I didn't grow up watching Spongebob. I thought it was too stupid for my advanced, intellectual 7-year old brain. However, now into my 20's I'm realizing there were a smattering of elite jokes.
Pictured is how the Penguins should approach the upcoming home-and-home with the Philadelphia Flyers: "You can have it."
Two mind-crushing losses to the Capitals and Rangers have effectively put the Penguins out of contention. A pair of wins would have kept them firmly in the Wild Card race, but two losses to division opponents are insurmountable.
I'm very pleased that the Penguins chose to be decisive instead of splitting the two games or going to overtime. They lost both. They lost out on and four possible points. They're better off for it.
The Penguins are now firmly in the basement of the Eastern Conference, and it's realistic that the Buffalo Sabres could jump Pittsburgh in the standings as early as this week. All is going exactly to plan.
The Flyers sit just two points ahead of the Penguins with one game in hand. Two wins over Pittsburgh in the next three days would give the Penguins a nice cushion in the draft lottery sweepstakes, and they should play for that.
The Gameplan
Right now, as painful as it is, don't double down on your season-long mistake to keep chucking out Matt Nieto, Noel Acciari and company. Heck, even Ryan Shea's two goals against New York are the perfect excuse to keep rolling him out there.
Let the old hags play. Let them be skated around by the youthful Flyers.
However, once this Flyers series is over, I want to see the youth movement. I want to see newly acquired Vladislav Kolyachonok, another look at Rutger McGroarty, and perhaps Owen Pickering again.
What to do with Blomqvist
I seem to be in the minority of this opinion, but I think Joel Blomqvist being a tank commander is a bad idea for his future. It's very evident right now that he is not ready for the NHL level.
The caveat to that opinion is that the Penguins have, arguably, an even better goalie waiting in the AHL: Sergei Murashov.
Murashov is even more likely to be G1 for the Penguins than Blomqvist with the way he's dominated every level he's played at, including a 1.99 GAA and a .934 SV% in 6 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
I'm not a fan of stunting Blomqvist's growth, but it might be for the better cause even if he continues to struggle. His effort against the Rangers single-handedly lost the Penguins the game on Sunday.
Pittsburgh had the puck in the attacking zone for two-thirds of the game, but the other third of the game the puck was in the back of their own net in a 5-3 loss.
Goaltending continues to be a massive black hole for Pittsburgh, and I'm almost tempted to just bring up Tristan Jarry and let him be the tank commander. The problem is he might ball out and win the Penguins some games.
At least where he is, it might give other NHL teams the temptation to trade for him if they continue to see whatever potential he has left. It's just a rotten goalie situation for the Penguins.
What to root for
The one and only Penguin that needs to do any scoring in these two games is Sidney Crosby. We all know he's the majority owner of the Philadelphia Flyers. Even Wikipedia says so.
Pick a category, any category - Sidney Crosby is the all-time leader in NHL history in goals, assists and points against the Flyers 😎 pic.twitter.com/QiCqidh1Gs
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) February 25, 2024
Sid has 18 goals and 42 assists this season in 57 games. A hat-trick in a 4-3 loss would be rich.
While not ideal for the tank, an overtime win would not be the worst thing in the world. Only netting one point against the Flyers is a satisfactory result, especially if Crosby can shut up the home crowd in Philadelphia.
Just remember, Penguins: "Let him have it!" The win, that is.