Will we see a Pennsylvania team in the playoffs?

Thanks to some rejuvenation with a couple of longstanding franchises, there’s a chance that the teams from the Keystone State might make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Even though the two teams had been relatively mediocre over the past few seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are both in the mix for a postseason spot. The teams are currently tied for third in the Metropolitan Division, riding an early wave of success with new coaches behind the bench.

The Flyers had a great start to the season, thanks to some solid goaltending and some exciting young talent in front of them. The Penguins, behind Sidney Crosby and the veterans leading the charge, look far better than a team that was also hanging near the bottom of the division for the past couple of years.

On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss the chances that a team from Pennsylvania will qualify for the postseason.

Tyler Yaremchuk:  I’m going to set the line at 50%, over or under a 50% chance that one of, just one of the Flyers or Penguins, holds on to their playoff spot. 

Carter Hutton: I’m going to say over. I like one of them making it. I do like what the Pens are brewing up here with their goaltending and their depth. And Crosby has no lack of slowing down. Flyers concern me. I think the Flyers are still pretenders. I think they can be there. They’re close. I just don’t know if they’re going to get enough solid goaltending from Ersson and Vladar down the stretch to be the difference maker. So, I will go over. I think somebody’s going to get in…but I think the Pens hold.

Tyler: I think the Penguins are more likely than the Flyers. I think the Flyers, early in the season, got just A-plus-caliber goaltending from Dan Vladar. And we’ve seen it start to slip a little bit now. … I wonder if maybe the goaltending is going to come back down to earth a little bit there. I like the pieces they have up front. I don’t know. I’m just not 100% convinced that the Flyers’ goaltending is truly playoff caliber. So, I’m going to say the Flyers are out. And I’m going to go under 50% on the Penguins. I think they got a shot. But I think it’s like 40, 45%. I think it’s just a hair under a 50% chance. I worry that, at some point, when things turn south for Pittsburgh, it’s going to be like a lose 9 of 10 sort of run here.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…