Penguins favored to make playoffs, but it's crunch time

BY HOME FIELD SPORTS STAFF REPORT

It’s crunch time for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, Pittsburgh (37-28-10) holds a one-point advantage over the Florida Panthers for the second wild card position in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins have one game in hand over the Panthers and also a game in hand over the New York Islanders, who have a three-point advantage for the first wild card position.

Add it all up, and Pittsburgh is at -260 to make the Stanley Cup playoffs with the odds set at +210 for the Penguins to fail to make the postseason at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Pittsburgh will be on national television Saturday afternoon, hosting the Boston Bruins. Boston (50-12-5) has locked up the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the best record in the NHL, and they remain on pace to have a record season for wins and points.

The Penguins will go into Saturday’s game as a +115 slight underdog with a goal total set at 6.5 and odds at -110 on either side of the over/under. The puck line for the Penguins +1.5 is a safer bet at -230 odds. Pittsburgh has played Boston tough this year, losing 6-5 in overtime in November and 2-1 at the 2023 Winter Classic on Jan. 2. Despite the close losses, Mike Sullivan believes the Penguins have shown they can play with the Bruins and now have to figure a way to win.

“I think we can take a lot from those games…they were pretty competitive games,” Sullivan said. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing and so we ended up on the wrong side of those scores, but they were pretty competitive hockey games. Those two experiences suggest that those guys could have gone either way and we have to find a way to get over the hump.”

Pittsburgh has struggled lately, going 4-6-0 in its past ten games, but the Penguins put together arguably their best defensive performance of the season Thursday in a 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators. Tristan Jarry had 27 saves for the shutout, and Pittsburgh got all the offense it needed from goals by Jason Zucker and Jake Guentzel. The Penguins were -200 money-line favorites in the game, and the -1.5 puck-line win paid +130 on a $100 bet. The under was a betting lean at -120.

“The two points are huge, and that’s all we’re going for this time of year,” Jarry said. “You have to be at your best every game this time of year, obviously. Knowing that every time you get on the ice you have to be better than last game.”

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