PITTSBURGH — It was noted historian Biff Tannen who famously uttered in Back to the Future II, “There’s something very familiar about all this.”
Look no further than one year ago.
The Penguins were left for dead last season only to stage a dramatic, late-season surge that nearly led them to a remarkable playoff berth. Making the playoffs this season would be even more remarkable, unprecedented and downright miraculous. And yet, the standings are what they are. After the Penguins walloped the Devils, 7-3 on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena, they found themselves four points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
By the end of the evening, they’ll be six points out because of the reality that Columbus and the New York Rangers — both of whom entered Saturday tied for the final playoff spot — played in Columbus on Saturday night, meaning one will earn two points. And, yes, the entire East has games in hand on the Penguins.
Nonetheless, the Penguins are indeed mathematically alive and they’ve won four straight games against high caliber competition.
“Anything can happen,” Mike Sullivan said.
It almost did last season.
The Penguins, in a similar situation, were 1o points out of a playoff spot last season and left for dead with only 13 games remaining. They then went on a 7-0-3 run that nearly propelled them to a playoff spot. Their run started on a March, Sunday afternoon when they earned a point against the Avalanche in Denver.
This run started on a Sunday afternoon on the road against a playoff team in Minnesota. A victory against the Wild on Sunday was followed by wins against Vegas, St. Louis and the Devils. Three of those teams are firmly locked into playoff spots and the Blues are in contention. So, the Penguins haven’t exactly been having their way with the bottom feeders of the NHL.
And yet, they’ve won four in a row, behind jarringly impressive goaltending from Tristan Jarry, whose performance has been so bad this season that he’s twice been exiled to the American Hockey League. He’s been superb in his latest recall.
So, too, has the Penguins’ offensive output. They racked up seven goals against the Devils and their depth was on display as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin recorded only one point each.
Of course, the Penguins’ star power has been on display during this sudden run. Crosby has seven points in the past four games.
“It’s nice coming to work every day when we’re executing like this,” Kris Letang said.
The Penguins, realistically, can probably only lose a couple of games for the remainder of the season to have a realistic chance of actually qualifying for the postseason. They have 13 games remaining and there is precious little evidence that they’re capable of such a run.
Then again, there wasn’t much evidence that they were capable of winning four games against high caliber competition.
Up next for the Penguins, who have outscored their opponents 18-9 on their four-game winning streak, is a home game on Tuesday against the Islanders.
Ten postgame observations
• It feels silly writing about this, because I don’t think anyone reading this really thinks the Penguins have a chance of making the playoffs, but the standings are what they are. More than anything, I think this is an indictment of just how bad the Eastern Conference is once you remove the Florida teams, Maple Leafs and Capitals.
I can’t ignore how similar this feels to what we witnessed last spring. The Penguins are suddenly scoring goals in bunches, getting contributions from young, newly acquired defensemen, and receiving good goaltending for the first time all season.
Sounds kind of like last season, does it not?
The parallels are there in a big way.
• The Penguins are probably hurting their draft position right now. There’s no other way to put it.
They appeared on track for a top-five pick and, while that remains entirely possible, it becomes less likely every time the Penguins win a game.
Blame Kyle Dubas for this if you want. I suppose he didn’t have to recall Jarry, knowing full well that Joel Blomqvist was in over his head at the NHL level. And I suppose he could have traded Rickard Rakell, which would have badly wounded the current team.
But don’t blame Sullivan or the players. They’re paid to coach, and paid to win hockey games. You can’t tell a team or a coach to tank. It doesn’t work that way and, frankly, I find it pretty admirable that this team is playing as hard as it is.
• Jarry is becoming some kind of a story. Is all of this fools’ gold? Maybe. Does he deserve credit for how he’s overcome the adversity to suddenly look like a good NHL goalie? Absolutely.
Jarry wasn’t quite as dominant against the Devils as he was in his previous three outings, but he was still plenty good. I’m struck by how calm he looks in net, how easy he’s making it look. He’s not doing too much, and not overplaying the puck. He almost looks to be in some kind of a zen mindset.
Would I trust Jarry moving forward, no matter how he performs down the stretch this season? Nah, probably not. Sorry, but a lot of damage has been done and I don’t think the Penguins can or will trust him with the organization’s fortunes moving forward.
But I mean that as no disrespect. This is a great story and he’s playing wonderful hockey at the moment. Full credit to him. If it compels a general manager around the league to take a shot at him this summer, even better.
• This marks the 12th time in Crosby’s career in which he’s accounted for at least 50 assists. That number would be even higher if not for concussions and NHL work stoppages.
The dynamic duo is at it again! 👏 https://t.co/zw6u6dlMMk pic.twitter.com/uabsQ0ITew
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025
He now has 73 points on the season. He missed two games in February, which means the magic number for Crosby is 80. Should he reach 80 points, he will have broken free of a tie with Wayne Gretzky, giving him 20 straight seasons of averaging a point per game or better.
Crosby needs seven points in his past 13 games to break the mark. It’s hard not to like his chances.
• Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are both playing at a very high level. Malkin did take two awful penalties in this game, but still, his skating since the 4 Nations Face-Off has been noticeably better.
While Crosby only had one point in this game, he was buzzing all night.
They’re almost 40 and know they probably won’t see the postseason this spring, but there has been no slowing down for either future Hall of Famer.
• Connor Dewar scored two goals and has three in his past two games. What a nice first impression.
DEWEY 👏 pic.twitter.com/PxLH5reo9z
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025
He didn’t record a goal all season with Toronto before being traded to the Penguins. He did, however, score 10 goals in 57 games the season before in Minnesota. Maybe this is merely a lucky hot streak. It’s too early to say. But sometimes bottom-six players simply find a comfort level in certain systems. The Penguins are hoping that will be the case. He’s done a very nice job so far.
• Speaking of new guys, how about Conor Timmins? He scored a goal on Thursday in his third game with the Penguins. Against the Devils, he recorded two assists and was a plus-4.
What I notice, more than anything, when watching him play is his poise. It’s awfully early in his time with the Penguins, of course, but this has been a fairly solid NHL player in the past. He’s only 26 and there’s room for improvement. This isn’t necessarily a player with a high ceiling, but could he be a good third-pairing option moving forward for the Penguins? I think so.
• Erik Karlsson and Letang were both really good on Saturday. I’ve liked both of their games lately, for the most part. Karlsson scored his 10th goal of the season.
EK65 WITH A 🚀 pic.twitter.com/4xIvoxKLYb
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025
Repeat after me, class: The Penguins go as those two guys go. It’s never changed.
• The Devils will make the playoffs but they won’t be around for long without Jack Hughes.
• There were 3,000 empty seats, something you never see during the annual St. Patrick’s Day weekend home game. This is a reflection on the season the Penguins have had and ticket prices.
But I have to say, the fans who are showing up at games during the past few weeks have been fantastic. The real hockey fans are in the building right now, and the atmosphere has been outstanding.
(Photo: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
