Ever since the Atlantic Division became a two-horse race, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils have been jockeying back and forth for weeks—months, really.
Common wisdom is that it's important for the Pens to win the Division and assure themselves the No. 2 (or, with the recent resurgence of the Buffalo Sabres, at least the No. 3) seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
However, after watching the Penguins' play after the Olympic break ended, I'm not so sure that the team would be worse off if it finishes the year secnd in the Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Allow me to explain.
With the Washington Capitals positioned as the top seed in the East (and now having officially captured the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team), the idea behind wanting to finish second (or third) in the conference was to be sure to avoid them, if possible, until the Eastern Conference Finals.
If the chalk held, two other teams would have cracks at upsetting the Caps, while the Pens' could get back in their postseason groove before facing what everyone commonly believes will be the toughest matchup in the con ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mario Bordogna
Penguins Better Off NOT Winning Atlantic Division?
April 6th, 2010 by Mario Bordogna Leave a reply »
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