Penguins hoping to ‘get some help,’ stay alive in East wild-card race 

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin said this is what the Pittsburgh Penguins always could have been.

"I tell you before, this team is amazing,” Malkin said Monday following a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators at PPG Paints Arena.

Pittsburgh (38-31-12) is 8-1-3 in its past 12 games, resurrecting dreams of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs that seemed dim when it was 10 points out on March 4.

It just might be too late. The Penguins are one point behind the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Washington would clinch with a win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, NBCSP, TVAS2, SNP, SNW).

Pittsburgh’s regular-season finale will be played Wednesday against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN, TVAS). The Penguins would be eliminated Tuesday unless the Capitals and the Detroit Red Wings lose. Detroit visits the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, BSDET).

“If we play like this all year, probably, we clinch the playoffs,” Malkin said. “But [Tuesday] is a big day for us, we hope. We have great potential here. We know that. But we started a little bit late, probably. But again, it's fun to play with these guys the last three weeks after the Trade Deadline (on March 8).

“We trade [forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes on March 7], everybody probably say, 'They have zero chance.' ... Now, we're still fighting. Again, everybody plays amazing.”

But with one regular-season game remaining, the Penguins are grateful to still be alive.

On March 22, they lost 4-2 at the Dallas Stars, falling to 30-30-9 with 10 losses in 13 games (3-9-1) and had been outscored 15-1 in three straight defeats from March 7-10 (6-0 to the Capitals on March 7; 5-1 at the Boston Bruins on March 9; 4-0 to the Edmonton Oilers on March 10).

Since the loss in Dallas, Pittsburgh has scored at least four goals nine times.

Sidney Crosby, who leads the Penguins with 92 points (42 goals, 50 assists) at 36 years old, has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in his past 12 games, including a goal and an assist Monday. Malkin, 37, has scored seven of his 26 goals, and Kris Letang, 36, has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) also in that stretch.

Erik Karlsson, acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a three-team trade on Aug. 6, has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past seven games.

“I think we’ve lost one in regulation in the last 11 or 12 games,” Karlsson said. “It doesn’t matter if it came a couple of days ago or came two weeks ago, that’s taking care of business on our end. That’s all we’ve got to do. ... Whatever happens around us, there is not much we can do about (it).

“We put ourselves in a great position here, and (it’s) something we could only dream about a few months ago.”

The Penguins entered Saturday as the second wild card and would have clinched by winning their final three games, but they lost 6-4 at home to the Bruins.

Now, they are hoping for a path to earn their way back in Wednesday.

“There's only one thing we can do, is to win the game,” Letang said. “Doesn't matter if I put my eyes on [other games] or not, the only thing we need to do is come prepared and win that game.”

It’s a familiar position.

Last season, Pittsburgh would have secured a spot by winning its final two games. It lost 5-2 at home to the Chicago Blackhawks on April 11, 2023, and was eliminated the next day when the New York Islanders won 4-2 against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Penguins had qualified for the playoffs the previous 16 seasons. It finished with a 3-2 loss in overtime at the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 13, 2023, the only game Crosby, Malkin and Letang have played together with no chance at the postseason.

Like a year ago, they again wait and wonder.

"Given the position we were in a few weeks ago, I think we would have taken this opportunity,” said Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain. “So hopefully, we get some help. All we can do is control being ready to play and finding a way to win that one.

"I think, just for us and how hard we've worked to get ourselves back in the picture here, I'm hoping we find a way to make that a meaningful game (on Wednesday). That would be great. We've worked pretty hard to get ourselves in this position and get ourselves a chance. Hopefully, we get that opportunity."