Looking at the standings today, then Penguins are still four points out of a playoff spot in the East. The question is can they make it into one of the top eight spots before time runs out?

Let’s look.

Ahead of them are:
BOSTON 50 GP 88pts 5-3-2 in their last 10
WASHINGTON 59 GP 79pts 7-2-1 in their last 10
NEW JERSEY 60 GP 79pts 6-4-0 in their last 10
PHILADELPHIA 57 GP 71pts 6-4-0 in their last 10
MONTREAL 60 GP 69pts 3-6-1 in their last 10
FLORIDA 59 GP 68pts 7-3-0 in their last 10
BUFFALO 60 GP 68pts 5-4-1 in their last 10
NY RANGERS 60 GP 68pts 2-6-2 in their last 10
CAROLINA 60 GP 65pts 6-4-0 in their last 10

The Penguins are 64pts with 22 games remaining and are 5-4-1 in their last 10.

Let’s look at teams last 10 games played as an indication as to how they are playing right now and down the stretch. If we take that as an indication of how each team will play until the end of the season the standing would look like this:

1 BOSTON*
2 WASHINGTON*
3 NEW JERSEY*
4 PHILADELPHIA
5 FLORIDA
6 BUFFALO
7 CAROLINA
8 PITTSBURGH

With Pittsburgh just getting in with 88pts. Of course this is simplistic. The Penguins while 5-4-1 in their last 10 have played well enough to be better than than and Montreal and the Rangers will likely not both continue to slump as badly as they have been which is what opens up the last two slots for Carolina and Pittsburgh. If one of those teams gets hot it makes the Penguins chances more remote.

It isn’t over yet but the Penguins need a win today against Washington to keep the fat lady on the bench from warming up.