PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PGHHockeyNOW.
It is a big chance for the Pittsburgh Penguins (35-18-16) to put some space between themselves and their closest playoff pursuers, but they will have to beat one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes (44-19-6), at PPG Paints Arena.
By virtue of their shootout win Saturday, the Penguins have a three-point lead over the first team outside the playoffs, the New York Islanders. The Penguins have a game in hand on New York, so a win would give them a five-point lead with 11 games remaining. The Penguins also lead the second wild card Detroit Red Wings by two points with one game in hand.
The Penguins and Hurricanes have had a couple of recent games that stirred emotions but ended in a Penguins extra-time loss. Those battles in Carolina began and ended the Penguins’ recent five-game road trip. The Penguins forced overtime with a pair of extra-attacker goals in the first game, but lost in the shootout. Then, in the final game of the road trip, the Penguins and Hurricanes combined to lose four one-goal leads in the third period, as Carolina won in overtime.
The Penguins trail Carolina by 10 points for first place in the Metro Division with one game in hand.
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