The Penguins finished up their final weekend of the year going 1-1 defeating New Jersey on Friday and dropping yesterday’s contest 4-1 to Boston. Their last game of the year will be against Washington on Thursday who have nothing to play for. They will finish as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s what things look like in the standings
The Penguins are currently slated for the 8th overall selection in the draft. They only have one game left to play with some of the other teams with multiple games so nothing is set in stone.. With a loss against Washington there’s a sliver of a chance of a top five pick depending on what those other teams do and the tiebreakers (regulations wins and total wins). I predict the Penguins to win their last game and find themselves in 7-9 range.
In Friday’s game the Penguins came closer to equaling an NHL record they’ve been building towards all season. Allowing the first shot on goal as many times as they can.
This is the 15th time this season Pens have allowed a goal on their opponents' first shot, one shy of the Avs' record from 00-01. Pens 3-10-1 the previous 14 times it happened. It's happened to Jarry now 8 times, most in team history.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 7:24 PM
It is pretty close to one in every four starts this happens to Jarry and close to one out of every five games for the Penguins. Whatever you want to call what the Penguins are doing whether it be a rebuild or a retool, they need better goaltending.
On Thursday, Sidney Crosby will be going for his third consecutive 90 point season. He is currently at 89 points so it is a very feasible outcome. Going three years in a row at 90 points in your 35-37 year old seasons is a remarkable achievement. Albeit, one where the Penguins haven’t made the postseason in any of them. This of course is not a Sidney Crosby problem at all. It is the lame collective effort of the past three GM’s (Rutherford, Hextall, Dubas) in not being able to give proper scoring depth.
Rickard Rakell needs one point to hit 70 on the season. His previous career high is where he’s at right now. Getting to 70 would make a new career high. His 35th goal was already a career high in goals.
Bryan Rust is on 29 goals, a career high. He’ll be looking for his first 30 goal campaign of his career.
Ville Koivunen has flashed his offensive instincts since his recall. He has five helpers in the seven games he has played. He will be looking for career goal #1 in the final game of the season. Whether it comes on Thursday or not it won’t take too many games to achieve. He’s got the goods. He is likely a full-time top six winger already. One of the best developments of the season.
There’s no scoreboard watching to be had tonight. Tomorrow the Sabres, Flyers, Kraken, and Ducks are all in action and we wish them all the best of luck.
Lastly, I did one of those draft simulators for fun this morning and on the first try it was the Rangers... tough decisions lie ahead for them.
Thanks for reading!
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