The Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff hopes are on life support in final week
The Eastern Conference playoff picture has come further into focus in recent weeks, but the wild card race remains razor thin with just days remaining in the 2022-2023 season. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a point back from the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders in a three-way showdown.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed whether Pittsburgh’s veteran savvy will be enough to catch its rivals with just 2 games remaining.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s head out East, Frank, where every team that needed to win this weekend did just that. It’s been interesting to watch the way these three teams- Florida, the Islanders, and the Penguins- have gone over the last month. They’ve all had these weird peaks and valleys. At different points over the last 4-6 weeks it has looked like one of these teams was down for the count, and yet they pull their way back into things.
Right now, it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins that appear to be on life support. They are 1 point back of both New York and Florida, but they cannot overtake the tiebreaker against either of those teams. Pittsburgh are in trouble here; what will help them out, though, is that they play Columbus and Chicago in their final two games of the season for what should be the easiest schedule of the three. What do you make right now of the race in the Eastern Conference, Frank? Is Pittsburgh just a little too far back especially without those tiebreakers?
Frank Seravalli: Each time everyone wins it chokes a little more oxygen out of the Pittsburgh Penguins. I have been a believer all year long that the Penguins will find their way in based on the veteran savvy they have. It’s hard for me to bet against Sidney Crosby, but look at this Panthers team that has one 6 games in a row and is playing their best hockey of the season.
Who is the real MVP of the Florida Panthers? Is it Matthew Tkachuk or is it Keith Tkachuk? The Panthers haven’t lost since Keith Tkachuk went on Toronto radio and called this Panthers team soft. Was that by design? Did someone put him up to this? Either way, it’s an amazing story. Then you have Matthew, who has basically lapped the rest of the Panthers team in scoring, kind of dragging this team along. This team is way more talented on paper than they’ve played to this point. Could they be a dangerous team in the first round?
The Florida Panthers could clinch as early as Monday night if they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Islanders lose in regulation against the Washington Capitals. Both things are totally possible, and none of that is good news for the Penguins, who cannot get to those tiebreakers. They need to win free and clear against one of those teams to make the playoffs a point ahead.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s almost like they are two games back in this playoff race because they don’t own that tiebreaker. Pittsburgh gets Chicago on Tuesday and Columbus on Thursday. The Islanders, as you mentioned, go into Washington tonight, then they get to end the season on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. For Florida it is tonight against Toronto and Thursday against Carolina. That is an interesting wrinkle, that Florida is the hottest team but has the most difficult remaining schedule.
You can watch the entire episode here…