Having lost six of their last ten and coming off an embarrassing defeat to a clearly better San Jose Sharks team, it’s fair to ask the question whether this Penguins team is a veritable contender or a middling playoff spot filler (if they even make the dance). Unfortunately for the Penguins, bewildering coaching decisions, widespread poor performance, and a roster with gaps from top-to-bottom all point to this team strongly leaning in the “pretender” column for this season.
Only nine points separate San Jose (80) and Pittsburgh (71), but the 4-0 contest between the two teams looked more of what you’d expect from a matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the healthy-scratch-for-trade-reasons version of the Ottawa Senators.