Penguins Have Hard Test to Finish Season
The remaining nine games on the Pittsburgh Penguins schedule won't be an easy stretch.
PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins are down to their last nine games of the 2023-24 NHL season, and their playoff hopes are quickly fading. Not only are the Penguins’ odds of reaching the postseason nearly zero, but they have one of the toughest schedules remaining.
Tankathon.com gives the Penguins the sixth-hardest remaining schedule in the NHL, and even their upcoming “easy opponents” will be tough outs. Following their home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Penguins have nine extremely tough opponents to close the year.
The Penguins continue their four-game road trip with games on back-to-back nights against the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. The Rangers are among the top teams in the NHL, shooting for the President’s Trophy, while the Devils are in a similar position as the Penguins.
Not only are the Devils fighting for their right to play in the postseason, but the Penguins have never played well in New Jersey.
To round out the road trip, the Penguins will take on the Washington Capitals, who just leapfrogged the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Alex Ovechkin has found his scoring touch again and is sure to light things up with the Penguins in town.
The Penguins will follow the Capitals with four straight games against Atlantic Division opponents. The Tampa Bay Lighting, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins are all pretty secure in their playoff positioning, while the Detroit Red Wings are among those fighting for a wild card spot.
For their final home game of the season, the Penguins will host the Nashville Predators. In a typical year, this isn’t that tough of a battle for the Penguins, but the Predators are one of the hottest teams in the sport, having a 16-2-2 run.
To finish the regular season, the Penguins travel to Long Island to battle with the New York Islanders. At this point, the games may not mean anything for the Penguins, but it will be another challenging game to wrap up the year.
The Penguins have nine games remaining, each against teams ahead of them in the standings. The easy tests are over, and the Penguins will have to play their way through a gauntlet if they want to make the playoffs.
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