The Pittsburgh Penguins could go a long way toward clinching a playoff spot when they welcome the Boston Bruins to the PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
Game time is 8 p.m. EDT and you can follow on ABC or live stream on ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial).
It’s safe to say no one a month ago saw this resurgence coming. The Penguins were languishing in 13th place in the East and just looking like a team that was already thinking about the offseason.
Then they started winning — 7-0-3 in their last 10 games — and leapfrogged several teams into a playoff spot as they continued on their hot streak.
As Saturday dawns, the Penguins (37-30-12, fourth in the Metropolitan Division) sit in the second wild-card spot with 86 points, having played 79 games. They are a point better than Washington, Detroit and Philly. The Capitals and Red Wings have both played 79 games and the Flyers have played 80 games. All four teams are in action today.
- WATCH: ABC or live stream on ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial)
The Penguins are coming off a huge win Thursday, beating the Red Wings 6-5 in overtime. Sidney Crosby assisted on the winning goal 1:40 into overtime, feeding Erik Karlsson for the game-winner. Crosby became the 14th NHL player to reach 1,000 career assists and the league’s 10th all-time leading scorer.
“He plays his best when the stakes are high like all of the all-time greats that have played the game,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. “He’s one of those guys.”
Crosby finished with a goal and two assists to boost his career total to 1,591, one more than Hall of Famer Phil Esposito. Joe Sakic is next in ninth at 1,641, with Penguins icon Mario Lemieux in eighth at 1,723 and Crosby’s childhood idol, Steve Yzerman, in seventh at 1,755.
Kris Letang and Jeff Carter both scored their 10th goals for Pittsburgh in Thursday’s win. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots as the Penguins overcame another late meltdown in which they let a two-goal third-period lead slip away again.
It’s been an issue all season. Yet this time Pittsburgh recovered to take control of its playoff fate.
“We’re just finding ways to win right now,” Nedeljkovic said. “They’re not always going to be pretty. You’d like them to be a little prettier than that but you know, like I said, we’ll take two points tonight.”
As for Boston (46-18-15, first in the Atlantic Division), it’s just trying to stay healthy ahead of what it hopes will be a long playoff run that ends with a Stanley Cup. Boston is 22-8-9 on the road.
The Bruins are the East’s top seed with 107 points, one ahead of the Florida Panthers. They have played one fewer game than the Panthers.
David Pastrnak has 47 goals and 60 assists for the Bruins while Danton Heinen has scored three goals and added five assists over the last 10 games.
The matchup on Saturday is the third meeting between these teams this season. The Bruins won 5-1 in the last meeting.
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