Penguins Back in Playoff Contention

PITTSBURGH – Don’t look now, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are just a handful of points back of a playoff spot. Thanks to a losing-streak-breaking win over the San Jose Sharks and a key loss to the New York Islanders, the Penguins are five points back.

The Penguins have gone 3-6-1 in their last 10, but haven’t lost hope in what might be a miraculous run to the postseason. No matter how far they fell, the Penguins felt all they needed to do was stick to their system and good things will happen.

The odds of making the playoffs for the Penguins bottomed out at 3% according to moneypuck.com, but the team kept their foot on the pedal.

“The reality is we’re still in it,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s the conversation that we’ve had with the group almost daily.”

It’s not an easy road ahead for the Penguins as there are still multiple crucial divisional matchups on the docket. The Penguins are going to have their work cut out for them, but the belief has never dipped.

Their most recent win came against a truly not good San Jose Shark team, but the Penguins are looking to use it as a confidence booster moving forward.

“Things haven’t been really good lately, and we know it,” P.O. Joseph said. “We want to battle through it and this victory definitely feels good.”

Joseph had a solid game against the Sharks picking up a pair of assists in the 6-3 win. The Penguins know the position they’re in, but they are remaining focused on the games at hand rather than scoreboard watching.

“No clue what was going on,” Joseph said. “We just focus on our game and we don’t really care what is going on outside this locker room.”

The Penguins have 17 games remaining and have just about lost their games in hand, but there is still confidence in the room. They knew as long as they were never mathematically eliminated, they could still fight for their right to complete for the Stanley Cup.