This is not the Metropolitan Division matchup anybody expected at the start of the season, but the battle of Pennsylvania is here, and it is going to be intense.
If you knew nothing of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ preseason expectations and just looked at their overall metrics and play on the ice this season, you would not hesitate to call them a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
They are a top-10 team across the board in pretty much every scoring chance and expected goal metric, have top-10 special teams, one of the deepest forward groups in the league, a bona fide No. 1 defenseman in Erik Karlsson, a couple of Hall of Fame forwards in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and a rapidly rising star in Egor Chinakhov. The emergence of Sam Girard and Kris Letang as a second defensive pairing is also a potential game-changer.
The wild-card is going to be whether or not Stuart Skinner can give them enough in goal to bring it all together.
The Flyers took advantage of late-season meltdowns by the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders to take the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
They defend really well but do not bring much offense to the table, and have done much of their winning this season in 3-on-3 overtime and the shootout. No Eastern Conference playoff team has fewer regulation wins, and it is not even close.
Is that a potential red flag for what they can do in the playoffs? There is no shootout here.
