PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PGHHockeyNOW.
The bruising road trip is over and the Pittsburgh Penguins (34-18-16) had an extra day to recoup from their trip that began and ended with extra-time losses in Carolina but also featured impressive wins in Utah and Colorado. The Eastern Conference playoff race is now tighter than a snare drum as the Penguins face the Winnipeg Jets (28-29-11) Saturday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes engaged in a historic see-saw battle Wednesday. It was only the fourth time in history that there were four blown leads in the third period. Carolina led three times, and the Penguins led once, but the game went to overtime and ended when Carolina defenseman Sean Walker beat goalie Stuart Skinner with less than 30 seconds remaining.
The Penguins now trail Carolina by 10 points with one game in hand for the Metro Division lead. However, the rest of the Eastern Conference playoff race is extraordinarily tight.
The Penguins have second place in the Metro Division with 84 points in 68 games. They lead the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have surged into third place by one point. Both wild-card teams, the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings, have 84 points in 69 games played.
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