PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Conor Bedard Sweepstakes

NHL DRAFT Lottery: Tonight 8:00 pm

TOP-5 Lottery Odds: 1. Anaheim 18.5%; 2. Columbus 13.5%; 3. Chicago 11.5%; 4. San Jose 9.5%; 5. Montreal 8.5%;

Other Notable Odds: Arizona 7.5%; Philadelphia 6.5%; Washington 6.0%

Penguins Lottery Odds: The Pittsburgh Penguins enter the night with around a 94% chance of staying put and picking 14th which would be the highest the Penguins have picked in the first-round since the 2012 entry draft. IF Pittsburgh wins the Lottery…… the team will make a maximum jump of 10 spots going from the 14th pick to the 4th overall selection……..

The Pittsburgh Penguins closed out the regular season with a 3-2 overtime loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night. Pittsburgh’s disappointing 22-23 campaign saw the team finish with 40-31-11 record in missing the postseason for the first time since 2006. Pittsburgh finished the season below .500 on the road, winning just 17 of 41 road games this season. Alarming numbers for the Penguins was a meager 31 regulation wins and a minus-2 goal differential.

*Sidney Crosby posted his highest scoring season since 2018-2019 with a team-leading 93 points and 60 assists……*Jake Guentzel eligible for a contract extension led the Penguins with 36 goals on the season as the Penguins had six players (Guentzel 36G, Crosby 33G, Rakell 28G, Malkin 27G, Zucker 27G, Rust 20G) with 20 goals or more…….*Wonder why the team missed the playoffs by a point or two? Tristan Jarry in 47 games posted a .909 SV%, Casey DeSmith .905 SV% in 38 Games…….

The Pittsburgh Penguins entering Tuesday night in controlling their destiny for a playoff spot, failed miserably on home-ice in suffering a 5-2 loss to the 32nd place Chicago Blackhawks @ PPG Paints Arena. It was also a bad night for Blackhawks in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes as the Hawks now go from 32nd in the NHL standings to 30th. As for the Penguins, the embarrassing loss on home-ice could see the club entering Game #82 Thursday night vs Columbus eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since Sidney Crosby’s rookie season. Pittsburgh will learn their fate Wednesday night as the New York Islanders face the Montreal Canadiens at home. An Islanders win or overtime/shootout loss against the Canadiens will officially eliminate the Penguins from postseason contention.