PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – They just needed one team to lose and Monday, the door was opened for the Pens to again control whether or not they make the playoffs.
The Capitals, the same team that had been outscored 15-6 in the last three games, scored a pair of goals in the first 1:03 and cruised to a 5-2 win over the Islanders. That wasn’t the only good news, the Florida Panthers also lost, 2-1 at home to Toronto in overtime. However, because the Panthers still got a loser point, if they would win their finale hosting Carolina Thursday, they would get the higher seed over the Pens because they own the tiebreaker.
With those losses, the Pens now have only to beat the last-place Chicago Blackhawks at home on Tuesday night and then win at last-place Columbus on Thursday to get into the playoffs. If Florida would lose again and the Pens win both, they wouldn’t have to face the record-setting Bruins. The Pens would the winner of the Metropolitan Division-either Carolina or New Jersey.
In addition to the Blackhawks having the fewest points in the West, Chicago just played Monday night. So, the Pens are getting team long out of playoff contention, traveling coming off a back-to-back.
“Knowing how close it’s been for a while, we understood there was a good chance that it was going to come down to the last game,” said Pens captain Sidney Crosby. “That’s the way it is. We’ve done a good job the last couple of games of focusing on the game at hand. We have to do that again.”