Penguins keep hope alive in win over Nashville Pens are one point back of Washington for second wild card in East

Posted on by

In Pittsburgh, the Penguins kept pace with everyone around them in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 win over the visiting Nashville Predators on Monday night.

A loss would have eliminate3d the Pens from the race for the second wild card. As it is, they are one point back of the second card, tied with the Detroit Red WIngs, who also won on Monday.

The Penguins moved to 38-31-12.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves in the win.

Sidney Crosby staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead at 7:02 of the opening stanza, scoring off a the same power play. The goal came after the Pens’ first goal was waved off for goalie interference.

“I think it’s been like this for a while where we’ve had to go into every game and grab points and move on,” Crosby said. “So obviously, we need some help but given the position we were in a few weeks ago, I think we would have taken this opportunity. So hopefully, we get some help. All we can do is control being ready to play and finding a way to win that one.”

Erik Karlsson scored his 11th of the season to make it 2-0 at 13:50.

A second Penguins goal was also waved off for interference, this one by Kris Letang.

“At this time of the year, especially in the position that we are, we can’t really look back on things,” Letang said. “We have to just keep looking ahead.”

Nashville, having nothing to play for, dropped to 47-30-5.

“Thought we would ease ourselves into the game. Can’t do that,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I think it’s good for our group to realize that’s going to be the pace and the atmosphere you’re going to face (in the playoffs). I thought the last two periods, we got to our game. We were knocking on the door.”

In the middle frame,Gustav Nyquist trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 7:24 of the second period, corralling a n errant puck i the crease.

The Predators lost the momentum when Reilly Smith scored just 57 seconds later to give the Pens a 3-1 lead.

Filip Forsberg got that one back for the Preds at 17:36, scoring form the right circle for a 3-2 score headed to the third period.

“We know we’re in, but at the same time, it’s about being ready,” Forsberg said. “I think the first period was not ‘ready’ hockey, but the second and third were.”

In the third period, Pittsburgh sealed the win with a strike by Emil Bemstrom at 2:42 for the 4-2 final count on the scoreboard.

“I tell you before, this team is amazing,” Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin said. “If we play like this all year, probably, we clinch the playoffs. … We have great potential here. We know that. But we started a little bit late, probably.”

Juuse Saros made 34 saves in the loss.

“Kind of disappointed, a little bit, we lost,” the Predators’ Jeremy Lauzon said. “Thought we played just 40 minutes. Wish we came ready in the first. Maybe the game would’ve been ours. But I thought we showed that character in the second and the third. We’re going to be ready for Game 1 (of the playoffs) here.”