Fansided

Pittsburgh Penguins have threats abound in East

By Riley Butler

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Pittsburgh Penguins Center Sidney Crosby (87) skates during the second period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New Jersey Devils on March 23, 2018, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. The New Jersey Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Pittsburgh Penguins Center Sidney Crosby (87) skates during the second period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New Jersey Devils on March 23, 2018, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. The New Jersey Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

As we get closer to the end of the regular season, the playoff matchups are starting to form, and the Eastern Conference is looking more competitive than years before.

The 2017-18 NHL season was destined to be unique with the inclusion of the 31st team into the league with the Las Vegas Golden Knights, but I don’t think anybody was ready for what we got this year.

This year in the Eastern Conference, we’ve seen the resurgence of multiple teams that were either in the basement or injury-plagued in recent years. We also saw the fall of some formerly dominant teams. This has created a far different looking playoff picture than the one that most people would have predicted at the start of the year.

The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens have both been plagued by injury, the Detroit Red Wings have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for the second straight season, and let’s just avoid the Ottawa Senators. That’s a whole series of articles in itself.

The absence of these four teams opens up the spots to new teams and that is what we are seeing.

The Metro Division is producing the bulk of these new teams as the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and the Columbus Blue Jackets are all fighting for the last division spot and the two wild card spots. The Atlantic is seeing the resurgence of a Boston Bruins team that no one expected to make the playoffs at the start of the year. The young Toronto Maple Leafs doing their thing, and then there are the finally healthy Tampa Bay Lightning.

With all this excitement of new teams and young teams, it brings up the question of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins are looking to go for their third consecutive Stanley Cup this season and they are looking as good as ever. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Phil Kessel have been red hot since the All-Star break and show no signs of stopping as playoffs approach. Is there any teams in the East that can take down Sid the Kid and crew?

I say yes.

I believe that all three of the teams in the Atlantic Division are capable of beating the Penguins in a playoff series. I’m keeping the Washington Capitals out of the discussion as we know how good they are and we have seen the matchup many times before.

The Lightning have been consistently either the No. 1 or 2 team in the league all season. They have seen consistent production from Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and outstanding goaltending from Andrei Vasilevsky all season long. They have been slumping as playoffs approach but with the acquisitions of Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller at the trade deadline, you can’t expect nothing short of the Stanley Cup Final with this team.

The Bruins have been the somewhat rags to riches story of the Atlantic this year. In a year that carried many speculations with regards to the teams ability to compete as their stars got older and their youth was unproven, the Bruins have silenced any doubters.

Boston really started to heat up in the second half of the season led by a red-hot Tuukka Rask that posted an obscene 19-0-2 record over the span of games that saw the team jump to second in the Atlantic. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak have all lived up to expectations and Bruins have received amazing production from their youth players in Danton Heinen, Charlie McAvoy, and in recent games, Ryan Donato. They have shown they can beat any team in the East but with injury issues down the stretch they may not be at full capacity for the start of playoffs.

The Leafs have proven that last season’s heroics that saw the Buds taking the Stanley Cup-favorite Capitals to six games in a heavily-contested first-round matchup was no fluke.

Led by rock solid goaltender in Frederik Andersen and the youth core of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner the Leafs have been one of the most dynamic teams in the league all season long. They have seen great value in the veteran signings of Patrick Marleau and Ron Hainsey, who both have been playing very well and bring substantial playoff experience to help guide a young team.

Toronto’s old guard of Nazem Kadri, James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, and Morgan Reilly have all been having great seasons. Additionally, JVR and Kadri have been some of the hottest players in the league in recent weeks. They also have the tactical advantage of Mike Babcock which many teams in the league can’t match.

Next: 25 Most Dominant Offensive Players In NHL History

All three of these teams have been great this season and so have the Penguins but it will be interesting to see if we will someone new going to the Stanley Cup Final this year from the East.

Home/NHL