The Return of the Playoff Tracker Thread

[BlackNGold4Life]

The good news we will only have to wait until games tomorrow to see if game 82 means anything. I don’t see both the Capa and the wings losing. Wings with a HUGE comeback tonight against the Habs - saved their season. They play them again tomorrow.

We most likely don’t get in but at least we had some fun hockey for a few weeks that felt like 10+ playoff games.

It was fun and maybe good for the group going into next season - but coming up a game short again - has to sting.

Silver linings - Jack St. Ivany - Shea - Bunting all major improvements. Tons of Cap space and will be interesting off season.

Let’s hope for a miracle tomorrow - LGP

[Pruezy11881]

The good news we will only have to wait until games tomorrow to see if game 82 means anything. I don’t see both the Capa and the wings losing. Wings with a HUGE comeback tonight against the Habs - saved their season. They play them again tomorrow.

We most likely don’t get in but at least we had some fun hockey for a few weeks that felt like 10+ playoff games.

It was fun and maybe good for the group going into next season - but coming up a game short again - has to sting.

Silver linings - Jack St. Ivany - Shea - Bunting all major improvements. Tons of Cap space and will be interesting off season.

Let’s hope for a miracle tomorrow - LGP

And Sid showing no signs of slowing down...

[penny lane]

Already lit!


*PO Joseph maturing into a solid D.

[DelPen]

I’m old enough to remember when the Panthers needed the Penguins to lose not just to the Hawks but also the Jackets to make the playoffs once upon a time.

One issue I see is that the Flyers need a regulation win, if it’s tied late they should be pulling thier goalie so they need to be leading late to give us a better chance.

[KBone]

At least for their own reasons the Flyers have motivation to win. If it didn't matter I could see them taking the game off to stick it to the Pens, but with them still having a chance, they should be putting it all out there tonight.

[stonewizard51]

The good news we will only have to wait until games tomorrow to see if game 82 means anything. I don’t see both the Capa and the wings losing. Wings with a HUGE comeback tonight against the Habs - saved their season. They play them again tomorrow.

We most likely don’t get in but at least we had some fun hockey for a few weeks that felt like 10+ playoff games.

It was fun and maybe good for the group going into next season - but coming up a game short again - has to sting.

Silver linings - Jack St. Ivany - Shea - Bunting all major improvements. Tons of Cap space and will be interesting off season.

Let’s hope for a miracle tomorrow - LGP

And Sid showing no signs of slowing down...

Sid doesn't know how to do that. It's not in his DNA

[lemieuxReturns]

" Tons of Cap space and will be interesting off season."

Not really.

[KG]

Detroit hanging on by a thread. Credit to them for coming back against us getting a point and coming back from 3 goals to beat Montreal last night. That said, Montreal needs to exact some revenge tonight!...please

I would expect a real tough showing from Philly at home against their rival Washington with both their seasons on the line.

[DelPen]

I’m sure every team has a handful of games every where they can look back on and say “what if we got one more point” and often they can be cancelled out mostly by points gained they had no business getting.

The Pens this year have close to 20 of these games. And there haven’t been many “stolen” points. The fact we could end up just one point shy after some of the historical failures this team has suffered under these coaches should mean an entire change over should be done.

The PP, OT and how to play with a lead late in games are three things that have been a problem for a while and have been getting worse each year since 2020. There are so many individual things that should get Sullivan fired, not making the playoffs again should be enough alone.

[ahawk9]

DelPen, totally agree! Everyone has lamented points that they gave away but this iteration of the Pens should be comfortably in 3rd in the Metro. No, they are not a great team, but they are better than the Caps, Flyers, Isles and Wings, yet that power play and tendency to blow 3rd-period leads has submarined what should have been a celebration of Crosby's continued greatness. It'll be a shame if he doesn't get to the playoffs, even if it's for a short series. The Calgary game is the one that sticks out among all the others because they should have won in regulation but instead lost in regulation. Stunning.

[Pitts]

In February/March I was convinced the coaches would be let go at end of season. Thanks to this wonderful run they've been on, I'm no longer convinced.

[ahawk9]

I'm sure it's guaranteed Sully will be back but fingers crossed that they at least start with assistants and have him on a short leash heading into next season.

[Southern Fan]

Moneypuck has Pens at 14.6 % after last night. Thought it would be lower.

[FLPensFan]

Buffalo just canned their coaching staff. I'm assuming for missing the playoffs and having a down season when they expected to be on an upswing. 91 points last year and missed playoffs, dropped to 84 points on the season this year.

[Pruezy11881]

I'm sure it's guaranteed Sully will be back but fingers crossed that they at least start with assistants and have him on a short leash heading into next season.

Reirden, for sure...Vellucci, IMO, should be safe.

[BlackNGold4Life]

" Tons of Cap space and will be interesting off season."

Not really.

Cap goes up. Carter off the books and I have Riley Smith out the door. Plenty of cap space. If they could find a new home for Ryan Graves we could retool fairly well.

Agreed on wanting Sullivan gone. This run botched that. But has also been the best part of the season for us Fans. I think he’s on a short leash - but also could be bullet proof.

I could see Rierden staying on a defensemen coach and demoted off specia teams. We need to see some new blood behind the bench - even if Sullivan “must” stay.

[maopens]

Ryan Graves was diagnosed with a concussion and shut down for the season.

Did that injury occur in December?

[FLPensFan]

Ryan Graves was diagnosed with a concussion and shut down for the season.

Did that injury occur in December September?

Fixt

[Fast B]

It's easy to pick apart all the problems with this team this year, but just one - even if we had all the blown leads and OT giveways, etc, what if the power play had been just 2 percent better? (And maybe didn't give up so many SHG, while we're hypothesizing.)

[KG]

Buffalo just canned their coaching staff. I'm assuming for missing the playoffs and having a down season when they expected to be on an upswing. 91 points last year and missed playoffs, dropped to 84 points on the season this year.

Granato has 2 years left on his contract totaling approximately $4mill. Sabres could be on the hook for that as a team might not hire him. Pens on the other hand would not be on the hook as Sully would get swopped up quickly.

[Puck-Lurker]

Moneypuck has Pens at 14.6 % after last night. Thought it would be lower.

If I draw a w/l/ot matrix, there are 27 results. Ignoring SO and treating outcomes as equally likely, there are 4 combinations of outcomes that lead to Pens qualifying for ~17.3%. Problem is, the chance of a regulation W/L is 3x higher than a game heading into OT.

Correcting for the likelihood for OT, dropping down to ~15%. I feel I'd have to eyeball correct for a terrible Habs team as well, so 14.6% is probably too high.

10% sounds about right? Regardless, this past week is not when we lost our chance at a playoff berth.

[IntangibleBeer]

I’m sure every team has a handful of games every where they can look back on and say “what if we got one more point” and often they can be cancelled out mostly by points gained they had no business getting.

The Pens this year have close to 20 of these games. And there haven’t been many “stolen” points. The fact we could end up just one point shy after some of the historical failures this team has suffered under these coaches should mean an entire change over should be done.

The PP, OT and how to play with a lead late in games are three things that have been a problem for a while and have been getting worse each year since 2020. There are so many individual things that should get Sullivan fired, not making the playoffs again should be enough alone.

If they miss the playoffs (which is likely), this season will be reminiscent of most of the 1980s. Back then, how many times did we cross our fingers and wait on the outcomes of other games? Too many, to my mind. Those are not great memories. And yet, here we are again. It was a pretty good 10 game drive, but where the **** was this team in September? Or October? Or heck, even in March?

They are not going to make the playoffs and Dubas must fire Sullivan. Tomorrow. Or by Friday at the very latest.

[Cow_Master66]

" they are better than the Caps, Flyers, Isles and Wings"....If you finish behind teams after 82 games, you're not better than them. Especially the Isles, considering we've been behind them for two seasons.

[Tico Rick]

" they are better than the Caps, Flyers, Isles and Wings"....If you finish behind teams after 82 games, you're not better than them. Especially the Isles, considering we've been behind them for two seasons.

I wonder where the Pens would sit if 3 points were awarded for regulation wins, 2 points for overtime wins, and 1 point for overtime losses. It seems that someone figures that out every year.

[DelPen]

" they are better than the Caps, Flyers, Isles and Wings"....If you finish behind teams after 82 games, you're not better than them. Especially the Isles, considering we've been behind them for two seasons.

I wonder where the Pens would sit if 3 points were awarded for regulation wins, 2 points for overtime wins, and 1 point for overtime losses. It seems that someone figures that out every year.

Solidly in 3rd.