Blog : The Postseason Beckons

scplayoffs.jpg
james_neal_165774616.jpgFor what it is worth, with the NJD Shootout loss, the Penguins clinched a playoff berth last night (Sunday 7 Apr 13). There are a couple positives in my mind of why this scenario will work itself out in the Penguins' favor. The most obvious of all reasons being REST. The Penguins can now attempt to rest and get healthy. It was noted this Monday morning that James Neal would not be accompanying the team on their Southeast Division road trip due to his concussion. Smart move I think. My personal opinion would be to bring back (if plausible) Crosby and Letang with about 3-4 games remaining to knock off the rust and have them ready to rock for the playoffs. I would say the same for Neal, however, we know how the Penguins handle concussions so that may not be a reasonable expectation. Reference Neal, I think the Penguins will re-evaluate him after they return from their road-trip.
The other nice thing about clinching a playoff berth is that it allows the Penguins to build the depth within their roster. Although, not ideal, this will allow some players that usually would normally be playing at WBS, to come up and join the Penguins for some real NHL minutes. That could prove invaluable imo, if another star or role player were to go down during the playoffs.
Along the same lines, but deserving of a separate paragraph, is chemistry. With all these injuries compounding themselves recently, chemistry has been all but non-existent. Now that Neal is out for the forseeable furture and knowing Martin, Letang and Corsby will be out, the Penguins will start to accumulate some chemistry during this roadtrip, assuming of course, no one else gets hurt.
jumbled_numbers.jpgFinally, from a numbers standpopint, it looks as if the Penguins will be no worse than the #3 seed heading into the Postseason. The Capitals are the #3 seed (Southeast Division leader) with 42pts and 9 games (18pts max) remaining. That means going undefeated would net them 60pts (w/ 26 ROW). The closest Atlantic Division foe, is the Rangers, currently in the #7 seed with 42pts and 10 games (20pts max) remaining. If they went undefeated they would have 62pts (w/ 26 ROW). The Penguins are (obviously) the current #1 seed, and they have 58pts (w/ 26 ROW). Therefore, the Penguins "magic number" is 3 wins (5-6 points). So as it stands, the Penguins, as of 8 April, are no worse than the #8 seed by virtue of the NJD loss Sunday night. Win 3 games (assuming NYR goes undefeated in their final 10 games) and the Pens will clinch the Atlantic and be no worse than the #3 seed.
Now is the time for Dan Bylsma and "management" to properly manage the health of the team while counter-balancing that with good play coming down the stretch. The game Friday seemed to stabilize the Penguins, and hopefully, playing the inferior Southeast foes this week will help build their confidence and develop some depth and chemistry. As always thoughts and counter-perspectives/critiques highly welcome.

Attached Images

• scplayoffs.jpg (23.7 KB)
• james_neal_165774616.jpg (15.6 KB)
• jumbled_numbers.jpg (90.4 KB)