Okay, so the Penguins aren't technically a wild card team, but they'll be a playoff team that didn't win their division. What else would you call them? They'll be seeded no higher than 4th once the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs start despite having a better record than the leaders of the Northeast and Southeast divisions.
The NHL's playoff format is similar to that of the NFL's. The division winners get the top seeds regardless of record, and the non-division winning playoff teams get seeded 4th-8th in each conference.
The Penguins have 102 points, the second most in the Eastern Conference, but due to the fact that they play in a tough division--four of the eight playoff teams will come out of the Pens' Atlantic division--their playoff seeding won't necessarily reflect the type of team that they have.
The Florida Panthers are in first place in the Southeast division with only 90 points, but if they win their division, they'll get the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference.
Is that fair? Well, ask the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. They had a 12-4 record heading into last year's playoffs, but because they lost two games to their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh could do no better than the 5th seed in the AFC and had to open up at the Denver Broncos, who were AFC West Champions with an 8-8 record.
Despite their low seed, and despite the many injuries that the Steelers were dealing with once the postseason began, the team was still considered among the favorites to make it to Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. Unfortunately, being a wild card team proved to be too much for Pittsburgh, and they lost in overtime, 29-23.
Had the Steelers been able to win just one more regular season game, they would have been the top seed once the playoffs started, and would have only needed to win two games at Heinz Field to get to the Super Bowl. I mentioned the injury situation, and that could have been too much to overcome even at home, but one has to wonder how things may have gone had they won just one game against the Baltimore Ravens last year.
The Penguins are in a similar situation. Yes, they're considered a Stanley Cup favorite, and for a while there, it looked like they might be able to catch the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but they've struggled of late, losing three out of four--including a 6-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon at the Consol Energy Center. The Flyers win puts them only a point behind Pittsburgh with just three games remaining, and now the Penguins are in danger of falling into 5th place and not even having home ice for the first round.
If you know about playoff seeding, you know that the Penguins are going to play the Flyers in the first round regardless of whether they're the 4th seed or the 5th seed.
If the Penguins survive that blood-bath, and if the first round holds true to form, their second round opponents would be the New York Rangers.
That's a brutal first two rounds of the playoffs. The Penguins are good, and they may have the most talented roster in the NHL, but as the 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers found out, sometimes, you're a victim of circumstance.
The Penguins might have too many obstacles to overcome.
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