Penguins' Defense, Goaltending Struggles Threaten Playoff Hopes

It's March 25th, this is NHL News Today Team News powered by AI, Pittsburgh Penguins fans are on edge after a tough stretch.

The team has dropped three of their last four games and four out of seven overall, including a solid loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

With the Eastern Conference playoff race tighter than ever, every point counts toward grabbing a wildcard spot.

The biggest headache right now is gold tending.

Artur's Scyloves and Stuart Skinner have been just average in net.

Scyloves has a 2.99 goals against average and 0.891 say percentage, while Skinner sits at 2.94 goals.

Against in 0.887 say percentage.

That puts the Penguins 20th league wide in team say percentage at 0.890.

Defensive lapses are piling on the pressure too.

In 10 of their last 11 games, they've allowed more than three goals.

Coach Dan Muse noted the team is giving up too many high-danger chances and shots, ranking 12th in the league for those situations.

The offense has been a bright spot, sitting seventh with 3.39 goals per game.

But relying on that firepower every night is wearing thin, especially when other playoff teams, like the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild, succeed.

Despite similar defensive woes, thanks to stronger net-minding, as the Penguins sit just 2 points above the 10th place to trite Redwings, it's already do or die hockey.

Fixing the defense and squeezing more say's from their goalies could be the key to sneaking into the postseason.