Will Pittsburgh miss the playoffs??

[Emperoreddy]

Tonight shows how hard it is. A rare chance when most Metro teams dropped games the past two nights and they squander a chance to gain any real ground themselves.

When the fate of your season depends on other teams falling apart, you have serious problems.

 

[DearDiary]

Maybe people are giving them the benefit of the doubt because of history.

A few weeks ago, I wouldn't have said they'll miss the playoffs. At this point, it's a definite possibility if not probability that they will.

Check out this site...

National Hockey League Playoff Chances - Sports Club Stats

The Lighting have a 100% chance of making the playoffs? With 58 points? The rest of the chances for other teams are silly as well

 

[SB84]

They'll just miss and then win the lottery for Dahlin

 

[DitchMarner]

The Lighting have a 100% chance of making the playoffs? With 58 points? The rest of the chances for other teams are silly as well

Well, TB has a 19 point lead over FLA. My own estimate would be at least 95% for their odds. Even if Stamkos goes down, I think they'll manage to get in. They can probably be a sub-.500 team the rest of the way and get into the playoffs.

 

[DearDiary]

Well, TB has a 19 point lead over FLA. My own estimate would be at least 95% for their odds. Even if Stamkos goes down, I think they'll manage to get in. They can probably be a sub-.500 team the rest of the way and get into the playoffs.

They could have chosen 99.9%, but went with 100% instead. The only thing that's guaranteed is that the Lightning will play 82 games

 

[Night Shift]

They'll just miss and then win the lottery for Dahlin

Shhhh..

 

[Los Patos de Anaheim]

I called that they would at the beginning of the season

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

They'll just miss and then win the lottery for Dahlin

Sounds good

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

They'll make it. The organization knows how to win and get it done in crunch time.

 

[Yatzhee]

It is clear there is a shift of power in the Eastern Conference. Whether that's due to slumps, certain teams cores aging and/or slowing down or the inability to address needs for a variety of reasons remains up for healthy conversation and debate.
But there can be no denying the power shift taking place.

Pittsburgh is in their window now. They've already captured 2 Cups, the real question is do they attempt that 3/4 runs or go into a retool period for a year or 2? Where their stars will be older, slower.
That is what Pittsburgh has to answer.

 

[Halakitlikethat]

Quick re tool this year and pick up a top 15 pick in a strong draft. Wouldn’t be the end of the world if they missed this year

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Doubt it.
They can trade Letang for a shakeup, they can afford to mortgage their future at the deadline by trading picks to a selling team, and Murray is bound to improve eventually/they acquire a veteran goalie.
They have enough options to turn the ship around.

 

[John Matthews]

They are currently out of a playoff spot as we speak. Maybe they are exhausted. Who knows.

Nope, Rangers have played an absurd amount of home games and the Pens have cruised through a bunch of their league leading 19 back to backs.

Pens have also played a small amount of games against the Metro with a more than double positive record against them. Although they just lost two in a row to the Canes and Red Wings.

The Islanders could also miss the playoffs if they don't continue the scoring trend due to the 1b/1b goalie situation.

 

[Panthaz89]

I wouldn't bet against them making it.

 

[KingsFan7824]

That's reasonable. My "quick and dirty" way to take into account GIH (and 3 pt games) is each teams Pts - GP. In the "old" days when each game equaled 2 pts, a team at/near Pts-GP = 0 was at/near .500. It's a bit thornier now regarding true .500.

Closest we'll get to .500 today is going by the regulation record. OT and SO results are fairly random. Pittsburgh is tied with Vegas for the most OT wins in the league. One is battling for 1st overall, the other is struggling to stay in the playoff race.

TB, 23-8-7, +15
Bos, 18-10-9, +8
NJ, 16-10-12, +6
Was, 17-13-10, +4
Tor, 17-15-8, +2
NYR, 14-13-11, +1
Phi, 14-14-10, E
Car, 13-13-12, E
NYI, 14-15-10, -1
Clb, 13-15-12, -2
Fla, 14-16-8. -2
Det, 12-16-10, -4
Pit, 11-18-11, -7
Mtl, 12-19-8, -7
Ott, 10-17-10, -7
Buf, 8-20-10, -12

That's 6 teams above .500, with 2 at it, and the West has another 8 above. Half at or above, half at or below.

 

[Rick Kehoe]

It is clear there is a shift of power in the Eastern Conference. Whether that's due to slumps, certain teams cores aging and/or slowing down or the inability to address needs for a variety of reasons remains up for healthy conversation and debate.
But there can be no denying the power shift taking place.

Pittsburgh is in their window now. They've already captured 2 Cups, the real question is do they attempt that 3/4 runs or go into a retool period for a year or 2? Where their stars will be older, slower.
That is what Pittsburgh has to answer.

We really won't know until the playoffs if there is any shift of power in the Eastern Conference or not, it's not about winning the Presidents Trophy. There's about 40 games left, and Pittsburgh is just three points out, not 30. And it's not surprising at all to see a back to back Cup winner struggle in this more difficult era to achieve that rare feat. The inevitable departure of talent, injuries, and the toll of so many games adds up. The season is a marathon, not a sprint.

As long as you have a strong organization, your window is open. Management has options, and a track record of success. Matt Murray wasn't a high draft choice, and the recently promoted Daniel Sprong could be a boost to the struggling offense.

 

[Yatzhee]

We really won't know until the playoffs if there is any shift of power in the Eastern Conference or not, it's not about winning the Presidents Trophy. There's about 40 games left, and Pittsburgh is just three points out, not 30. And it's not surprising at all to see a back to back Cup winner struggle in this more difficult era to achieve that rare feat. The inevitable departure of talent, injuries, and the toll of so many games adds up. The season is a marathon, not a sprint.

As long as you have a strong organization, your window is open. Management has options, and a track record of success. Matt Murray wasn't a high draft choice, and the recently promoted Daniel Sprong could be a boost to the struggling offense.

It is opinion at this point, true.
But its becoming more and more clear that parity is be8ng passed by.
The Devils, Rangers, Islanders, Toronto and Tampa are all surpassing or in The process of doing so the Penguins.

Yes, management is good in that organization.
No, a rookie RW'er isn't going to magically turn the problems around.
Their core is aging, happens to all clubs, their window is now.
JR is more than aware of this given his "considering a major shake up" comments.

Winning the Cup is what its all about for the Pens right now. They won't be in rebuild for a few more years yet. The current situation leaves either a mini in season retool to go for it, or wait for the off season. It'll be expensive in season for sure, but how bad does management want to continue to strive for it all?

In either case, it's going to be interesting for the organization over the next 2 months.

 

[severian]

I want to assume the Pens make the playoffs, but they need to turn it on now. They probably need a minimum of 53 points in the last 42 games to grab a wild card spot.

 

[LaVar]

imagine if they won the lottery

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

I still think the Pens make the playoffs, five in the Atlantic get in. But the Pens don't seem to have a secondary cast to be contenders soon. And their prospect pool is shallow. Looks like a time of mediocrity for the Pens for a while.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

imagine if they won the lottery

The meltdown on the boards would be so amazing haha

 

[Crazydounut]

No. This is a really dumb question. Once they get healthy and the brutal schedule eases up. They will be towards the top of the division. Meaning one or both of the NY teams or Carolina won't make the playoffs.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Pens have 1 regulation win in their last 12 games, that came against Arizona on a late 3rd period goal.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Pens have 1 regulation win in their last 12 games, that came against Arizona on a late 3rd period goal.

The Yotes are good.

 

[ColbyChaos]

It's not just Dubinsky, CBJ has a history of throwing tantrums against the Pens

Yea beacause Pittsburgh didnt have a ton of dirty players during Crosby's tenure (cooke, ruttu, neal, etc) Malkin and Crosby also both have their dirty moments.