The Penguins dominated the injury riddled Dallas Stars Sunday 4-1 in a road win that pushed the Penguins back into the playoff race. Dallas, hurt much like the Penguins had been from December through mid February, were not even much of a challenge as they continue to sink in the West. Dallas was coming off a blown chance for two points yesterday where they fell down to the Mighty Duck early then stormed back to take a lead and then lose in the end.

Pittsburgh and Dallas are heading in opposite directions as the Penguins picked up two points to move into 8th place in the East. The fight for the bottom five spots in the East is more jammed than the Parkway East during rush hour and the Penguins will need to keep the pedal to the metal as Philadelphia, Montreal, the Rangers, Florida, Buffalo and Carolina are all within seven points of each other.

Pittsburgh beat Dallas with goals from Staal (17), Letang (6), Satan (17) and Malkin (29). Malkin also got two assists as well. The win moves the Penguins record to 32-26-6 (70 pts) and precariously into eighth place in the East. The Penguins will continue their current road trip Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning who have given the Penguins fits this year.

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.

I was certainly impressed with the Penguins 5 goal explosion in the third period against the Rangers on Wednesday. But I temper than feeling with knowing that I sat though a horrific second period watching Fleury keep his team in the game; a game they should have rightfully been loosing by two or more goals when the third period started.

As it stands today, the Penguins are 24-21-4 (52 pts) in the East with 49 games down and 33 games to go. If they want to make the playoffs they are going to need to get to at least 90 points and even that would be cutting it close. In all honesty, this team needs about 21 (42 pts) more wins to not just make the playoffs, but be in a respectable position heading into the playoffs and be considered a contender to return to the Stanley Cup Finals. That means winning 64% of their remaining games or getting enough points through ties, wins and OT losses to make 42 pts happen.

Can they do it? Well, in their last six they are clicking at 67% when it comes to winning and they certainly have some cream puffs on their schedule between now and the end of the season. But beating up on teams like Tampa Bay, the New York Islanders, the Maple Leafs and even the Los Angeles Kings isn’t going to be enough. They need to not only get the points, but do so beating the Devils, the Candiens and the Bostons of the league too.

This team has the talent. But they have to use it. Tonight they have to use it against divisional foes, the New Jersey Devils.