Pittsburgh Penguins: Everything you need to know before playoffs begin

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the thick of the Eastern Conference Wild Card race, which they have been for most of the season. A season of ups and downs, where the Penguins looked like playoff locks to no chance, has caused fans headache all season.

After losing their last two games, the Pittsburgh Penguins look vulnerable to give up their playoff spot. They will have to lean on their elite forward group to score in the remaining games to go to the big dance.

Where Pittsburgh Penguins stand ahead of NHL playoffs

Forwards

The Pittsburgh Penguins have three elite lines. Everyone knows what Sidney Crosby brings to the table: Leadership and scoring and a two-way game hockey analysts have fawned over for years.

Jake Guentzel is the perfect complementary piece. Bryan Rust has been the best forward on the team this year as far as putting the puck in the net, so it will be interesting to see how that translates to the playoffs

The Penguins' fourth line has been much maligned all season, especially center Jeff Carter. They acquired Mikael Granlund to replace at the NHL trade deadline. If the Penguins can just get the league average compared to what they’ve been getting from the fourth line all season, they’d be ecstatic.

Defensemen

The Penguins blue line has been a mess this year, and it showed over the last month. The Penguins only got Dmitry Kulikov on their blue line, and he has been an upgrade. The fact that Dmitry Kulikov is that significant an upgrade should worry Pens fans.

Jeff Petry hasn’t been close to the same player he was in Montreal. Kris Letang has been the one saving grace as far as leadership in this area of the ice. P.O. Joseph has shown flashes, but not the level of development the Penguins have hoped for. Marcus Pettersson has been sneakily the best blue liner on the team, but that’s not saying a whole lot.

Goalies

The Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender situation has been well documented throughout the season. Casey Desmith and Tristan Jarry have been hotter and colder than the Arizona Coyotes rink without A/C. With all the ups and downs of the season, the two goaltenders have the exact same save percentage of .907.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins missed their chance to upgrade in net at the NHL trade deadline, and since then, both Jarry and DeSmith haven’t been spectacular.

If one of them can catch some heat down the stretch, there might be something to be excited about in Pittsburgh, but otherwise a struggling Penguins blue line will have to account for what’s in net.