The Pittsburgh Penguins received the fate they deserved after a mistake-filled season.

The 2023-24 season will conclude for the Pittsburgh Penguins following their matchup with the New York Islanders. A win, meaningless as it would be, would mark the second consecutive season the Penguins missed the postseason by one point in the standings.

Because of that, many are debating whether the Penguins "deserved" to be in the playoffs this season. The short answer is no. In all honesty, none of the final four teams vying for the eighth seed in the East probably deserved it.

You can't take away what the Penguins accomplished to climb into the race. The Penguins held the best record (8-1-3) over the final three weeks of the NHL season and led the league in goals (50) over that span.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby deserves credit for his superhuman effort to drag his squad back into the race. Crosby scored 23 points in the past 12 games, accounting for 46% of the Penguins total offense. Even at 36, there are no signs of Crosby slowing down.

While you can't take away what the team has accomplished lately, you can't erase their struggles through the other five months. The Penguins were among the worst in the league at holding third-period leads, allowing shorthanded goals, and allowing odd-man rushes.

They also had a widely criticized power-play unit that ranked 25th despite the teams' overall success over the past three weeks.

The 2023-24 Penguins were a flawed team with several holes throughout their lineup. Their accomplishments late in the year should give fans hope for next season, but their overall body of work wasn't good enough to make them a playoff team. 

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