Pens facing tough task

Tribune News Service

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Technically, the Penguins are a playoff team for the ninth consecutive season. They made that official Saturday night by beating the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0, at First Niagara Center behind two goals from Brandon Sutter and Marc-Andre Fleury’s 10th shutout of the season.

Now, they face a major challenge in the next few days. They must figure out a way to start playing like a legitimate playoff team: the New York Rangers.

The Penguins aren’t even close at the moment.

It wasn’t too long ago the Penguins were considered Stanley Cup contenders, but that belief went away quickly after defensemen Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff went out with concussions. The team goes staggering into the postseason on a 4-9-2 slide. It needed to beat the Sabres — the NHL’s worst team — to secure its spot and avoid one of the great collapses in franchise history.

Fleury acknowledged it was a rough road. “The last couple of weeks have been more stressful than we expected or anticipated.” But Fleury quickly added, “I think it’s going to be good that we had to grind through these games. That’s what we’re going to see in the playoffs. It took us 82 games, but we did it. We stuck together.”

The Rangers, who won the NHL Presidents’ Trophy with 113 points, will be heavy favorites against the Penguins. They won the season series, 1-2-1. They outscored the Penguins, 16-8.

“I don’t care who we play,” Fleury said. “They’re a good team, but it’s all about us. Our focus is on us and how we play.

“This is a chance to redeem ourselves for last year.”

The Rangers eliminated the Penguins in seven games in the second round of the 2014 playoffs, climbing out of a 3-1 hole do it. They won Game 7 at Consol Energy Center, 2-1, on a night Fleury played a strong game only to be trumped by Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The two will be matched up again, starting Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I don’t care about him. I don’t play him,” Fleury said.

Sutter, Crosby and Hornqvist have scored well down the stretch, but too many of the Penguins’ other forwards have done little or nothing lately. That’s why it’s hard to like the team’s chances against the Rangers. Malkin goes at the top of the underachievers’ list, although he did have six shots on goal Saturday night. He didn’t score a goal in his final 10 regular-season games. That must change quickly. Malkin is being paid too much and is counted on too heavily not to find the back of the net. David Perron has gone 12 games without a goal. Chris Kunitz had one goal in 22 games, two in 33 games. Beau Bennett scored one goal in 33 games. Nick Spaling didn’t get one goal in his final 26 games. Blake Comeau went nine games without a goal and had just one in 18 games.

At least the Penguins should get defensive help for the playoffs. They had to play their seventh game Saturday night with just five defensemen because of the injuries to Letang, Ehrhoff and Derrick Pouliot and salary-cap mismanagement. Coach Mike Johnston said the team should get Pouliot back for the first game. Ehrhoff also could be back, although Letang appears finished for the season, which easily could sabotage their playoff hopes. Reinforcements from the minor leagues also will be called up.

Fleury is the Penguins’ best bet for a long postseason run. They might have to win a lot of 2-0 or 2-1 games to survive and advance. And they will have to do it against a lot better teams than the Sabres.