from Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

The Pens needed both the Red Wings and the Caps to lose Tuesday in order for their regular-season finale against the New York Islanders to matter Wednesday night. But that didn’t happen. So for the second consecutive season, the Pens will miss the playoffs after making them every year from 2007-22....

So the Pens had their chances to do better against the teams they needed to edge in order to make the playoffs. That’s to say nothing of losing 6-3 in Detroit on Oct. 18.

Or, instead, we could focus on the three games the Penguins lost with multi-goal leads against Calgary, Colorado and Columbus since the calendar flipped to March. Or any game they could’ve won if their 31st-ranked power play (14.6%) wasn’t so bad. Or if they could’ve been at least average among playoff-contending teams when it came to winning games in 3-on-3 overtime instead of failing to win in that period 12 times.

The point is, any time a pro sports team needs to rely on help to qualify for the postseason and fails to get it, it’s not about the help letting them down. It’s about what the organization itself didn’t do to secure a spot on its own.

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