The season is on the line tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’ve received quite a bit of help from the other contending teams to even get to this point. From here forth it will be on the Penguins to take care of things.
Tonight, they play the Detroit Red Wings in a huge matchup with sizeable playoff ramifications.
Currently, the New York Islanders are three points ahead of the Penguins in the standings and sit in third place of the division. Even though the two teams will directly face each other before the season ends it will be a tough task for the Penguins to catch them. Thus, leaving the final wild card spot up for grabs between the Penguins, Red Wings, and Capitals who currently are one point ahead of both teams. Three teams vying for one spot, all with 78 games played. With only four games left there really isn’t room for error. Regulation wins are at a premium. Regulation wins against direct competition are a necessity. A regulation loss tonight? Not going to cut it
About a month ago I would have definitely signed up for the Penguins being in this exact scenario. This is a way better position than I thought the Penguins could be in. While they don’t entirely control their destiny (Capitals can win out and secure final spot) they are pretty close to having full control. Winning the last four games would put the team in a great position and force the Capitals to match them.
Alex Nedeljkovic will be making his tenth straight start. He has earned a standings point in all ten going 6-0-3. At this point in time you have to go with the hot hand. Nedeljkovic has done a marvelous job of keeping this team afloat down the stretch.
It’s now or never for the Penguins. They’ll either be reason for excitement after tonight or disappointment after having such a great run of games at the end of the year.
Thanks for reading!
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