The Pittsburgh Penguins are officially out of the roster for the upcoming the Stanley Cup. The last hopes of “penguins” to get into the playoffs buried “New York Islanders”. It was enough for the Islanders not to lose to Montreal in regular season in their last regular season match, but Lane Lambert's team decided everything much more convincingly and beat the Canadiens without going to overtime.
The Islanders are the last to compete in the Stanley Cup. Unclosed for the “islanders” is the question of their opponent in the first round: they can become the best club in the championship and the authors of new NHL records “Boston Bruins” or “Carolina Hurricanes”. The answer to this question will be given after the final siren in the match between the Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers.
As for Pittsburgh, the Penguins have one more game scheduled. It will be the last one of the season for them and will not determine anything. Mike Sullivan’s wards won’t even be able to say goodbye to their fans with at least some bright game, because the match will take place on the road — the worst club in the league right now and one of the contenders for victory in the draft lottery Columbus Blue Jackets.
But two days ago, the fate of getting into the playoffs was in the hands of the “Penguins”. To continue the season, it was necessary to beat one of the main outsiders of the regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks. But Sullivan's wards managed to concede. Even Evgeni Malkin's next goal didn't save us from failure.
«Our team tried very hard. We tried everything. I try to play hard in every game. But there are many young hockey players in the league who play just as well. The new generation is coming,» — Gino said.
In the words of the Russian super-forward indirectly lies one of the reasons for the historic failure of “Pittsburgh”, for the first time in the last 17 years left out of the participants in the Stanley Cup. In terms of median age, the Penguins are one of the oldest teams in the league this season. The inevitable stagnation of the team was obvious a few years ago. Since winning the 2016/17 season, the Pence have only made it to the second round of the playoffs once, and right now even the first round is the ceiling for them. The logical conclusion of this cycle is the beginning of perestroika, but its “penguins” are postponing everything: the club’s management has retained legendary veterans and even tried to pointwise strengthen the squad with ready-made players.
And while it didn't help in the end, it's not going to be a good idea to lambaste team leaders. The main old-timers of “Pittsburgh” Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin did their job flawlessly. Both entered the top 30 scorers of the championship and scored more than 170 points for two. Malkin, for example, has excellent statistics — more than one scoring point per game. No age prevented him from performing at a high level and, together with Crosby, playing all the matches in the regular season. But two players won't get far. And without top goalkeepers — even more so. It is obvious that the bet on Casey Desmith and Tristan Jarry did not justify itself.
Familiar situation, isn't it?
Is it true. The Washington Capitals found themselves face to face with exactly the same problems. Age composition, stagnation, lack of prospects in the tournament struggle, mistakes in the selection of goalkeepers, the need for restructuring. The difference between the Capitals and their sworn enemies lies only in the fact that the Caps have already gradually begun the process of reorganizing the franchise, giving away many of their leaders and experienced players for draft picks. This not least influenced the results: symbolically or not, but Washington and Pittsburgh — the main rivals of the 21st century — synchronously failed in one year and for the first time after the global lockout in the NHL remained out of the playoff zone together for the first time. This has never happened since Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin moved to America.
According to the prevailing trend, the participation of the most stellar and legendary Russian hockey players of the 21st century in the playoffs will become a rarity. In fact, it has already become so. Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin are probably playing out their last years in the best league in the world, and we can only enjoy their performances and new records in the regular season. Sad, but inevitable.