Confidence remains high despite late-season slide
Sidney Crosby understands what’s at stake.
His Penguins have missed the postseason only once since he arrived in town as a teenager in 1995. The Penguins can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs with two points in their final two regular-season games — the meeting with the New York Islanders tonight at Consol Energy Center, and the finale Saturday night at Buffalo.
That’s true no matter what surging Ottawa does. They also can clinch if the Boston Bruins lose their final regular-season game against Tampa Bay.
“Nothing else really matters at this point. We control our own destiny here,” Crosby said after practice Thursday at Consol Energy Center. “I think we’re going to play really well and earn our right [to be] in the playoffs. If we do that, we deserve it. If we don’t, we won’t. It’s pretty clear cut. We understand the situation. It’s about who’s going to play the best when it means the most.”
Of course, the Penguins haven’t shown that collecting two points in consecutive games is a sure thing. Consider this: They have lost four games in a row, the most recent in overtime at Ottawa after relinquishing a 3-0 lead, and have gone 3-8-1 in their past 12.
“It’s no secret the past couple of weeks haven’t gone as we’d hoped.
We have to flush that right now and go out and win two games,” said defenseman Ben Lovejoy. “We feel we’re a very good team. We feel we haven’t played our best hockey. That’s no secret. But we’re confident we can come out [tonight] and beat a team that we’ve been battling with and set ourselves up to go into the playoffs after a good weekend.”
For a storied franchise with a history of cruising through the final weeks of the regular season, it’s a strange scenario.
“I’ve played here a long time,” said center Evgeni Malkin. “It’s the first time [I’ve gone through this]. We need to work and just win the next two games.”
March 14, the Penguins were still in the hunt at the top of the Metropolitan Division. Even a week ago — before losses at Columbus, Philadelphia and Ottawa — it was nearly unthinkable that the Penguins could miss the playoffs.
“There’s 10 teams in the playoffs, there’s 12 teams out of the playoffs, there’s eight teams waiting to have their fate determined,” said coach Mike Johnston. “At this time, as you hit the last few weeks and into playoffs, you’re playing for everything. It’s more about excitement than it is about what happened the last few games.”
The Islanders have had similar woes, going 3-7-2 in their past 12. They needed one point Tuesday night to secure a playoff berth. Instead of getting that point after surging back from a 41 deficit to tie the score, 4-4, they lost with two seconds to go when goalie Jaroslav Halak let in a soft shot from 50 feet away.
While Ottawa’s surge continued with a 3-0 win against the host New York Rangers, the Islanders clinched a playoff spot Thursday night when Boston lost against the Panthers in Florida.
“It’s a mini-playoff series for us, basically. A couple big games, win and we’re in,” said center Brandon Sutter. “It’s pretty simple for us. … Everyone is desperate right now. [New York] is in the same situation we’re in. It’s going to be a dogfight for both of us to get in, so it’s going to be a tight game, and we can expect their best for sure.”
Players said they have to let go of everything that has gone sour in recent weeks.
“I believe in this group so much..” said Malkin. “I still believe we [will] play in [the] playoffs. It doesn’t matter which team.”
His optimism is shared by many in the locker room. Considering how things have gone, Lovejoy was asked to explain where that confidence comes from.
“That’s a downer question, but we can’t worry about that. We need to win a weekend,” said Lovejoy. “We’ve tuned out everything else from the past couple of weeks to what other teams are doing. Everything is about us. Everything is about beating the Islanders [tonight].”