NHL with 24 fights on the season (the Pens are currently 9th with 25 fights), so with both teams in the top 1/3 of the league, gloves could drop. In the first game of the season, Reaves and Engelland squared off, so look for that to be a potential rematch tonight.


Hidden Stat: If it's a low-scoring game, it's one the Blues are comfortable in and happy to play- in the past 12 games the Blues have played, there has been five or more total goals scored just twice.

Hidden Stat Part II: Alex Pietrangelo has dressed for 28 games that the Blues have won, and in those 28 games he has but two penalty minutes. Pietrangelo's played in 19 losing games (regulation, OT or shootout) and has 18 penalty minutes. It probably doesn't correlate, but if he takes a penalty, St. Louis has been more apt to lose this season.


PensBurgh 3 Keys:

1 - Get to Elliott - Presumably Brian Elliott plays tonight with his ridiculous numbers this season (15-5-1, .937 save %, 1.68 GAA, 5 shutouts). Elliott is an all-star and playing all-star caliber goalie in front of a Ken Hitchcock defense. In his career, Elliott's had success against Pittsburgh, going 4-1, including the OT win earlier this season.

2- Whose grinders can add more? With guys like Backes, Stewart and TJ Oshie, the Blues can play a hard-nosed, tough game. The Pens will need their guys like Matt Cooke, Eric Tangradi and Chris Kunitz to get in similar high-traffic, front of the net type battles. Whichever team is willing to pay the price and can earn a dirty goal or two very well could be the one that ends the night a victor.

3- Focus and finish strong. After today, Penguin players (minus Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang) have a five-day vacation for the all-star break. A lot of these guys will be going out of town- be it to a tropical beach or maybe across the continent to visit with family members. They all deserve the R&R, but there is a job at hand tonight. Hopefully no one has checked out a day early; it's going to take a premiere effort to go on the road and pull a win out against a tough team like St. Louis.

The long-awaited, long-rumored Mario Lemieux statue will be unveiled at noon on March 7th of this year. So says penguins.com:

Le Magnifique," a spectacular statue honoring the career and achievements of Mario Lemieux, will be unveiled on Wednesday, March 7 at CONSOL Energy Center, the team announced.

The unveiling will take place at 12 noon in a ceremony open to the public. The statue will be located in the plaza just outside the Trib Total Media Gate at CONSOL Energy Center, near the intersection of Centre Avenue and Washington Place.

"Le Magnifique," a spectacular statue honoring the career and achievements of Mario Lemieux, will be unveiled on Wednesday, March 7 at CONSOL Energy Center, the team announced.

The unveiling will take place at 12 noon in a ceremony open to the public. The statue will be located in the plaza just outside the Trib Total Media Gate at CONSOL Energy Center, near the intersection of Centre Avenue and Washington Place.

The statue was created by nationally-acclaimed bronze sculptor Bruce Wolfe (www.brucewolfe.com). James Frederick of James Gallery in Pittsburgh’s West End Village was the art consultant on the project.

The Pens play a game that night on Versus, err NBC Sports Network against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A coincidence of Mario's 12/27/2000 return, also against Toronto? Or a nod to the statue?

In the comments, your suggestions for what you think the statue could/should be.