Odds makers gave the Penguins under a 9 percent chance to make the playoffs at the start of the season. It makes sense considering this was an aging team who would be without Mike Sullivan, having a rookie head coach, and it just seemed destined that this team would be picking in the top 5 of the draft. Over the summer and even parts of the season rumors ran wild on potential Crosby, Malkin, Letang trades and at the time it seemed like it would be another long season wasted on Crosby’s last years. That all stopped when Dan Muse and co took over. Dan Muse ironically said himself earlier in the year to one of the team’s reporters (Josh Yohe) at the start of the season when asked about how he felt about being counted out and having no shot at the playoffs. He responded by saying that they were going to write their own story. Safe to say so far, they definitely have.
They started the season this year on absolute fire out of the gate and have not really slowed down. This is a Penguins team that is battle tested unlike any others. A lot of credit has to be given to the coaching staff who have brought out the best out of many players. The team leads the league in 15+ goal scorers, and as a whole is second in the entire league in scoring.
Kyle Dubas has made many moves throughout the season that has sparked this team in different ways. Whether it be trading for Egor Chinakhov, Elmer Soderblom, and finding a miraculous way to get rid of that horrible Tristan Jarry contract.
The Penguins now have positioned themselves in a spot to pretty much lock up second place in the division and have home ice in the playoffs. You’re probably wondering that’s great but who will they play? The no good, bad brothers on the east side on PA no other than the Philadelphia Flyers. Yup. They are their own unique story but they too have came from seemingly nowhere and now have a 70 percent chance of securing the third spot in the Metro division.
There is still some runway left with many teams having 3-6 games remaining on the year with the end of the regular season set to conclude on the 16th. The Islanders who are also battling for the third spot fired their coach on Easter, so there is always a chance they get hot. Speaking of hot, how about the Columbus Bluejackets? Another team that fired their coach about midway through the season and was on fire. They have ran ice cold dropping games left and right and seemingly one bad loss away from being out of the race.
The Penguins have a few games remaining on the year but as the mentality has been all year it is just focus on the next game. Their next game carries great meaning as they can officially clinch a playoff spot with a win on Thursday vs the Devils. They can technically still clinch without winning that game but would rely on others losing. Either way, with a 99.94 percent of making the playoffs they are basically a lock.
For those asking themselves “Ok that’s great and all but lets say they do play the Flyers in the first round when would that start” well that would be a great question. The NHL playoffs are scheduled to start on the 18th with games running that weekend plus a series starting on Monday. The NHL won’t release the playoff schedule and time until the regular season concludes which unfortunately doesn’t give fans much time to clear their calendars. If I had to guess what time and date if my life depended on it I would say Saturday at 8 would be a good bet.
It’s been a great story so far and with it being a year of uncertainly, along with the league being as balanced as it’s been in years it is anyone’s trophy. The Penguins are a scary team come playoff time and it’s hard to bet against someone like Crosby. The biggest factor that will likely determine how far this Penguins team can go will be goaltending. This team can score there is no question about that but they also let up a ton of goals. If they can somehow magically get hot goaltending, they could be a real threat.
