CRANBERRY — Yes, the Pittsburgh Penguins are watching the standings. To a man, no player bothered to give a non-answer denial or soft avoidance that used to accompany such questions when they were out of the playoff seedings, sometimes trailing badly.

Nah, they’re watching, and they admit it.

But the Penguins see the standings with their name in second place a bit differently than you or I might. In fact, none seemed to know that they are six points with three games in hand ahead of the Washington Capitals.

That’s significant as the Capitals are the closest team that could deny the Penguins a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth.

“We keep winning. I mean, as long as we’re not losing,” quipped Noel Acciari.

The reality is the Penguins have about an 86% chance of making the playoffs. The top of the Eastern Conference has bunched up, but it’s the top three in the Metro and the top seven in the Atlantic Division.

Indeed, the Penguins are confronted with the standings every day. Rickard seemed to indicate the

“You keep looking at the standings and keep track. Yeah,” said Rickard Rakell. “Teams in our division are playing a lot of games right now. It’s probably a good thing.”

But no one seemed wise to their immense cushion. The current 12-2-2 run since the holiday break ended on Dec. 27 has put ample space between them and their pursuers. The teams in the Atlantic can’t pass them up. Put simply, unless Washington or the Philadelphia Flyers mount a furious charge to catch the Penguins in the Metro division, the Penguins will make the playoffs.

But don’t tell them that. The veterans conveyed caution.

“Obviously, we want to keep winning, but to see ourselves in a playoff spot right now is good, but complacency with how competitive our division and the Eastern Conference– So it’s kind of in our minds get points every night.”

Even when we pointed out that their cushion, it didn’t seem to register that they had put themselves on the precipice of something very few predicted (though one of us did write in September that the Penguins were too good for their own good).

“You see them every day. When we come in, they’re on TV, and (there’s a board in the Penguins’ private room),” said Arturs Silovs. “It’s like, you understand how tough it is, and how many challenges you have to go through to win the games, and how important it is.

“And everyone is so close to each other. And I think (we’re) taking advantage. You know, when you feel good and when things are happening for you, I think (standings show) you have taken advantage of that. And, yeah, it’s about just going with the right mindset.”

Trying to crack the group on this particular topic was more difficult than anticipated. If there’s any relief or satisfaction with what they’ve achieved heading into the Olympic break, Silovs was the closest, and yet so far, from admitting it.

There was no talk of second place, and only passing references to first.

“I mean, right now, it’s every day you’ve just got to be ready to turn that page and try to get a little bit better. I’m aware of where we are in the standings. It’s not something that–you look at the scores around the league, because you know you’re in the thick of it,” said coach Dan Muse. “For me, the focus is on just turning the page the next day. Today the focus was on–It wasn’t going to be a terribly long practice, but we wanted to make the most out of it and get something from today, and then quickly turn that page through tomorrow and get them ready for that game.”

And so it seems fans and media will have to do the math and keep track of the situation. Of course, given the Penguins’ collapse of 2022-23, culminating in that fateful late-season loss against the Chicago Blackhawks that landed Connor Bedard in Chicago, launched the Florida Panthers dynasty, and ended the Penguins’ 16-year playoff streak.

“We can’t let up, just gonna keep staying hungry and keep chasing those points,” said Rakell. “And, I mean, we’ve seen it in the past that every point matters.”

Tags: Pittsburgh Penguins

Categorized:Penguins Locker Room