The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff berth on April 9 with their 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. It marks the first time they will be taking part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2021-22 season. Sitting in the second spot in the Metropolitan Division with just three games left in the regular season, the Penguins are likely looking at a familiar foe for their first-round matchup of this year’s playoffs.
Final Three Games of the Regular Season
With the Penguins sitting at 98 points and having 34 regulation wins, they are pretty much solidified in the second spot in the division. Their final three games include two against the Washington Capitals (April 11 and 12) and one against the St. Louis Blues on April 14. Whether head coach Dan Muse decides to rest some of his veterans remains to be seen, but the Penguins will be keeping an eye on who they are matched up against in the first round of the playoffs: either the Philadelphia Flyers or the New York Islanders. The setup for matchups for the first round goes that the Metropolitan’s second and third-seeded teams will face off, and the Flyers and Islanders are battling it out for that spot currently, with the outside possibility of the Capitals (5.5% chance) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (12.2% chance) getting the third spot.
The Flyers currently hold the third spot in the division but lead the Islanders by a slim one-point margin. The Flyers have the second-toughest remaining strength of schedule (SOS) in the last three games, as they will take on the Winnipeg Jets (April 11), the Carolina Hurricanes (April 13), and the Montreal Canadiens (April 14) to finish off their regular season. They have been strong over the last 10 games, going 6-4-0, but are coming off a tough 6-3 loss on April 9 against the Detroit Red Wings.
Related: 3 Penguins Who Have Aided the Playoff Push
On the flip side, the Islanders have sputtered over their last 10 games, contributing to the firing of former head coach Patrick Roy. They have gone 4-6-0 in their last ten and have the toughest remaining SOS of any team in the NHL. They will need to finish the season with points in all three of their last games, and they are playing the Ottawa Senators (April 11), the Montreal Canadiens (April 12), and the Carolina Hurricanes (April 14). The Senators are a team fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and have been one of the league’s hottest teams lately (currently on a three-game win streak), so that matchup will not be an easy one for the Islanders.
Strong Success Against Both Teams
While the Penguins will be keeping an eye on the standings below them over the next handful of days, they have had good overall success against both the Flyers and Islanders this season. Combined, the Penguins have gone 4-0-3 against their two potential first-round opponents.
Against both teams, the Penguins saw plenty of production from their lineup, whether from top players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust or from players like Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha. Top to bottom, the offense was coming from everywhere for the Penguins. They also got solid goaltending from both Jeff Skinner and Arturs Silovs in the matchups against the Flyers and Islanders.
Against the Flyers, the Penguins outscored their in-state rival 16-11, and the special teams were a big factor in the success. The power play went 7-for-18 (albeit going 1-for-10 in two games combined), and the penalty kill was great, killing off 15 of the 17 power plays that the Flyers had.
It was more of the same with the special teams being a factor in the Penguins’ matchups against the Islanders in the regular season, where the two teams squared off three times and were headlined by the Penguins’ 8-3 win on March 30. While the power play struggled, going 2-for-8, the penalty kill was strong, successfully killing six of the Flyers’ seven power-play opportunities.
Playoff Hockey Back in Pittsburgh
With Stanley Cup Playoff hockey being back in the city of Pittsburgh, the Penguins will be looking at facing off against teams they have plenty of experience and success against this season. The veteran-led Penguins roster, with plenty of playoff success and experience, could give them an advantage against either the Flyers or the Islanders.
The Penguins have not won a series against the Islanders since the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, losing in both their 2019 and 2021 first-round matchups. But on the flip side, they did win their most recent series against the Flyers, a six-game first-round series in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Either way, times have changed, and the Penguins have caught many by surprise this season. The history between the Penguins and both teams as rivals would add further excitement to a first-round matchup.
Whether they can pull off a first-round series win this year remains in question, but they seem to have cleaned up some lingering issues they had toward the end of March. Overall, the season has been a success for the first-year head coach, Muse, and the rest of the organization.
Most Exciting Time of the Hockey Season
After not having playoff hockey for the past few seasons, Penguins fans finally get to enjoy some meaningful hockey in the month of April. It may be one of the last playoff runs the aging core takes part in, so enjoying it and taking full advantage of it is something any fan base should do.
