Playing Field Leveled in Penguins Chase for Wild Card
The Pittsburgh Penguins have fallen behind in the race for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Pittsburgh Penguins sat atop the Eastern Conference wild card standings for the better part of the season, holding on by a thread. That thread has finally shaken loose, and the Penguins are on the outside looking in at the playoffs with three weeks remaining in the season.
The Penguins now trail the Florida Panthers by one point and the New York Islanders by two points for the final playoff positions. They hold one game in hand on the Islanders but don't hold the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head results this season.
With a dozen games remaining on the schedule, the Penguins must find another gear to keep their NHL-leading 16-year postseason streak alive.
The Penguins, Panthers, and Islanders have similar schedules down the home stretch. Each plays six more games on home ice, and each will face five current playoff teams between now and the end of the season on April 14th.
The math is no longer in the Penguins favor, and neither are the optics. The Panthers are 7-2-1 in their last ten and are getting solid play from their volatile starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The Islanders are 6-3-1 in that same span, while the Penguins have a 4-5-1 record and have lost four straight games in regulation.
Will the Penguins claw back into a playoff spot before it's too late?
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