The Penguins got some help from a Metropolitan Division rival on Monday night.
The Capitals on Monday night beat the Islanders, 5-2 in their game in Washington, D.C. on Monday night. The first three of the Capitals' goals were scored in the first 13:13 of the game -- Dylan Strome 36 seconds in, then a goal from Rasmus Sandin at the 63-second mark, followed by a tally from Craig Smith. Hudson Fasching scored for the Islanders late in the third period, but Tom Wilson quickly responded with a goal to make it 4-1. Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders to cut the Capitals' lead back to two goals, but there would be no rally. Strome scored an empty-net goal for the Capitals with 1:10 remaining to seal the win.
The Capitals Twitter account had a pretty funny post acknowledging what they did for the Penguins with the win:
you're welcome or whatever pic.twitter.com/CfOWhi2WZT
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 11, 2023
The Penguins just need to beat the Islanders or Panthers on points alone in order to get into the playoffs -- they cannot tie them. The tie-breaking procedures in order are regulation wins, regulation/overtime wins, total wins, head-to-head, goal differential, and total goals scored. The Penguins would lose out to both the Islanders and the Panthers in regulation wins, making the rest moot.
The Islanders have a one-point lead in the Eastern Conference wild card race over the Penguins with one game remaining, a home game against the Canadiens on Wednesday. Because the Penguins have two games remaining -- one against the Blackhawks on Tuesday and one against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, the league's two worst teams -- the Penguins can secure a playoff position if they win both of their remaining camps, regardless of what the Islanders do in their regular-season finale.
"Hopefully something plays in our favor," Rickard Rakell told me Monday after the Penguins' practice at PPG Paints Arena. "Then we just try to do our best to get our job done."
The Penguins didn't get quite the same help from the Maple Leafs in their game against the Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. on Monday night.
The Maple Leafs won 2-1 over the Panthers, but their win came in overtime. That leaves the Panthers still in control of their fate in the wild card race with the Penguins. Even if the Penguins win their last two games, they would be in a playoff position, but the Panthers could secure the No. 1 wild card spot and the right to play the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division in the first round with a win Thursday in their regular-season finale against the Hurricanes. That would leave the Penguins as the No. 2 wild card spot, and their first-round opponent would be the Bruins.
Per advanced stat site MoneyPuck's odds, which uses a model based off the strength of each team's remaining schedule, the Penguins' odds to make the playoffs rose to 60.4% Monday night:
Playoff odds after the games competed so far tonight https://t.co/RbnckCLHNP pic.twitter.com/hFk6ve82sQ
— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) April 11, 2023
The race between the Hurricanes and Devils for the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division is still ongoing. The Hurricanes lost 3-2 to the Senators on Monday night. They have a one-point lead over the Devils, and both teams have two games remaining. The Devils have one more regulation win than the Hurricanes, so Devils could end up with the tiebreaker if both teams finish tied in points.
Everything is still very much up in the air for the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
