The Penguins didn’t home-ice advantage, but they did avoid the Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They will head to Long Island to face the Islanders in round one. Here is the entire first round schedule
Make no mistake the Islanders are the best option for a first round opponent. When you look around at the other teams they all have deeper and better rosters. Islanders have had great goaltending this year and so have the Penguins via Matt Murray since injury. Saying the Islanders are the best matchup is not the same as saying they can’t win the series. So many people still don’t understand this sport and the variance attached to it. Hockey more than any other sport allows it’s lesser skilled teams to compete and win playoff series. Hockey rewards its best teams less than other sports. Doesn’t change the fact it is beneficial for the Penguins to play against the team with the least amount of depth in round one. A team that rode unsustainable shooting for most of the year
There will be more details about how the teams matchup in the following days
As for last night’s game Jake Guentzel got his 40th goal courtesy of Sidney Crosby and his 100th point on the season. It was a huge goal because it helped undo the catastrophic shorthanded goal the Penguins had given up just earlier in the period. Losing to the Rangers on a shorthanded goal would have been on brand for the team this year though.
Thanks for reading!
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