The Pittsburgh Penguins have their eyes set on their next opponent, but it's human nature to glance around the league.

PITTSBURGH - With the regular season winding down, the Pittsburgh Penguins need more than just wins to reach the postseason.

The Penguins have to collect as many wins as possible, but also hope that teams like the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Buffalo Sabres lose, and lose often.

While any player and coach will tell you they are focused solely on the game in front of them, it’s within human nature to look around the league and see where other teams stand.

For the Penguins’ sake, they need to keep a close eye on the Panthers who are only a point behind them in the playoff race.

“Everybody’s always keeping an eye on it,” Sidney Crosby said. “But you’ve got to take care of your own team and winning games. It doesn’t matter what everyone else does if you’re not winning games.”

The Penguins are lucky enough to have a game in-hand on the Panthers, but they have to win those sorts of games for them to matter.

From a coach’s standpoint, Mike Sullivan knows guys will take peeks, but they have to keep sight of what they can control.

“We talk a lot about staying in the moment,” Sullivan said. “About focusing on the things that are within our control.”

Ideally, the Penguins can run the table and win each of their final seven games, but that’s a tall task; there next opponent has already locked up the Presidents’ Trophy.

Not only do the Penguins have to take on the Boston Bruins, but the Panthers get the luxury of battling the Eastern Conference’s worst team in the Columbus Blue Jackets on the same day.

It’s not likely the Penguins hold their spot in the race for too long, but it’s important to not lose focus and grab it right back at the first opportunity.

“We’ve got a good chance here in front of us,” Josh Archibald said. “We just got to worry about ourselves and keep moving forward.”

At the end of the day, the Penguins are focused on their games; it’s human nature to look around and see what needs to be done to reach the postseason, but the focus is on the Penguins first.

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