The 2024-25 NHL season is just seven games old, and the Pittsburgh Penguins have a 3-4-0 record. It’s not the end of the world, and no one is pushing the panic button today, but with a critical trip through Western Canada, the team has already entered “must-win” territory, and the season is just two weeks old.
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On Tuesday night, Pittsburgh is playing the Calgary Flames, one of the league’s surprises. The Flames are undefeated in regulation, but they recently lost to the Seattle Kraken in overtime on the weekend.
Realistically, the Flames were projected to be a draft lottery team and should not be at or near the top of the NHL standings.
As a team loaded with young and unproven players like netminder Dustin Wolf, this is the kind of game in which the Penguins regroup and expose the Flames and their hot start.
If they lose Tuesday night’s game, Pittsburgh will just travel north to Edmonton. The Oilers are struggling in the new year after advancing to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in June.
In a year where most experts projected the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup, with Connor McDavid winning the Hart Trophy and Stuart Skinner leading Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-off, the franchise is off to a horrid start.
Ultimately, Friday night’s contest is a must-win because not many teams have a more depleted mentality than the Oilers, making them an easy opponent at this stage of the schedule.
However, on the flip side, the Edmonton game is also a trap game because, at some point, they will break out, and it could come at the hands of the Penguins, who still lead the NHL in goals against.
It may sound unbelievable that the Penguins are in “must-win” contests just seven games into the season, but they simply can’t come home from this Western Canadian road trip with a 3-7-0 record.
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