Tim Benz: Penguins, Capitals very much in the same boat as they prepare to lock horns
At the start of the NHL season, many expected the Pittsburgh Penguins to be in a dogfight to continue their streak of 16 consecutive playoff appearances.
So far, that prediction has played out exactly as foreseen. Through 47 games (out of 82), the Penguins are 24-15-8. That translates to just one game above .500 (24-23), if you are someone who is offended by the existence of the loser point.
That adds up to 56 points, currently tied with the Washington Capitals for the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. They are just three points clear of the ninth-place Buffalo Sabres.
Like the Penguins, the Caps have been a mainstay in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, failing to qualify just once since the 2007-08 season.
With teams such as the Sabres (53 points), Florida Panthers (52 points) and New York Islanders (51 points) lurking, don’t expect a 16-point cushion between the last playoff spot and playoff elimination as we saw in the Eastern Conference a year ago.
Furthermore, if either the Pens or Capitals want to advance out of the first round, it would serve them well to get out of the wild-card holes and move up into the Metropolitan Division sub-bracket as one of the top three teams in the division, because the eighth seed will likely have to face the buzzsaw Boston Bruins, who already have 80 points. And if the Carolina Hurricanes win the Metro, they’ll get the seventh seed. Thus far, the Canes are 5-0 against the Caps and Pens.
Neither Pittsburgh nor Washington has celebrated a playoff series victory since the 2018 postseason. That’s when the Caps beat the Penguins in the second round en route to the Stanley Cup.
Thursday marks the second meeting between Sidney Crosby’s Penguins and Alex Ovechkin’s Capitals. The Pens won the only other meeting between the two teams, 4-1, on Nov. 9 in D.C. After Thursday’s game, the two clubs won’t play each other until a March 25 date at PPG Paints Arena.
So consider Thursday’s game a big one for many reasons. In recent days, we’ve kept you posted on a lot of the struggles the Penguins have had staying afloat lately and how they scrambled to escape those issues during a wild 7-6 overtime victory against the Panthers.
As for the Caps, the Penguins may be heading to D.C. at a decent time. Here’s what’s been going on with them:
• Washington has lost five of seven. In that stretch, goalie Darcy Kuemper has started six of those games, going 2-4 with a save percentage of .894. The Caps have lost seven of 11 games in January after winning 11 of 15 in December.
• Ovechkin missed a Jan. 24 loss (6-2) against the Vegas Golden Knights. It’s the only game he has missed this season. He scored in Washington’s most recent outing against the Colorado Avalanche, which ended up being a 3-2 defeat.
Ovechkin was on a torrid pace around the holidays. He had nine goals in six games between Dec. 23 and Jan. 5. Since then, he has slowed, scoring just twice in the Caps’ last eight games.
As of the start of league-wide action Wednesday night, Ovechkin’s 31 goals is good for a sixth-place tie in the NHL. He was also tied for 20th with 53 points. By comparison, Crosby has 23 goals and 57 points (11th, tie).
• Tom Wilson may have been replaced by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba as the most hated hockey player in Pittsburgh. But Wilson is still considered a nemesis around these parts.
He has been injured a lot this year, though, having played just eight games since returning from off-season knee surgery. Via RussianMachineNeverBreaks, the forward played only nine minutes against the Avs before getting hurt again. He blocked a shot and left the game with a lower-body injury. Wilson has three points (2g, 1a) since returning to the ice.
• Center Nick Backstrom missed the Caps’ last game because of a non-covid illness. Forward T.J. Oshie was absent too; his wife was delivering a baby. No word yet on their status for Thursday.
• The Penguins are 11th in the NHL in scoring at 3.28 goals per game, and the Caps are 17th at 3.16. The Capitals allow 2.80 goals per game, ninth best in hockey. The Penguins are 16th at 3.06. Both teams have a top-10 penalty kill. Washington is seventh at 81.6%. Pittsburgh’s is ninth at 81.2%.
Given their talent, both teams would probably like to get more out of their power plays. The Penguins are 16th at 22.2%, and the Capitals rank 20th at 20.3%.
Faceoff in Washington is at 7 p.m.
Oh, and the regular season ends April 13. So there’s still a lot of hockey left. But in the East this year, this might be one of those Yogi Berra “it’s getting late early” kind of situations if either team goes on a bad skid before the trade deadline.
