The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a dog fight for the postseason and there are certain faces that need to find a new level.

The 2022-23 regular season is coming close to its conclusion and the Pittsburgh Penguins are running out of runway to to prove themselves as a true playoff team.

At this moment, the Penguins are the second Eastern Conference wild card team but it’ll be a back-and-forth fight between them and the Florida Panthers for the rest of the year.

Despite the 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche with good games from under performing players, there are still multiple names that need to find a new level.

If the Penguins have plans of making the playoffs there are a few players that will need to step up and become difference makers.

There are the obvious names like Tristan Jarry, Jeff Carter, and Brian Dumoulin, but there are other in-depth options and more realistic names that might play huge roles in the push for the playoffs.

Drew O’Connor

This has been a career year for Drew O’Connor, and he has taken great strides in proving his ability as an NHL player, but he needs to find his finishing ability.

In 37 games O’Connor has picked up five total goals, despite having an outstanding shot-first mentality with 56 shots on goal.

The confidence is visible, and the ability is there, it’s just a matter of finding the finish.

The bottom-six needs, among many things, a scoring touch from an unlikely source, and O’Connor is the perfect candidate for that.

Jeff Petry

It’s not a stretch to say Jeff Petry hasn’t performed as advertised in his first season with the Penguins.

Is he a big body? Sure, but he’s not moving bodies out from the crease like he was supposed to.

He also isn’t putting up the offensive numbers that was expected; in 52 games this season, Petry has scored five goals and 21 assists for 26 points.

The numbers aren’t terrible, but everyone wanted more and the team needs it now more than ever.

Defensive scoring across the team coasted around the worst in the NHL for a while and as the postseason closes in, it’ll need to gain ground.

When Petry returns from injury, he needs to be ready to add some more offense to the Penguins blue line.

Bryan Rust

Something has been off with Bryan Rust all season, and it needs to be straightened out sooner rather than later.

During the 2022-23 season, Rust went from flirting as a regular 30-goal scorer to being lucky to hit 20.

Sitting at 16 goals in 70 games, Rust has been a regular face on the first and second lines.

Maybe a drop to the third line can not only bring a scoring touch to the bottom-six, but also wake something up in Rust.

Not that the effort hasn’t been there for Rust, he’s shooting the puck more than usual, but he’s been snake bitten.

If Rust, much like O’Connor, can find the back of the net a little more often down the stretch, the Penguins can turn the tide of their season.

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