CRANBERRY, Pa. -- If the Penguins make the postseason, their list of likely first-round opponents is down to three teams.
If they clinch the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, they'll play whichever team wins the Metropolitan Division. While the Rangers aren't out of contention for that title with 98 points, it looks more likely that it will come down to the Hurricanes and Devils for that spot. Right now it's the Hurricanes in the lead with 103 points, a one-point margin with one game in hand over the Devils.
The way the playoff picture sits now, it would be the Islanders playing the Hurricanes, as the Islanders hold the first wild card spot in the East with a three-point lead over the Penguins, who occupy the second wild card spot.
Whichever team ends up in the second wild card spot, their opponent is already known: The Presidents' Trophy-winning Bruins.
The same Bruins who are 58-12-5.
The same Bruins who just became the fifth team in NHL history to reach the 120-point mark in 75 games or fewer, joining the 1977-78 Canadiens (74), 1976-77 Canadiens (74), 2018-19 Lightning (75) and 1995-96 Red Wings (75). In fact, the Bruins are tracking to tie the 1976-77 Canadiens (60-8-12, 132 points) for the most points in a single season in league history.
If the season ended today, the Penguins and the Bruins would meet in the first round of the playoffs. There's still seven games left in the regular season to gain some ground in the standings and overtake the Islanders in the wild card race, of course. But right now, there's a possibility that the Penguins' 3:12 p.m. meeting with the Bruins on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena is a playoff preview.
The Penguins have played the Bruins twice already this season and have lost both games. Considering the teams are a whopping 37 points apart in the standings, and that the Bruins have a goal differential that is an absurd 116 goals better than that of the Penguins', the Penguins actually fared pretty well.
The Penguins hosted the Bruins back on Nov. 1, a game that opened with a Sidney Crosby goal just 30 seconds into the first period. Two goals from the Bruins gave Boston the lead at four intermission, but goals by Evgeni Malkin, Josh Archibald, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell in the second period at one point had it a 5-2 game. A power play goal by Brad Marchand in the second period cut the Penguins' lead to two goals, and then two third-period tallies by the Bruins forced overtime. Hampus Lindholm's overtime-winner secured the extra point for the Bruins. Final score: 6-5, Boston.
"We did a lot of good things, a lot of good things in every area," Crosby said after that loss. "That's why it's disappointing to not come out of this with two points. But we've got to build off it, take that into the next one, turn the page quickly."
The Penguins and Bruins met again two months later in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Tristan Jarry left the first period with an injury and was replaced by Casey DeSmith. It was Kasperi Kapanen who struck first, beating Linus Ullmark with a goal in the middle frame. Jake DeBrusk beat DeSmith twice in the third. It was a valiant relief effort for DeSmith, who stopped 19 of 21 shots faced, but it was the Bruins who again came out on top. Final score: 2-1, Boston.
"That's a tough situation to come into that," Jake Guentzel said of DeSmith after that one. "But he played amazing and gave us a chance to win. Disappointed we couldn't get it done for him."
Special teams was a mixed bag for the Penguins in those two meetings. They went a combined 5-for-6 on the penalty kill against a Bruins power play that has been around the middle of the pack in the league rankings throughout the season. The Bruins' penalty kill is the league's best, however, and operates at an 86.4% success rate. The Bruins shut down all seven power play opportunities the Penguins had in their last two matchups.
The Penguins didn't get the win in either game. But both games being decided by just one goal is encouraging, at least.
"I think if you look at our last one (against Boston), we did a lot of good things and then late in that game it kind of got away from us," Crosby said of the Penguins' earlier meetings with the Bruins after Friday's practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. "Then the other one, we had a two-goal lead going into the third. Just putting a full game together will be really important. They've got a lot of depth, they're playing well. That's what you need this time of year."
Mike Sullivan said that he thinks the Penguins can "take a lot from those games" that will be useful Saturday.
"I think when you look at both of those games, when you dig into the details, you can see that they were pretty competitive games," Sullivan said. "There's a fine line between winning and losing. We ended up on the wrong side of the scores, but they were pretty competitive hockey games against a real good team, arguably the best team in the league this year with how they've performed and how they sit in the standings. We know it's going to be a big challenge against these guys, they're a deep team. But we can look back on those two experiences playing against them, and I think those experiences suggest that those games could have gone either way. We've got to find a way to get over the hump, and a lot of that just boils down to situational play and game management. If we do a better job, then we'll give ourselves a chance."
Anyone can look at the standings and see that this is a pretty likely playoff matchup. The Bruins might look at it that way -- they clinched the Presidents' Trophy on Thursday. They're the No. 1 seed regardless. The rest of the regular-season is going to be about preparing for the postseason as best they can. Crosby was asked if the Penguins are going into this game seeing it as a potential playoff matchup. They aren't -- they can't afford to.
"Nah. I mean, we've got to get there," he said. "That's the most important thing. I don't think it matters who we're playing. We've got to be at our best and we've got to earn our right to get there."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• The Penguins made a trade with the Ducks involving prospect signing rights after practice. More on that here.
• Jan Rutta returned to practice for the first time since he was injured two weeks ago. He wore a non-contact jersey and skated on an extra defense pairing during line rushes.
"It's great," Sullivan said of Rutta taking that step. "You know, it suggests progress. His next step is obviously to participate in a full capacity, but the fact that he's joined the team is real encouraging. I thought he looked pretty good for not skating here with the team for a little while."
• Marcus Pettersson skated on his own before practice. Nick Bonino and Dmitry Kulikov didn't skate.
• The Penguins used the same lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Ryan Poehling - Mikael Granlund
Drew O’Connor - Jeff Carter - Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
P.O Joseph - Jeff Petry
Mark Friedman - Chad Ruhwedel
Alex Nylander - Jan Rutta
• That Joseph-Petry pairing was a switch Sullivan made midway through the game in Detroit earlier this week, but it's not new. The two were a pairing for nearly the full month of November.
"I think they've played well," Sullivan said. "They're both good players. We juggle the combinations just to try to get more balance, get a little more reliability back there. I think it's worked. We put (Brian Dumoulin) back with (Kris Letang), and we put P.O back with Jeff. I think it's stabilized the group back there. I think both P.O and Jeff are complementary of one another. They're both pretty mobile guys, they can both make outlet passes. I think Jeff's size and strength helps P.O down low in the defensive zone, at the net-front, things of that nature. I think P.O's mobility helps Jeff a bit."
• The first power play unit was the same: Letang, Malkin, Rakell, Crosby and Guentzel.
• The second power play unit was Jeff Petry, Jason Zucker, Jeff Carter, Rust and Mikael Granlund.
