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.

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.

In Pittsburgh, the Penguins stretched their point streak to eight games on Saturday afternoon, with a 5-4 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

It wasn’t easy. The Pens blew a 4-1 lead in the third period and needed a goal from Michael Bunting at 14:32 to give them a 5-4 lead they protected for the win.

“We made it exciting,” Bunting said. “Obviously, we want to hold those leads when we’re in them, but that’s a good hockey team over there.”

Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves in the win.

The Penguins improved to 36-30-11 off their fourth straight win.

The win pushed the Penguins into the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

The Pens took a 1-0 lead in the first period on Sidney Crosby’s 40th goal of the year.

Crosby scored off an odd man rush at 4:20.

The Lightning dropped to 43-27-7

“These are tough games to play,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I can sit here after the fact and lament how we played the first two periods, but these guys have pushed so hard for so long now. We’re playing a team that has put themselves right in it. The League’s too tight to not be on the same emotional wavelength. And we weren’t.”

In the third, the Lightning found their offense.

Nicholas Paul started the rally with a goal at 25 seconds of the period, scoring from the left circle to close the gap to 4-2.

Anthony Duclair trimmed the deficit to one at 4-3 with a marker at 7:23, scoring from the high slot.

“I thought we just stayed with it,” Crosby said. “It didn’t feel like we did a lot wrong, but that’s a team that if you give them time and space, they’re going to convert.”

Stamkos collected his double midway through the third to tie the game, 4-4.

“It’s just disappointing because if we play like that all game, then we, maybe, have a different result,” Stamkos said. “A case of too little, too late.”

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves in the loss.

In Washington, DC, the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins downed the Capitals, 4-1 on Thursday night. The win pushed the Pens past the Caps, and two points back of the New York Islanders for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference,  who defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2.

“I couldn’t be happier for the players,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think they’re having a lot of fun right now. They’re competing. They’re battling hard. It’s not perfect, but I love our energy, our enthusiasm, our compete level is fun to watch. … Certainly have been proud of them here the last little while just trying to dig in and give ourselves a chance.”

The Pens took an early 1-0 lead when Ryan Shea hit for his first career NHL goal at 1:49 of the opening stanza. He scored off a shot from the point

Pierre-Olivier Joseph pushed the lead to 2-0 at 11:03, scoring off another shot from  the point.

“They were very opportunistic tonight,” the Capitals’ Trevor van Riemsdyk said. “They did the hard work. They got to the front of the net. Just threw pucks there and that’s the recipe this time of year. We just didn’t get enough of that going tonight.”

The Capitals dropped to 36-30-10 off their fourth straight loss.

“I think we try to create the extra pass,” the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin said. “We’re holding the puck a little bit longer, trying to find the pretty play. It’s not going to work, especially at a moment in the season when everybody is concentrating on a win, everybody is playing a little faster. You have to make a decision quicker.”

Michael Bunting stretched the lead to 3-0 midway through the second period, scoring off a shot from the left circle on the rush.

In the third period, the Caps finally broke through with a goal from Ovechkin at 6:02 to close the gap to 3-1. The goal came just as a two-skater power play ended for the Caps.

“It actually wasn’t as bad as you’d think,” Nedeljkovic said of the 5-on-3. “We did an unbelievable job of delaying them and breaking up their first couple entries. I don’t think they got in the zone until maybe under a minute left total there. The guys did a great job tying up sticks, giving me a sightline to find pucks. On the goal there, he made a nice pass cross-crease back door. You can only cover him for so long.”

Lars Eller sealed the win with an empty-net marker at 17:23 for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard.

Charlie Lindgren made 20 saves in the loss.

In Newark, the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins trailed the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, entering the third period.

In the final 20 minutes of the game, the Pens scored five unanswered goals in a 6-3 win over New Jersey.

If the Devils season was not over before Tuesday night, the Penguins certainly twisted the dagger to make sure there was no second chance.

“I thought it was a gutsy effort by our guys,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We could tell early on we didn’t have a lot of energy. We just didn’t have a lot of juice tonight. It was one of those nights where sometimes you play against the schedule. That game last night in New York took a lot out of our guys.

“I give our players a lot of credit. We hung in there and we dug in.”

The third period ice was tilted into the New Jersey zone and the Penguins took advantage of that, and the Devils’ incompetence, in scoring five straight.

Sidney Crosby closed the gap to 3-2 with his first of two in the period, with a power play marker at 6:48 of the third,  scoring off a tap in at the crease.

Evgeny Malkin, who hit for a double in the win, potted his first 67 seconds later for a 3-3 tie, scoring off a deflection of a shot by Jack St. Ivany.

Rickard Rakell  then added another deflection goal at 16:16 for a 4-3 lead to the Pens.

“I thought the power-play goal got us going,” Rakell said. “Just making it a one-goal game, we know anything can happen. Then just play hockey. We played with emotions and just showed that we wanted it.”

Malkin collected his double off another deflection at 16:38 for a 5-3 advantage.

Crosby potted his double into an empty net with 2:53 remaining left on the game clock for the 6-3 final count on the scoreboard.

“I think just desperation,” Crosby said. “I think we knew it was going to be an uphill climb there. It was good to get one on the power play. … Just putting pucks to the net. ‘Geno’ comes up with a huge tip, and then ‘Raks’ and Geno again. So, I thought we really got a lot of momentum there.”

Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 saves in the win.

The Penguins moved to 34-30-11, pushing their current point streak to six games.

The Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the game on a strike by Erik Karlsson  at 7:54 of the opening stanza. He scored off a shot from atop the right circle.

New Jersey replied with a power play goal from Timo Meier with 17 seconds left in the first , scoring off a blistering shot.

“I just think we stopped making plays in the third,” Meier said. “It almost looked like we were scared after they scored. That’s not how you win, playing on our heels. They’re obviously going to make a push in the third. We didn’t handle it well.”

New Jersey dropped to 36-35-4.

“It’s not easy to explain, especially after the first two periods,” New Jersey coach Travis Green said. “I thought we played almost as perfect a game as we could’ve in the first two periods. Really didn’t give them a lot of life. … I don’t think we necessarily let up, but we gave them some life with some power plays.”

Midway through the middle frame frame, Curtis Lazar put New Jersey up, 2-1, scoring with a snap shot shot from the above the crease.

“It’s the NHL, the other team’s got skill,” Lazar said. “They’re not going to roll over easy. They’re going to try to make it hard on us.”

Jesper Bratt extended the lead to 3-1, scoring off a breakaway at at 17:47.

Jake Allen made 15 saves in the loss, and was left defenseless in the third period. .