Penguins — and Utah — clinch

Pittsburgh got two things at once on Thursday night: a playoff spot and home ice in the first round. The Penguins locked both up with a win over the New Jersey Devils, ending a three-year postseason absence and guaranteeing they finish second in the Metropolitan Division. (nhl.com) (usatoday.com) Utah clinched the same night, but its version was stranger. The franchise is only in its second season in Utah, yet the roster came from the old Arizona club, so the berth ended a playoff drought that stretches back to 2020 while also setting up the state’s first National Hockey League playoff games if Utah opens at home. (nhl.com) (usatoday.com) The Penguins’ part of this story is about an old core getting one more spring. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had not reached the playoffs since the 2021-22 season, and Pittsburgh’s clinch put them back in after three straight misses. (theathletic.com) (nhl.com) This was not a squeak-in team living on overtime points. Pittsburgh’s official clinch note listed 41 wins, 98 points, 282 goals scored, and a plus-33 goal differential, which is the profile of a club that spent most of the year looking like a real top-half contender. (nhl.com) Home ice matters because the first two games and a possible Game 7 move to Pittsburgh instead of the other team’s rink. As of Friday, ESPN’s standings page showed the Penguins at 98 points in second place in the Metropolitan Division, behind only the Carolina Hurricanes. (espn.com) Utah’s clinch came from a different lane. The Mammoth did not chase down the top of the Central Division, but they did secure one of the Western Conference wild-card spots, which is the National Hockey League’s version of the last seats at the table. (nhl.com) (espn.com) That is why the “first playoff hockey in Utah” line comes with an asterisk. Utah can still finish in either the first or second wild-card slot, and wild-card teams usually start on the road, so the state gets playoff games only if the bracket swings the right way or the series comes back for Game 3. (nhl.com) The franchise itself is brand new to Utah, but the players carried years of Arizona baggage with them. USA Today noted that the team is technically in Year 2 as a franchise identity, yet the hockey operation’s drought belonged to the old Coyotes group that had gone six seasons without a berth. (usatoday.com) The timing also tells you how tight the race stayed into April. Utah’s release said first-round home tickets went on sale Friday, April 10, even though the team still had not locked in whether it would be the first or second wild card and the full playoff schedule would come later. (nhl.com) So Thursday changed the map in two places at once. Pittsburgh turned a late-season surge into a top-two divisional finish, and Utah turned a relocated franchise into an immediate playoff team with a chance to put Stanley Cup postseason hockey in the state for the first time. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2)