Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins feel like they are going crazy, but they aren’t. As the playoff race thickens in the Eastern Conference, Pittsburgh can’t catch a break, and the standings prove it. The walls are falling all around them as their playoff chances dwindle. They can still make a push for the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the grueling month of March has made life harder for them.
The Metropolitan Division is tight. Not everyone can make the playoffs. The Penguins, New York Islanders, and Columbus Blue Jackets are nipping at each other’s ankles. Ottawa, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington are all within striking distance of the Wild Card. Pittsburgh has to play great down the stretch to make it to the big dance. It started to feel like the Penguins were an underrated team that was overachieving, but things are starting to level out.
It feels like every night that the Penguins lose, the teams behind them all win and gain ground on them. It doesn’t help that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been bitten by the injury bug, keeping them out of the lineup at times. Their schedule in March was very unforgiving, littered with gargantuan opponents, but the hockey gods are trying to make it harder on them with injuries and a lack of puck luck.
Even with the lack of puck luck and good officiating, the Penguins can be better. Once Crosby and Malkin get back to the lineup, they will be a much better team. Until then, Erik Karlsson is trying to keep the team afloat by himself. He has rejuvenated his career this season, and specifically in March. He’s playing like he’s 25 at 35.
Dan Muse has found a way to get something out of Karlsson that Mike Sullivan apparently couldn’t. His production has gone up. Before this season, it wasn’t crazy to assume that Pittsburgh would shop Karlsson. Now, he’s back to himself.
It’s time to put on the tin foil hats. Insert the Brian Windhorst meme. Pittsburgh has been the victim of horrendous officiating over the past several weeks. The NHL should want the duo of Crosby and Malkin back in the playoffs, but there is one small flaw to that idea. Pittsburgh making a playoff run would mean that they will have home games into mid to late April. There is another big event in the sports world coming to the Steel City at that time. The NFL Draft will be in town.
This creates a logistical nightmare for the City of Pittsburgh and the NHL. It won’t affect the NFL at all, as the NFL is king. Pittsburgh is expected to host over 700,000 guests over the course of the NFL Draft. It is going to be hectic in the city. Traffic will be awful, and people will be everywhere. If the Penguins have playoff games at home that weekend, people might consider not coming into the mess to attend the game. It could be tough for the teams to travel in and out of the city. It wouldn’t be a good look to get dominated by the NFL on that weekend.
Pittsburgh should still have its fair share of optimism. The Penguins have eight games remaining. They play the Islanders, Red Wings, Lightning, Devils, Blues, and the Capitals and Panthers twice. The game on Monday night against the New York Islanders is massively important. The Red Wings on Tuesday would also be a big win to have under their belt. It’s not time to smash the panic button yet, but the boys need to lock in. One more playoff run with this core would be storybook.
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