Familiarity Breeds Contempt

As if it wasn't exciting enough that hockey is back, what makes it even more thrilling is that every single game on the Penguins' shortened 2020-21 regular-season schedule (
released today
) will have a playoff intensity - with the unique opportunity to deepen old rivalries and create new ones.

That's because Pittsburgh will be playing all 56 of their games against the other members of the newly-formed East Division, which also includes the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.
Buckle up, baby. This is going to be fun.
"The East is a very strong division," Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said. "It will obviously be very competitive. It's teams that are used to each other. We've got good rival teams in there. Certainly, it's exciting for our fans."
Familiarity breeds contempt, which means the fans are in for a treat. Because not only will the Penguins play the other seven teams in the East eight times (four home, four away), but the serial nature of the schedule should take things to another level.
In an effort to minimize travel as much as possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Penguins will have 26 sets of games where they will be playing the same opponent in two consecutive games. That's going to happen right away, as the Penguins will face their two biggest rivals in the first two weeks of the regular season.
Pittsburgh will travel across the state to play their first two games of the season in Philadelphia on Jan. 13 and 15. From there, the Penguins will return home to host Washington on Jan. 17 and 19. So not only will they have to hit the ground (or ice) running - they'll have to do it against teams that they really don't like.
But while the Penguins' bad blood with the Flyers and the Capitals is well-documented, they have their own sordid histories with the rest of the teams in the East as well.
The Penguins have shared a division with the Islanders, Rangers and Devils for years - first the Atlantic, then the Metropolitan and now the East. And the division-based playoff seeding that went into place starting with the 2012-13 campaign certainly fanned the flames, with the Penguins having to exorcise their playoff demons with the Rangers before winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2015 and '16, and getting eliminated by the Islanders in 2018.
Pittsburgh has also shared a conference with Buffalo and Boston, who are crossing over from the Atlantic for this season to replace Columbus and Carolina, and play each other numerous times throughout the course of a season. The rivalry with the Bruins, who met in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, in particular has potential to explode.
Pittsburgh and Boston, who met in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, are built similarly in the sense that they have clear identities and veteran leadership surrounded by young talent, and their matchups tend to be entertaining and high-scoring. A recent example is Pittsburgh's 6-4 win last November in Boston, where then-rookie Penguins defenseman John Marino scored his first career goal on a breakaway against his hometown team.
Overall, the East is loaded with established and experienced teams who know how to win. Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh finished in the NHL's top seven last season, and the Flyers are the only club in that group who hasn't won a Stanley Cup within the last 10 years. The Islanders and Rangers also both made the playoffs, while the Devils and Sabres took big strides in the offseason to get better and become more competitive.
It will be a battle to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the top-four teams from each division earning a spot, but it's a challenge the Penguins are going to embrace.
Here's a quick look at each of the teams Pittsburgh will be playing this season…
BOSTON BRUINS
LAST SEASON: The Bruins finished with the NHL's best record before getting eliminated in five games by Tampa Bay in the Second Round.
THIS SEASON:Like the Penguins, Boston has veteran leadership (Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci) surrounded by younger talent, most notably superstar sniper David Pastrnak, who tied for first in the NHL with 48 goals and tied for third with 95 points last season. However, the Bruins - who finished with the league's stingiest defense last season - will have a much different look to their blue line this year. Torey Krug joined St. Louis as a free agent while Zdeno Chara remains unsigned. While those are notable departures, Boston has a proven goaltending duo to anchor the back end. Tuukka Rask is coming off a season where he got named a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, while Jaroslav Halak is a solid veteran who's capable of handling the load when called upon.
Note: Pastrnak (right hip arthoscopy and labral repair) and Marchand (sports hernia) both surgery in mid-September and were given recovery timelines of five and four months, respectively, so their status is unclear.
BUFFALO SABRES
LAST SEASON:The Sabres were one of the seven teams who did not make the NHL's expanded 24-team playoff field, finishing 25th in the league with a 30-31-8 record.
THIS SEASON:The Sabres are looking to make the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons and end the NHL's longest active postseason drought. They made a splash by signing Taylor Hall, who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2018, to a one-year deal. He will start the season on a line with Jack Eichel. They headline a forward group that also includes Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson, who was named a Calder Trophy finalist after scoring 20 goals his rookie season. Buffalo's biggest question mark is between the pipes, as they will look to get more consistent goaltending from Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton.
NEW JERSEY
LAST SEASON: Like the Sabres, the Devils also missed the postseason, finishing 26th in the league with a 28-29-12 record.
THIS SEASON: Lindy Ruff, who was named head coach on July 8, has been tasked with putting a competitive team on the ice that can grow together. It helps that the Devils have plenty of young players eager to prove themselves, like first-overall draft picks Nico Hischier (2017) and Jack Hughes (2019). Their biggest issue last season was defense, as they ranked 29th in the league in goals-against per game. New Jersey addressed that by signing two-time Stanley Cup winner Corey Crawford to split starts with Mackenzie Blackwood, who led NHL rookies with 22 wins and 43 starts last season.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
LAST SEASON: The Islanders defeated the Capitals and the Flyers en route to the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost to Tampa Bay in six games.
THIS SEASON: Expectations continue to grow for the Islanders, who are no longer satisfied with simply qualifying for the playoffs, which they have done in each of Barry Trotz's first two seasons as head coach. While the Islanders don't necessarily have a ton of star power, save for franchise center Mathew Barzal, their success comes from playing a team game. They also rely on solid goaltending, with Ilya Sorokin - who played the past five seasons in the KHL - joining Semyon Varlamov to form the Islanders' tandem.
NEW YORK RANGERS
LAST SEASON:The Rangers, who finished the regular season with a 37-28-5 record, were the first team eliminated from the Stanley Cup Qualifiers - getting swept by Carolina in three games.
THIS SEASON:The Rangers have the potential to be dangerous this season after a rapid rebuild that came together beautifully, capped by winning the NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Alexis Lafreniere with the first overall pick this summer. The 19-year-old will be part of a roster that is brimming with talented players who are either already elite or have the potential to be. Up top, the Rangers have a potent one-two punch in winger Artemi Panarin, who tied for third in the NHL with 95 points in 69 games last season, and center Mika Zibanejad, who ranked ranked fifth with 41 goals in 57 games. In goal, Henrik Lundqvist's reign came to an end as the team bought out the final year of his contract. Igor Shesterkin will likely take over as their new No. 1 netminder. The 24-year-old was 10-2 with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage after being recalled in January.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
LAST SEASON:The Flyers had a ton of momentum going down the stretch, winning nine games in a row before the NHL pressed pause. They finished with the league's fourth-best record and earned the top playoff seed in the East before the Islanders eliminated them in seven games in the Second Round.
THIS SEASON:The Flyers are a hungry and motivated group looking to build on the huge step forward they took last season in Alain Vigneault's first as head coach. The team is led by the same core of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier, who won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best two-way forward last season. Returning to the mix are young forwards Oskar Lindblom, who completed his radiation treatments this summer after being diagnosed last December with Ewing's sarcoma, and Nolan Patrick, who missed all of last season with a migraine disorder. And perhaps most importantly, Carter Hart continues to blossom in goal as the 22-year-old enters his third season between the pipes.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
LAST SEASON:The Capitals finished with the NHL's fifth-best record before getting eliminated in five games by the Islanders in the First Round.
THIS SEASON: The Capitals, two years removed from the Stanley Cup, still have plenty of pieces in place to contend. Their core veterans have yet to show signs of slowing down, as Alex Ovechkin tied for the league lead with 48 goals - spearheading an offense that ranked second in the NHL last season - and John Carlson was named a Norris Trophy finalist. But Washington did make a couple of notable changes this offseason as they look to optimize their championship window. The team hired Peter Laviolette to take over as head coach after parting ways with Todd Reirden, who joined Pittsburgh's staff as an assistant coach. And like the Rangers, the Capitals also parted ways with their longtime goaltender as Braden Holtby signed with Vancouver as an unrestricted free agent, which means the net now belongs to 23-year-old Ilya Samsonov. It's also worth noting that the Caps did add a couple of familiar faces in Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz, who spent last season with the Penguins.