Whenever Mike Sullivan gets asked about the importance of any individual win upcoming game this time of year, he always has a similar response.
Every game carries a heightened importance this time of year, just by nature of having fewer games left on the schedule.
The Penguins have 17 games left on their schedule following their 5-1 win over the Flyers on Saturday. Each game remaining is the new biggest game of the season because of the tight race that is the Eastern Conference standings.
"We know coming into this last stretch, every game is important," Rickard Rakell said Saturday.
The margin between the Penguins' position as the first wild card spot and being out of a playoff spot entirely is slim. The Penguins and Islanders hold both wild card spots with 76 points each, though the Penguins have the tiebreaker with two games in hand. Five teams -- the Panthers (73 points), Capitals (71), Senators (70), Sabres (69), and Red Wings (67) are all within arms reach. One bad week by the Penguins, and one strong week from a couple of teams in the hunt, and the Penguins could see themselves fall out of a playoff position.
The top two spots in the Metropolitan Division standings are pretty set, with the Hurricanes sitting in first with 94 points and the Devils right behind with 92.
The Rangers sit third in the Metro with 83 points -- a seven-point lead on the Penguins with equal number of games played. Three of the Penguins' next four games are against the Rangers, with one game at home, two in New York, and a home game against the Canadiens in between.
This upcoming stretch could prove to be the most crucial of the Penguins' season, with there being the potential to gain ground on the Rangers or fall out of a spot entirely.
It's a quick turnaround for the Penguins, who host the Rangers for a 4 p.m. matchup on Sunday. The Rangers are also on the second half of a back-to-back, having beat the Sabres 2-1 in overtime in Buffalo on Saturday. Igor Shesterkin was in net for that one, which means that the Penguins should likely see Jaroslav Halak in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Since Casey DeSmith started here at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday, it'll be Tristan Jarry in net for the Penguins.
Things went pretty well for the Penguins the only other time these two teams met this season in Pittsburgh on Dec. 20. Though Chris Kreider opened the scoring for New York with a goal 22 seconds in -- yet another early goal, something that's been a problem for the Penguins this season -- Jarry recovered nicely. The Penguins got power play goals from Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust in the second period, and Sidney Crosby added an even-strength tally in the third. Kreider got another goal late, but the Penguins kept the Rangers from rallying and held onto the lead. Jarry finished with 26 saves on 28 shots, while Shesterkin stopped 21 of 24.
The Rangers team coming to Pittsburgh Sunday has a bit of a different look than the one that was here in December.
On Feb. 9, the Rangers shipped forward Sammy Blais, an AHL prospect, a conditional first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick to the Blues for defensive defenseman Niko Mikkola and star winger Vladimir Tarasenko. On Feb. 19, they traded forward Julien Gauthier and a conditional seventh-round pick to the Senators for bottom-six forward Tyler Motte. On Feb. 25 the Rangers traded struggling forward Vitali Kravtsov to the Canucks for an AHL forward and a seventh-round pick, partly a cap-saving move needed for their biggest move of all: On Feb. 29, the Rangers sent two non-roster depth defensemen, a conditional second-round pick and a fourth-round pick to the Blackhawks for future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane, while also sending Arizona a conditional third-round pick to be the middle-man and retain some salary to make the deal possible.
The Rangers loaded up, while the Penguins remained comparatively quiet at the deadline. They sent Teddy Blueger to the Golden Knights for a defense prospect and a third-round pick, a cap-clearing move. They traded Brock McGinn and a third-round pick to the Ducks for Dmitry Kulikov. They acquired Mikael Granlund from the Predators for a second-round pick, and also acquired Nick Bonino from the Sharks for a conditional fifth-round pick and a seventh-round pick. They'll be without Bonino for the near future, though, as he's sidelined week-to-week with a lacerated kidney.
The Penguins did shuffle their lines for Saturday's game to great success, reuniting Rust with Crosby's line, promoting recent recall Alex Nylander to the second line, putting Rakell on the third line for some balance and putting Jeff Carter in a fourth-line role.
The Rangers have been pretty lukewarm as of late, with a 4-5-1 record in their last ten games -- not all that surprising, given the amount of roster turnover over the last few weeks. They're certainly not a team to be underestimated, not with the roster they have.
If the Penguins are to seize on this opportunity this coming week, they're going to need some of what gave them success last time around -- a functioning power play, a dialed-in Jarry, and the ability to hold onto a lead in the third period -- all of which have been problems at one game or another recently.
This week will be a big test for the Penguins, worth a big percentage point toward their final grade this regular season. And they're looking forward to the challenge.
"It's a big week for us, three against the Rangers," Jake Guentzel said Saturday. "Playoff feel. It'll be a fun week for us."
