The race for the NHL Eastern Conference Wild Card playoff spots is almost as close as could be. Just three points separate the three teams contending for two spots, and the Penguins are right in the middle of it. Paul Steigerwald recaps last night’s Penguins win that put them back on the inside of the playoff push.
The final Penguins goal came from Ryan Poehling on an empty net after a Ryan Konecny score for the Flyers with the goalie pulled at the 17:31 mark.
Coach Mike Sullivan says it’s human nature for anyone to watch the scoreboard in any tight race, but the Penguins have to focus on the game at hand.
Casey DeSmith stopped 31 of 33 Philadelphia shots. Sullivan says DeSmith came up big after the Pens took some bad penalties.
Forward Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins in a dangerous spot when he took three minor penalties in the second period and followed that up with a ten-minute misconduct, a game misconduct, and a a minor penalty for misconduct early in the third period. Malkin accumulated 28 minutes in penalties, a career high for a single game and more than any other player in the NHL for a single game this season. Sullivan said Malkin can’t let that happen.
Kris Letang skated in his 1,000th career game for the Penguins. Before the game, the team held a ceremony on the ice with Letang, his wife and two children, and his son Alex skated with him as the Penguins entered the ice. Alex also introduced the starting lineup and stood with his dad for the national anthem. Letang then logged 30:34 of ice time, his highest of the season.
He says every game is important, no matter who the opponent is, and each game at this point of the season is intense.
Forward Rickard Rakell scored two first period goals for the Penguins. He says goal totals don’t compare to point totals in a playoff chase.
Three injured Penguins defenseman all skated together Sunday morning along with forward Nick Bonino. Sullivan said Bonino, Jan Rutta, Dmitry Kulikov, and Marcus Pettersson all could return by the season finale April 13th in Columbus.
The Penguins have only five games left in the season and three of them are this week. They will play the very tough Devils at New Jersey tomorrow night, host the hot Minnesota Wild on Thursday, and visit Detroit on Saturday.
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