If the playoffs started today, the Pittsburgh Penguins would … probably be confused as to why the playoffs were starting in late January.
But were the schedule to be thrown asunder and the postseason opened with snow – way too much of it – still on the ground, the Penguins would qualify based on their 26-14-22 record and the 63 points they’ve accrued through their first 51 regular-season games. Those tabulations have them situated in second place of the Metropolitan Division through Monday.
Can they start thinking about games in mid-April when the sun begins to shine a little brighter?
“No, not all,” Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon. “Not worried about that right now. Just worried about stacking games. We’re doing a pretty good job of staying in the moment. We could easily let this slip if we get content with how close the race is. We’re not even thinking about that right now.
“We’re happy with where we are, but we want to keep pushing for more points.”
The Penguins have gained quite a few points over the past month.
Since they emerged from the NHL’s three-day holiday break Dec. 28, they have an 11-2-2 record and 24 points. Over that span, only the Tampa Bay Lightning (12-1-1, 25 points) have done better.
This stretch of success comes in stark contrast to the squalid skid they endured throughout most of December when they went 1-5-4 between Dec. 7 and 23. An ugly eight-game losing streak accounted for the bulk of that futility.
What’s different these days?
For one, they’re healthier. Forwards Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte were absent for much of that octet of losses because of various maladies.
“Injuries,” Lizotte said. “Guys like (Malkin), who’s been playing unbelievably every time he’s been in the lineup this year. So, that right there is a huge piece.”
There are other factors beyond being hale and hearty.
“I’ve said this before is this league is a league of momentum, and momentum can go the good way or the wrong way,” Lizotte said. “You look across around the league, a lot of good teams have had five-plus game losing streaks. For us, it was one of those momentum swings that didn’t go our favor and it just kind of snowballed. Then you look at the other way around, we’ve had some snowball the right way. It’s a game of momentum. Once there’s confidence in the room, you feel good going to the rink.”
When the Penguins go to the rink, they largely have a firm idea of how they want to play and how to go about doing it, at least compared to when they opened the regular season Oct. 7.
With the benefit of being more than three months deep into the regular season, they have a greater level of comfort with implementing their schematics.
“You have an idea based on your systems and things like that,” forward Sidney Crosby said. “But I think it’s something that’s got to be reinforced every day. How you practice, how you play. It’s something you’ve got to prove. It’s all about habits and that sort of thing. It’s one thing to have the intent to do it. But it’s not easy to play like that every night.
“That’s why when you’re winning games, it feels good because you’re getting rewarded for that hard work.”
The Penguins were rewarded for sticking to their game during their recently completed four-game road trip — all wins — in western North America. That success came despite All-Star defensemen Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang each missing a handful of games with minor injuries.
“You look at just even this recent road trip with guys being out (Karlsson and Letang) — we still went out and played well and played the right way,” Lizotte said. “That’s a testament to our identity. We all know how we want to play each night. Even in the games you win, sometimes, you don’t play your identity, you just kind of get away with it. Our standard in our room has been there and is established now. That’s to play fast and hard. It’s an exciting time to have that identity in place.”
Part of that identity is not blowing leads. If their eight-game losing streak had any identifiable characteristic, it was rooted in their ability to come from ahead to lose.
“Closing out games,” Wotherspoon said of his team’s current success. “I don’t know how many we had but we probably had four blown leads during that losing streak. Big ones too. We’re doing a good job of just completing our games and playing full (60-minute games) and not letting off the gas in the third period when we’re in control of the games.”
There are plenty of impediments ahead of the Penguins that can keep them from securing a playoff berth for the first time in four years.
To be specific, there are 31 contests remaining on the regular-season schedule.
It’s a bit early to be thinking about the playoffs. But it isn’t out of place to ponder what it takes to secure a chance to participate in the truly meaningful games of mid-April.
“At this point of the year, you start thinking about that and looking at standings,” Lizotte said. “Ultimately, for us, in our room, we know what it takes and we control our own destiny, really. So, it’s really about us and not necessarily what other teams are doing around us.
“If we play well and put points in the bank, we’re going to get there. But it definitely is exciting to be in a spot of this time of the year where every game matters.”