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Why the Penguins missed the playoffs
In a thriller on the home straight, the Washington Capitals secured their final ticket to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs (starting on 20 April) in the Eastern Conference in their last game of the regular season on Tuesday. The Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the three teams that competed with them for the second wild card right up to the end and have now suffered a bitter disappointment.
On their day off, the Penguins had to watch powerlessly as the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2:1. Pittsburgh still has one game left, but with a three-point deficit it is meaningless. After 16 playoff appearances in a row, the Penguins have now missed out on the last 16 for the second time in a row.
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The reasons for the exit
Pittsburgh certainly showed playoff potential over the past four weeks, but their comeback came too late. The Penguins simply weren’t good enough for too long and fell well short of the second wild card. On 22 March, they were still nine points behind the play-off places with 13 games remaining. At that point, they had lost ten of their previous 13 games (3-9-1).
The reasons for this clearly lay in the offence. In the first 69 games of the season, the Penguins’ offence ranked 24th with 2.88 goals per game. Pittsburgh simply didn’t have the depth and the top players couldn’t make up for the lack of production from the back lines. The power play lacked even more of a scoring threat. With a success rate of just 14.6 per cent, the Penguins were third to last.
But you couldn’t blame the Penguins for not trying. Only two teams took more shots on goal per game than Pittsburgh (33.2). However, their chance conversion was simply not good enough.
What’s optimistic for the future
The Penguins have made an impressive comeback in recent weeks. No team has scored more points (19) since 23 March and their 8-1-3 record was worthy of a playoff team. The offensive output exploded to 4.17 goals per game. So the potential for such performances is there, it just needs to be brought to the ice consistently.
The Penguins can be satisfied with the performance of their veterans. Year after year, there are voices predicting a slump in performance from the veterans. However, captain Sidney Crosby (36) and defenseman Kris Letang (36) and Erik Karlsson (33) continued to perform at an impressive level, with only Evgeni Malkin (37) having a slightly weaker season with 65 points (26 goals, 39 assists). Crosby, on the other hand, led the Penguins with 92 points (42 goals, 50 assists), Karlsson was their best defenceman with 55 points (11 goals, 44 assists) and Letang contributed 51 points (10 goals, 41 assists). No player can play at the NHL level forever, but the ravages of time don’t seem to be taking their toll on the Penguins’ core players just yet.
While Pittsburgh struggled on offence and the power play for long stretches, there was little to complain about on defence all season. 3.0 goals against per game means a respectable 13th place one game before the end of the season, while the shorthanded percentage is ninth at 81.3 percent. Had the Penguins had at least an average offence in the first 69 games of the season, they could have used a solid defence and decent performances from goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic to get the three points they were missing in the end.
In the coming years, the Penguins can also hope for reinforcements from their young talent. Their prospect pool is certainly not one of the strongest in the NHL, but some of the players certainly have potential. Centre Brayden Yager and defenceman Owen Pickering had good seasons in the Canadian Hockey League, but will probably need another year or two to develop.
When Pittsburgh dealt forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline, they got youngsters Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius in return. Koivunen was the sixth-best scorer in the Finnish Liiga this season with 56 points (22 goals, 34 assists). Ponomarev has already played two games for the Hurricanes, recording two points and making a good impression. Lucius developed well over the past two years at the University of Wisconsin and could soon give Pittsburgh more depth. If at least one or two of these prospects make the jump to the NHL and give the Penguins more depth, it could make a huge difference in the battle for the playoffs.
Capitals celebrate in a heart-stopping final
Washington clinches last playoff spot with an empty-net goal – Philadelphia, Detroit and Pittsburgh are eliminated
It doesn’t get more exciting than this! Tuesday night’s heart-stopping final at two NHL arenas decided who would secure the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and with it the last spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
At the Bell Centre, the Detroit Red Wings equalised with the Montreal Canadiens only five seconds before the end and ultimately won 5-4 on penalties to keep their hopes briefly alive.
Meanwhile, those hopes were abruptly dashed in the ‘City of Brotherly Love’: two direct rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals, faced each other at the Wells Fargo Centre. Curious: With an empty-net goal three minutes before the end, the Capitals narrowly won 2:1 and thus clinched the last playoff ticket.
Oshie shoots Washington back into the playoffs
‘That was pretty surprising,’ said Washington forward T.J. Oshie, who suddenly recognised an empty net with exactly three minutes left on the clock. ‘I was skating across the ice and didn’t even realise the goalie was out of it until “Hath” (former teammate Garnet Hathaway) tried to block the shot. It felt good, after all it was an important game. It’s a bit unfortunate that it had to end like that, but they needed a win in regulation time, so it’s understandable. It was a close duel, a tough battle right to the end.’
At 1-1, the Flyers had pulled their goalie Samuel Ersson (16 saves, 94.1 percent save percentage) for an extra attacker to keep their playoff hopes alive.
‘It honestly feels really good to get it done in a back-to-back game, in a tough rink against a tough and fast opponent,’ Capitals forward Dylan Strome said in relief. ‘They controlled the game for a long time and for long stretches, but we kept at it. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good.’
Washington’s captain Alex Ovechkin had opened the scoring in the first period when he went for goal and deflected a shot from Dylan McIlrath into the net without moving, using his stick and glove to make it 1-0 (19′).
From then on Philadelphia dominated (8:5 shots in the second period, 13:6 shots in the third), but only got on the scoreboard once when up-tempo defenceman Erik Johnson deflected a shot from Egor Zamula into the net to make it 1-1 (33rd). Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren saved a total of 27 shots (96.4 percent save percentage).
‘There was a lot at stake,’ said Philadelphia coach John Tortorella. “We had a very slow start, but then attacked better and better. I have to give credit to our opponent, who defended well. We just couldn’t find a way to score.’
So Tortorella pulled the goalie shortly before the end, which veteran Oshie penalised and sent the Capitals into the playoffs. The US Capitals qualified again after a one-season absence and have appeared in the finals in nine of the last ten years. Incidentally, Washington, who have won four of their last five games, will face Presidents’ Trophy winners New York Rangers in the first round.
‘It’s unbelievable,’ said Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin. ‘We battled through a lot of things that happened at the trade deadline or injuries, but the belief in this dressing room was incredible. We’ve enjoyed this process, which is special. That’s why we play hockey. You want to play in an atmosphere like that. We’ve beaten some pretty good teams to get it done.’
Seider, Perron and Kane keep Detroit’s hopes alive for a long time
Oshie’s empty-net goal not only ended the Philadelphia Flyers’ season, but also eliminated the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Detroit had done its homework the same evening in dramatic fashion with a 5:4 win n.p. in Montreal. Overall, the Red Wings fell behind 0:1, 1:3 and 3:4 in the course of the game. German defenceman Moritz Seider (28:06 minutes of ice time, three checks) scored with a powerful slap shot to make it 1:1 (19th). In a thrilling final phase, David Perron scored with just five seconds left on the clock to make it 4:4 (60′). Only Patrick Kane scored for Detroit in the later penalty shoot-out, but this was not to cause much euphoria after this wild rollercoaster ride of emotions – after all, many already knew the result from Philadelphia at this point.
‘I didn’t know for sure, but a few other lads probably did,’ said Kane. ‘There wasn’t much reaction from the bench after I scored, so I quickly realised there wasn’t much to celebrate.’
‘It’s tough. It’s gruelling,’ said Red Wings centre Dylan Larkin. ‘For it to have to end like this, it’s very very sad and tough.’
‘It’s crazy. It hurts a lot. We score the goal, then we come back to the bench and hear that Philly thinks we’re losing so we pull the goalie, then Washington scores,’ said Perron, describing the curious scene. ‘That hurts a lot. The guys were very emotional in the dressing room. Everything hurts so much, it’s getting worse and worse.’
Particularly bitter: Detroit (41-32-9) is level on points with Washington (40-31-11) and has even won more games overall. But the difference is the number of wins after regulation time. Here the Capitals had 32, the Red Wings only 27.
Pittsburgh is eliminated on the sofa
The Penguins, who did not play themselves but had to watch the end from the sofa, are also out of the running. Pittsburgh’s away game at the New York Islanders on Wednesday evening is therefore no longer of any sporting significance.