The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost far too many games for comfort, but these ones in particular may carry extra weight.

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins hope they have more hockey to be played.

The Penguins are locked into one of the tightest postseason races in the NHL, sitting just a point out of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

How did they get there though? How did a team who is normally a lock for the postseason every year still fighting for their lives?

Plain and simple, the Penguins haven’t been good enough this year.

On more than one occasion, they’ve watched a lead slip away or allowed a team they should have beaten walk all over them.

Now, sitting just a point out of the playoffs, there is a certain handful of losses that are coming back to bite the Penguins.

Dec. 22 vs. Carolina Hurricanes

It’s not totally wrong to call this one the loss that started it all; the Penguins entered their third contest against the Carolina Hurricanes with a 19-9-4 record, and not far removed from a seven game winning streak.

It’s hard to remember, but the Penguins had themselves a solid November and were even better in December.

That was until Evgeni Malkin chased Jaccob Slavin behind his own net in the overtime period opening up an easy opportunity for the Hurricanes to capitalize.

Malkin took complete blame following the loss, but he surely wasn’t expecting the downfall that the Penguins would experience for the rest of the season.

The loss to the Hurricanes was the first in a six-game losing streak, and began their slow decent out of the playoff positioning.

Nov. 1 vs. Boston Bruins

Just by looking at their record breaking season, it’s any wonder how the Penguins kept close with the Boston Bruins at any point in the year.

The Penguins had the Bruins dead to rights in their first meeting this year, though, with four goals in the first 12 minutes of the second period chased possible Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark from the net.

While the Penguins were up 5-2, Jeremy Swayman came in relief, but was taken out after making four saves when he suffered an injury.

With Ullmark back in net, it seemed like the Penguins would walk their way to victory, and also put an end to their four-game losing streak.

That’s when things got ugly, as the Bruins rifled off three straight goals, including one in the final two minutes of regulation, to force overtime.

The Bruins rode their momentum to win in the overtime period and had a hand in the longest Penguins losing streak since the 2005-06 season.

Dec. 28 vs. Detroit Red Wings

The allowed quite a few third period leads slip out of their hands, and this loss to the Detroit Red Wings may have been the hardest to swallow.

The Penguins jumped out to a huge lead in the opening 20 minutes of the game, scoring four goals on just 12 shots.

Through the final two periods the Penguins only recorded 19 more shots and failed to pick up another tally.

The Red Wings climbed all the way back into the game and sealed the game with a game winning goal in overtime.

It was a complete collapse on the part of the Penguins and extended the losing streak that the Hurricanes had started just six days prior.

Mar. 9 vs. New York Islanders

This loss (along with a few others to the Islanders) are proving to play a huge role in the Penguins’ current position in the playoff race.

On the season, the Penguins went 0-3-1 against the Islanders, just handing wins to the Islanders that has given them a one-point lead in the standings.

If the Penguins were able to pull out even one win against the Islanders, their season might be in a different light, but here’s where they stand.

As for the March 9 loss, the Penguins allowed the first goal, but managed to crawl back to take a 3-1 lead into the final period.

We all know how third periods have been for the Penguins this season, and this was no different.

The Islanders scored twice in the third period, including another goal in the final two minutes, to tie the game at three.

You guessed it, the Islanders then followed up with a win in the overtime period, sealing their season sweep.

There are quite a few more losses that can be considered culprits to the Penguins’ current situation, but these will be the games that stick out the most if they miss the postseason.

A lot rides on the final two games from the Penguins, they’ll need to win them both just to have a chance of making their 17^th consecutive playoffs.

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