Looking at each challenge within the Penguins' crucial 4-game western road swing

For as enjoyable as Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers was, the Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be able to count on scoring seven goals every night moving forward. But, for the offensively challenged Pens, knowing they’ve got that club in their bag may certainly come in handy for the rest of the regular season.

Although with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust currently both injured and Guentzel potentially on the trade block, winning a bunch of run-and-gun contests the rest of the way may be difficult.

Regardless of personnel, though, offensive structure and power-play execution better be on point as the club embarks on its upcoming four-game road trip.

Not only because the team will need to outscore some high-powered opponents but also because they’ll be facing some good defenses and goaltenders that will challenge offensive execution.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the four opponents the Pens will be facing as they head west over next week.

• Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. Feb. 27): Vancouver hasn’t been playing great hockey of late. They are 4-5-1 in their past 10 games, and have lost four of their last five. But the Canucks still sit atop the Western Conference standings with 82 points.

They are tied for second (with the Colorado Avalanche) in goals scored per game in the NHL at 3.63. Former Pittsburgh Hornet J.T. Miller entered play Monday night with 79 points, tied for fifth most in the NHL. Quinn Hughes has more points than any other defenseman in the league at 70.

Goalie Thatcher Demko leads the NHL in wins with 31. He is fifth in save percentage at .917 and eighth in goals against at 2.47. In part, that’s why the Canucks are seventh in goals against per game with 2.73. Vancouver’s plus-52 goal differential is tops in the NHL. His backup is ex-Penguin Casey DeSmith (3.06 GAA/.896 save percentage)

Vancouver also features former Pens Jim Rutherford as president of hockey operations, Patrik Allvin as general manager and Rick Tocchet as coach. Elias Pettersson scored an overtime goal to beat the Penguins 4-3 on Jan. 11.

• Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. Feb. 29): The Kraken have also been spotty of late. After a 4-3 win Monday against the Boston Bruins, they are now 5-4-1 in their past 10 games.

That result leaves Seattle with 61 points. They are tied for 11th in the Western Conference, five points out of a playoff spot.

Former Penguin Jared McCann has been on a tear. He registered a point in seven straight games before getting blanked Monday. He has 46 points on the season. That leads the team. He’s also tops with 25 goals.

Seattle was shutout in Pittsburgh 3-0 on Jan. 15 when Tristan Jarry made 22 saves. The Kraken yield just 2.84 goals per game, 10th in the NHL.

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• Calgary Flames (10 p.m. March 2): The Flames are as streaky as it gets, but they are playing well right now. Calgary has won three in a row.

That’s after losing three in a row, which followed a four-game win streak.

That was on the heels of a four-game losing streak, which had been preceded by a four-game win streak.

You get the point.

The last time Calgary went without a multi-game stretch of consecutive results was a win over Carolina on Dec. 7.

With 61 points, the Flames are in 11th place in the West, tied with Seattle, five points behind Nashville for the second wild-card spot.

The Penguins beat the Flames 5-2 in Pittsburgh in the third game of the season.

• Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m. March 3): After Monday’s 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings, the Oilers have now split their past six games.

After falling one game short of tying the 1993 Penguins’ 17-game win streak with a 3-1 defeat in Las Vegas on Feb. 6, the Oilers have been fairly pedestrian. They have posted a 5-5-1 record from that game through Monday night.

Connor McDavid is third in the NHL in points with 91. The teams rematch in Pittsburgh on March 10.

Edmonton is in third place of the Pacific Division with 70 points.