The NHL season is nearing the home stretch and the Penguins are once again on the outside looking in. Their roster boasts elite talent and season veterans, but they just can’t seem to stay consistent. They continue to fail to meet expectations and this season has been far from smooth sailing. Some adjustments certainly need to be made in order to finish the season in a playoff spot.
The power play has to be the biggest weakness for the Penguins. They legitimately cannot capitalize on any opportunities, especially those crucial moments. They have struggled all season to execute plays and maintain puck possession on the man advantage. This has created the inability to score when on the power play. Actually, they rank 28th in the league, scoring just 14.8% of the time on power plays. If they want even a shot at making the playoffs, something significant needs to change with this power play.
In contrast to their struggles on the power play, their penalty-killing has been phenomenal. They’ve been consistent with killing off penalties by bending but not breaking. Even under pressure, the Pens have managed to assist Jarry by keeping the puck away from the net and clearing it down the ice. They kill 82.1% of penalties, placing them 8th in the league. The Penguins have also used penalty killing as a way to gain momentum during games.
The Penguins need to win a decent amount of these final 26 games to secure their place in the playoffs. However, that might be hard without Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel, who are both out with upper-body injuries until mid-March. Guentzel and Rust are two of the top scorers the Penguins have, so they’ll have to find a temporary solution during their absences.
The Penguins are currently four spots out of a wild card position, which is currently held by the Lightning and Red Wings. The Lightning, who hold the second wild card spot, are only eight points ahead of the Pens, but they’ve played six more games. The other three teams ahead are all metropolitan opponents: the Devils, Islanders, and Capitals. However, each of those teams has either played two or three more games. The Flyers, who hold the third spot in the metropolitan division, are seven points ahead and played four more games than the Pens. With consistency, the Penguins certainly have a fair chance of heading to the playoffs.
Every point and every game from now until the end of the season matters so much more. The Penguins secured a huge overtime win in Vancouver on Tuesday but suffered a hard loss in Seattle on Thursday. Yesterday, the team lost to Edmonton.
You can’t talk about the Penguins without highlighting Sidney Crosby’s exceptional work this season. He has 32 goals and 30 assists, totaling 62 points on the season. He’s ninth in the league in goal scoring and 20th for total points.
The Penguins have 26 more chances to figure things out before the playoffs. The stakes are higher than ever in the most crucial part of the season. They must quickly figure a way to string together crucial wins, or they’ll be teeing off sooner rather than later.