The Penguins overall season record last year was 34-36-12, placing them seventh in the Metropolitan Division with 80 points, and well off the playoff bar of 91 points. How did they get to those 80 points?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the breakdown by opponent:<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh record sorted by opponent, 2024-25<\/p>\n
\ufeffOpponent<\/p>\n
Record<\/p>\n
Points<\/p>\n
Games<\/p>\n
Points\/Game<\/p>\n
\ufeffOpponent<\/p>\n
Record<\/p>\n
Points<\/p>\n
Games<\/p>\n
Points\/Game<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Boston Bruins<\/p>\n
1-2-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
0.67<\/p>\n
Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n
2-1-0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1.33<\/p>\n
Calgary Flames<\/p>\n
1-0-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.50<\/p>\n
Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n
0-2-1<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
0.33<\/p>\n
Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n
0-2-0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
0.00<\/p>\n
Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n
1-1-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Dallas Stars<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n
1-1-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Florida Panthers<\/p>\n
1-0-2<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1.33<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n
2-0-0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2.00<\/p>\n
Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
3-0-0<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
2.00<\/p>\n
Nashville Predators<\/p>\n
2-0-0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2.00<\/p>\n
New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n
2-1-1<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
1.25<\/p>\n
New York Islanders<\/p>\n
1-2-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
0.75<\/p>\n
New York Rangers<\/p>\n
1-3-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
0.50<\/p>\n
Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n
1-1-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n
2-2-0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n
0-2-0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
0.00<\/p>\n
St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n
1-0-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.50<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n
0-2-1<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
0.33<\/p>\n
Toronto Maple Leafs<\/p>\n
1-1-1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Utah Hockey Club<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n
1-1-0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Washington Capitals<\/p>\n
2-2-0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
1.00<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n
0-2-0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
0.00<\/p>\n
80<\/p>\n
82<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re Dan Muse and you\u2019re actually trying to win games next season, what does this data tell you about opportunities for improvement?<\/p>\n
The mark of a bad team is not being able to reliably beat bad teams, and that applied to the 2024-25 Penguins. Pittsburgh only went 18-16-5 against non-2025 playoff teams. That\u2019s only a 78-point pace in a full season and looking back on the season results is a huge disappointment to go a combined 3-6-0 against teams in the San Jose, Chicago, Boston and Seattle portion of the schedule. Those represented four of the six worst teams in the league and the Pens had troubles with them.
\nAgainst teams that qualified for the playoffs, the Pens posted a 16-15-7 record. Thanks to dragging some games into overtime, that\u2019s actually an 84-point pace in a full season \u2014 slightly better than how they faired against the non-playoff teams. Those results are influenced by going 3-0-0 against a Montreal team that just barely qualified for the playoffs – drop them and the conversation changes. But, still, all and all, the Pens actually did put up a decent fight against some the top teams in the league.
\nIt seemed like Pittsburgh always played Colorado and Tampa really well, for unknown reasons in recent years even in the decline the Pens usually had something for those clubs. That trend reversed in a major way with an 0-4-1 record this year that\u2019s more fitting to the respective team talent levels.
\nAdd in 0-4-1 against Carolina and Winnipeg, and, yeah the Pens did have troubles against the superior teams.
\nThe NHL is a \u201chold serve\u201d type of league, The Pens went 1-1-0 or 1-1-1 against 13 out of their 31 opponents last season.
\nTeams the Pens didn\u2019t win against: 5 (CAR, COL, SEA, TB, WIN). As mentioned before, one of those teams was not like the others there smack dab in the middle of the list..
\nTeams the Pens didn\u2019t lose against: 3 (LAK, MTL, NSH). Three more that they avoided all regulation losses (CGY, FLA, STL).
\nThe Metropolitan Division was a tough time for the Pens, who went just 9-13-4 against their division opponents. Surprisingly, Pittsburgh was 2-1-1 against New Jersey – a team that usually gives them fits. It was the other NYC area teams (2-5-1 combined against NYI and NYR) that caused a lot of pain, considering neither was very good last year.
\nMaybe the Pens should ask for admittance into the Atlantic Division? Pittsburgh was 10-8-6 against the other division in the Eastern Conference, which might not sound so hot but represents an 88-point pace that is about as good as you can get to move and shake the data into something favorable.
\nPittsburgh managed to bank a tidy 32 points in 32 games against the Western Conference. That slightly over-performed their marks against the East (48 total points in 50 games) but not to a large degree.<\/p>\n