Today the Penguins play their last regular season game against what should be a playoff caliber team. This game has a chance to really swing the odds on who the Penguins will be playing in round one. A loss in regulation and the Hurricanes will tie the Penguins in points, but hold the tiebreaker in ROW. This would bump the Penguins to a matchup against the Capitals. The Blue Jackets remain three points back so the Penguins aren’t completely out of the woods from a damning first round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The good news for the Penguins is that after today they get the Rangers once and the Detroit Red Wings twice. Those are a couple of bad teams and the Penguins would only have themselves to blame if they needed those wins and couldn’t get them. A victory today and the Penguins would be tough to catch for Carolina or Columbus, almost solidifying a first round matchup with the Islanders. Basic logic would dictate you want to play easier teams so you can advance further with less stress. Owners also love earning extra revenue in the playoffs by advancing to play in more rounds. When looking at the other options I still believe the Islanders to be the best. Winning today would all but guarantee that matchup.
Here's a great story about the Penguins community
.@penguins fan Kelly Sowatsky was in desperate need of a kidney.
— ESPN (@espn) March 30, 2019
When she brought a sign to a game, it ended up changing her life. (via @E60) pic.twitter.com/Q80HoKXHxf
Player tracking is going to ramp up in the next few years. I’m skeptical as well as others about what the NHL is going to track and how useful the information is going to be for player evaluation.
Player tracking is coming to the NHL and teams are already preparing for it. @CraigCustance with an inside look at their plans and the potential impact: https://t.co/mjrnGotuGo
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) March 29, 2019
This passage gives some hope
These were some of the brightest minds in hockey front offices listening in – Washington’s Tim Barnes, Pittsburgh’s Sam Ventura, Toronto’s Darryl Metcalf, Tampa Bay’s Michael Peterson, Carolina’s Eric Tulsky, Minnesota’s Alexandra Mandrycky and Andrew Thomas, among others.
This is good to see because those are the people who are going to be evaluation based and not the ones looking for gimmicky prop bets with the information.
The Penguins are doing a good thing today at the game
As Gender Equality Month comes to a close, the @pensfoundation is hosting 'Her Hockey Night' at tonight’s game.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 31, 2019
Details: https://t.co/LfF3Pd3GTD pic.twitter.com/JHiObj7KDw
This isn’t the Penguins fault, but the timing of today’s Her Hockey Night coincides with the news that the CWHL is shutting its doors and ceasing operation. The NHL talks a lot about Hockey Is For Everyone, but their actions dictate that is only when it is convenient. The NHL should be doing more to grow the game if they are going to bombard us with that slogan each and every year.
Thanks for reading!