When Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin received his five-game suspension for hitting Buffalo Sabers defenseman Rasmus Dahlin a week and a half ago, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The Penguins were already playing without their captain and best player, Sidney Crosby, were in the middle of a tough and increasingly tight playoff race, and were entering what was going to be by far the toughest part of their schedule. This stretch of games included the start of a five-game road trip that would see them face only potential playoff teams and Stanley Cup contenders.
This could have been a major turning point in the season.
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Instead, the Penguins largely got away with it.
In the five games without Malkin and Crosby, the Penguins were 2-1-2 and had six points out of a possible 10. It’s pretty good.
So far, in the 10 games without Crosby, they are 4-3-3. That’s over .500 in hockey, which is probably what they needed to do.
Now they enter this week still in the playoffs, knowing they’ll get Malkin back Monday night and potentially Crosby as well.
It’s hard to ask for anything more given the circumstances.
Keep something in mind: On March 5, when the Penguins lost that game to the Sabers and learned the news of Malkin’s suspension, they were three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and tied with the New York Islanders.
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During the time without Malkin, they haven’t really lost much ground to anyone. Here’s a look at the Penguins’ points leads and deficits compared to other bubble teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and how much ground they lost or gained on each team during Malkin’s suspension.
This is another remnant of the difficulty of making up points this late in the regular season.
The only team up by more than a point is the Ottawa Senators, who remain four points behind.
The New York Islanders didn’t gain any ground.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins each earned just one point.
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The Penguins actually gained one point over the Washington Capitals and three points over the Detroit Red Wings.
It would have been great to get those points in overtime against Philadelphia and Carolina, especially with full two-minute power plays in overtime, but every point during that stretch counted. If someone had told you on March 5 that they would get six points out of the next ten, regardless of how they were earned, you probably would have signed and agreed.
They still hold a playoff spot. They still have the tiebreaker over every team on this list, which is important.
Now they have help on the way.
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The week begins Monday with what could be their toughest game of the season, against the best team in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado does everything well, has star power throughout the roster and got even better at the trade deadline with the addition of Nazem Kadri, giving them a powerful center trio with Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and Kadri in the middle. They have only lost 12 games in regulation all season, and only five at home. Getting even one point from this game would be huge.
The Penguins then conclude this five-game road trip Wednesday night where it began in Carolina. This time, they should be a little closer to having a full roster, while facing the Hurricanes in the second half of a back-to-back, as they play in Columbus on Tuesday night. There is a little boost to the calendar there. The Penguins have actually held their own against the Hurricanes this season, picking up three points out of a possible four in games against them. Their first game against them, a 5-1 win at Pittsburgh, came as the Hurricanes entered the second straight half. Maybe they can be vulnerable to it.
The Penguins finally return home this weekend with a back-to-back series against the Winnipeg Jets and Hurricanes.
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Winnipeg has been one of the worst teams in the NHL this season, but they are trying to cling to some slim playoff hopes in the Western Conference and are playing a little better recently. As long as Connor Hellebuyck is in the lineup, they’ll be a formidable opponent, but they’re not a particularly good team overall. This may be the most winnable game of the week.
Next, they will play their fourth and final game with the Hurricanes this season to complete the back-to-back streak. This time, however, the Penguins will be the team that plays the second half of the back-to-back game while Carolina arrives rested.
This is going to be a tough week. Perhaps even more intimidating than the previous week, even with a potentially better lineup. Almost all the matches for the next two or three weeks will play out like this. They’re going to lose some of these games. They simply are. But so are many of the teams they compete with. Both Columbus and Boston have almost equally difficult schedules. Detroit is dealing with major long-term injuries to its top two centers. Philadelphia and Washington are so far behind and in a situation where it’s going to be really difficult to make up that many points in the standings.
The Penguins don’t need to finish ahead of all of these teams, they just need to finish ahead of a few of them. That’s not too high a bar.
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Eight more wins take them to 97 points. They might be enough.
If they can get two of those wins this week, or a combination of results that nets them at least four or five points, that would be a good way to start their path toward that goal. The return of their two best players, or even just one of them (Malkin), would really help with that.
