PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Pens 4-2 win over Nashville means the season is going to come down to the final game or at least until Tuesday night. Detroit with an amazing comeback down two goals late to score a goal with the goalie pulled to tie it and then late in overtime to stay a point ahead of the Pens. Washington shut out Boston 2-0 to also remain one point ahead.
Here are the scenarios for the Pens to make the playoffs,
Pens win at the Islanders on Wednesday after
· Montreal beats Detroit at home Tuesday
That’s it. It’s that simple. There are no other options. Even if Detroit or Washington get a loser point in an overtime loss, the Pens win the tiebreaker against both.
“Obviously we need some help, but given the position we were in a few weeks ago, I think we would have taken this opportunity, so hopefully we get some help,” said Pens captain Sidney Crosby.
Here are the current Wild Card and Metropolitan Division standings (with the Islanders win on Monday, they clinched the third seed in the division)
Wild Card
Tampa Bay-81 games 96 points
Washington-81 games 89 points Remaining game at Phi Tuesday
Detroit-81 games 89 points Remaining game at Mon Tuesday
PENS-81 games 88 points Remaining game at NYI
Philadelphia-81 games 87 points Remaining game-Wash
Metropolitan Division
Rangers-82 games 114 points
Carolina-81 games 111 points Remaining game at CBJ
Islanders-81 games 92 points Remaining game-Pitt
Washington-81 games 89 points Remaining game at Phi
PENS-81 games 88 points Remaining game at NYI
Philadelphia-81 games 87 points Remaining game-Wash
It all will be riding on the line on Wednesday in Long Island or if Detroit or Washington win, will be a meaningless season finale.