This Penguins Season: A Rollercoaster of a Ride

Do you know that scene in Wayne’s World where Wayne and Garth are playing street hockey?

Let’s jog your memory.

Wayne and Garth come rushing outside to the street like giddy children, repeatedly calling out, “Game On!” Garth is in goal, and they’re both wearing Chicago Blackhawks jerseys.

Wayne then begins to deke and dangle. He shoots and scores right through Garth, who isn’t exactly the model of intimidation in goal. Next, Wayne looks behind him in the street and yells, “Car!” Garth then mimics back, “Car!” as they pick up the hockey goal and move it out of the street.

In the next moment, you see a car pass by. “Game On!” they both blurt out as they return the net and start having fun playing hockey again.

The Penguins need to start having fun playing hockey again.

Too often this season, the Penguins have picked up the net and moved it off of the street.

Yet, it seems the Pens can’t be stopped when their game is on. For example, on February 26th vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Penguins erupted for five goals in four minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Wow. This came just three days after losing drastically on home ice to the Edmonton Oilers 7-2.

With a handful of teams battling for the last two wildcard spots in the NHL Eastern Conference, the Penguins’ lineup looks solid. General Manager Ron Hextall added former player Nick Bonino to the lineup. Bonino famously won the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup Trophy with the Pens. The Pens also got a veteran defenseman in Dmitry Kulikov at the trade deadline. Not to mention, Pittsburgh finally got their starting goalie Tristan Jarry back after he was sidelined for weeks with an upper-body injury.

There are 20 games remaining in the Penguins’ regular season schedule. Whether the Pens will be playing postseason hockey is still to be determined. If the Pens are going to be playing postseason hockey this season, the inconsistency will have to stop. They will have to show that they can string wins together as they have done most recently. A losing steak at this point could be irrecoverable.

The Stanley Cup Trophy is, without a doubt, the most difficult trophy in sports to win. The Penguins also aren’t favorites by any means. Still, one shouldn’t sleep on them. Anytime you have Sidney Crosby on your hockey team, you have a better chance than most.

This rollercoaster of a season for the Pens is not even close to over yet. In the words of Penguins legendary commentator Mike Lange: “Buckle Up, Baby!” If the Penguins sneak into the postseason with a wildcard spot, they could win one series.

After that, what happens is in Lord Stanley’s hands.