The Pittsburgh Penguins are one win away from clinching their first Stanley Cup Playoff spot in four years, and they can get that Thursday when they visit the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J.
Pittsburgh (40-22-16, 96 points) comes into the final week of the regular season having won two straight and four of its last five. The Penguins have been on an offensive tear of late, as well. They have 30 goals in their last five games, including an eight-goal performance against the New York Islanders on March 30 and a nine-goal outburst versus the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
With 277 goals, the Penguins entered Wednesday tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second most in the league. Only the Colorado Avalanche, with 287, have lit the lamp more often.
Pittsburgh’s Ryan Shea told reporters Wednesday that the team has played well as the playoff race has tightened down the stretch.
“You’re fighting to get into probably the best playoffs in all sports. … I think it’s just everyone’s giving their all,” said the third-year defenseman, 29, who has yet to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “The motivation’s at an all-time high, but also the confidence is that high.”
As the Penguins have been on a tear, so has Rickard Rakell, who earned the NHL’s top star last week with seven goals in five games. Over the last two weeks, Rakell, 32, has points in eight straight (10 goals, three assists), with at least one goal in his last five and seven out of the eight.
Penguins coach Dan Muse told reporters that goalie Stuart Skinner practiced with the team Wednesday. Skinner did not play in either of the weekend home games against the Florida Panthers after a puck bounced off the plexiglass and hit him near the eye while he was on the bench during Saturday’s contest.
The team called up Sergei Murashov from its AHL affiliate to back up Arturs Silovs, and Muse said all three will make the trek to New Jersey.
“Then we’ll determine a plan from there,” Muse said.
While the Penguins are a win away from making the playoffs, the Devils (40-35-3, 83 points) learned their fate Tuesday night. Their 5-1 home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, coupled with the Ottawa Senators beating the Lightning moments later, officially eliminated them from postseason contention.
Since 2019, the Devils have made the playoffs only twice. That includes last season in Sheldon Keefe’s first year coaching the team.
This season will mark the first time in his seven seasons behind an NHL bench that he won’t guide a team to the playoffs.
“It’s difficult. It’s embarrassing,” he told reporters after the loss to the Flyers on Tuesday night. “I don’t like it. I’ve coached for 20 years, and it’s the first time I won’t be participating in the playoffs at any level. So, it’s not fun.
“I’ve never been in a situation like this, but we’ve earned this.”
The Devils have lost three of their last five (2-2-1), but center Jack Hughes has been shining for them since returning from the Winter Olympics, where he scored the gold medal-winning goal for the U.S. team.
Despite playing in just 57 games, Hughes leads the team with 72 points (25 goals, 47 assists). Half of those points (13 goals, 23 assists) have come in the 21 games he’s played since the NHL resumed action. Tuesday’s loss was only the fifth game in that span where he was held without a point.
