Tim Benz: Time for Penguins to become worthy of the gifts they've been given
When the Pittsburgh Pirates lost rising star Oneil Cruz for four months because of a broken ankle Sunday, you couldn’t blame anyone associated with the franchise for wondering out loud, “What did we do to deserve this?”
On Monday night, you couldn’t blame anyone associated with the Penguins for uttering the same thing.
But for entirely different reasons.
Because I’m not sure what this group of Penguins has done to deserve the help that they just got. But they got it. And from some somewhat surprising sources.
While the Pens sat idle Monday in advance of their final two regular-season games, both teams who stand in front of them in the wild-card race lost. The Florida Panthers dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New York Islanders lost in regulation to the Washington Capitals 5-2.
As a result, the Panthers currently own the top wild-card spot with 92 points. The Islanders have the second one with 91 points. And the Pens are lurking with 90.
But Florida has just one game left. That’s at home versus the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Islanders play at home Wednesday in their regular-season finale against the Montreal Canadiens.
Meanwhile, the Penguins have two games left — Tuesday at home against the Chicago Blackhawks and Thursday at Columbus.
So if the Penguins win those last two games, they’ll clinch a playoff spot for a 17th consecutive season. The Blue Jackets and Blackhawks are tied for the NHL’s worst point total at 56.
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Again, I’ll ask the question. What did these Penguins do to deserve … this?
Because as often as this team has presented itself as being unworthy of the playoffs, they are essentially sitting at a blackjack table with two face cards and all their chips pushed toward the dealer.
Somehow hockey good fortune has once again smiled on this franchise — the same one that’s been blessed with a hockey-royalty lineage of Lemieux-to-Jagr-to-Crosby-and-
And for 28 of the past 33 seasons, the franchise has made the playoffs. Now they are poised to qualify again if only they can beat two teams that are likely trying to lose in an effort to be best positioned in the draft lottery to win the rights for super prospect Connor Bedard.
The task is simple. So is the schedule. Beat the two worst teams in hockey. Make the playoffs.
The Penguins should be invigorated after what happened Monday, especially given the circumstances of how the Islanders lost. In a tremendous twist of fate, the Penguins’ long-time rivals from Washington helped Pittsburgh’s cause by clipping the Islanders 5-2, despite only playing with 17 skaters. Washington is so injured and up against the cap that they couldn’t even ice a full complement of players. Star forwards Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie were among those who missed the game.
The Caps are eliminated from playoff contention, have nothing to play for, and had lost six in a row. Yet they still dented the Islanders’ hopes and gave the Penguins a boost. Even Pittsburgh’s favorite villain, Tom Wilson, capped off the game with an empty-net goal for Washington.
WILLY EMPTY-NETTER pic.twitter.com/yZAtXviMdA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 11, 2023
Trust me; it was as hard for me to hit the “retweet” button on that one as it was for you to hit “like.” The irony of the situation was not lost on the Capitals social media team.
you're welcome or whatever pic.twitter.com/CfOWhi2WZT
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 11, 2023
The Penguins also somehow got the benefit of Toronto — locked into the second position of the Atlantic Division — helping their chances by limiting Florida to just one point with a 2-1 overtime win. Had the Panthers won that game before a shootout, they would’ve clinched one of the two wild-card spots.
All of these four-leaf clovers for a Pittsburgh team that’s blown three third-period leads to the Islanders this season. All this for a team that has turned in dreadful losses against the likes of also-ran clubs such as the Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks.
All of this for a team that has racked up losing streaks of seven games, six games and four games (twice).
Forget the old cliche of looking a gift horse in the mouth. If these Penguins screw this up, it’d be like punching the gift horse squarely in the teeth.
I don’t know why the puck is bouncing in favor of the Pens so much right now. But I do know they are plenty capable of still shooting wide of an empty net. For coach Mike Sullivan’s sake and that of the playoff streak, the franchise better hope that doesn’t happen.
Not against Chicago. Not against Columbus. And not after all the aid they’ve just been given.
Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss the state of the Penguins’ playoff chances with two games remaining.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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