Even without Evgeni Malkin, Olli Maatta and Marc-Andre Fleury in their lineup the Pittsburgh Penguins still have the look of a top team in the NHL right now. On Saturday afternoon they officially clinched a playoff spot with a dominating 5-0 win over the New York Islanders to extend their current winning streak to five games.
They not only received goals from five different players, continuing to show their impressive depth, but they also received a 24-save shutout from rookie goalie Matt Murray, the first of his career. It had to be encouraging for the Penguins because they might need to rely on Murray for a little bit with Fleury currently sidelined with his second concussion of the season. One of the top goaltending prospects in the NHL, Murray has looked outstanding in his limited work in the NHL this season.
By clinching a playoff spot it extends the Penguins' current run of consecutive playoff appearances to 10 and is the second longest active streak in the NHL, trailing only the 24-year run that belongs to the Detroit Red Wings.
The playoff spot for the Penguins also has an impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs and tied up the one remaining loose end on the Phil Kessel trade from the offseason.
When the Penguins acquired Kessel from the Maple Leafs over the summer in exchange for Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington and Nick Spaling, there was also an exchange of conditional draft picks involved.
If the Penguins made the playoffs this season the Maple Leafs would also receive the Penguins' first round draft pick in 2016, while Pittsburgh would get back its second-round pick in 2016 that was originally sent to Toronto at the 2015 trade deadline in a deal that sent Daniel Winnik to Pittsburgh.
If the Penguins missed the playoffs this season the draft pick exchange would have taken place in 2017 instead of this year. If the Penguins missed the playoffs next season the Maple Leafs would have received the Penguins' 2017 second-round pick, while Pittsburgh would have received no draft pick compensation. Obviously, those two scenarios are no longer in play.
With the draft pick swap now official, that means Toronto now has an almost unbelievable 12 picks in the upcoming draft, including two picks in each of the first four rounds.
Pittsburgh now has five draft picks in 2016: Two second-round picks and one each in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.
Kessel had a slow start to the year with Pittsburgh but has been on a roll in the stretch run with 12 points (six goals and six assists) in the Penguins' past 10 games.
He scored his 26th goal of the season on Saturday.
