The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in a familiar place – sort of. For the third straight game, a win will clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and for the third straight game, a loss won’t necessarily eliminate them, either. Tonight’s opponent: the lowly Buffalo Sabres, who have already clinched the worst record in the NHL.
The Penguins can clinch a playoff berth today under a number of scenarios:
1. A win in regulation
2. An overtime loss, coupled with an Ottawa loss in regulation at Philadelphia or a Boston loss at Tampa Bay
3. A regulation loss, coupled with a Boston loss at Tampa Bay.
The Ottawa/Philadelphia game will be over before the Penguins and Sabres face off. The Bruins and Lightning start at 7:30 and is on NBCSN.
THE 4077: If the Penguins do make the playoffs, they’ll go on without the services of defenseman Kris Letang. Letang, who suffered a concussion on March 28 against the Arizona Coyotes, had just begun rehab with some off-ice workouts but general manager Jim Rutherford told Dejan Kovacevic that it is unlikely that Letang would return “even if we make a deep run in the playoffs”.
The Penguins also continue to miss fellow defenseman Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff has been skating but there is no timetable for his return from an upper-body injury suffered on March 24 against the St. Louis Blues.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Buffalo Sabres, under the watchful tutelage of general manager Tim Murray, have completed the most impressive tank job in the NHL since the Penguins went 16-58-6 in 1983-84, including losing 12 of their last 14 games, in order to land Mario Lemieux in the 1984 NHL draft.
The Sabres are 23-50-8 and have locked up at the league’s worst record, which will guarantee that they pick no worse than second in the 2015 draft, which features a pair of likely superstars at the top, Erie Otters forward Connor McDavid and Boston University star Jack Eichel.
The Sabres secured their position with a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (41-23-7, 2nd in AHL East) signed former Quinnipiac University captain Danny Federico to an amateur try-out contract.
Federico, 22, is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound defenseman from Acton, Massachusetts. In 38 games with the Bobcats this season, he had two goals and nine assists for 11 points, and collected 36 penalty minutes.
The Penguins are in Portland, Maine for a two-game series agains the Pirates. They play tonight at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
The Wheeling Nailers (35-33-2, 4th in ECHL North) beat the Elmira Jackals 3-1 on Friday night and are now within reach of an ECHL playoff berth. Franky Palazzese made just 18 saves in the win, as the Nailers defenders – including newly signed Evan Wardley from Seattle of the WHL – smothered the Jackals’ attack. Zack Torquato scored the game-winning goal and six different Nailers recorded points.
CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: The NCAA Hockey Tournament will come to a close today as the Boston University Terriers take on the Providence Friars from TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Top NHL prospect and Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel leads the hometown Terriers. The Frozen Four wraps up tonight at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Photo credit: Buffalo Sabres
