'Hope still lives' for Penguins after beating Predators, but help's needed

The Penguins took care of their business on Monday, with a convincing 4-2 win over the Predators at PPG Paints Arena in the penultimate game of the season.

But they got no help around the league in the games of consequence in the race for the playoffs. They still aren't in control of their destiny, and the regular-season finale on Long Island on Wednesday might become meaningless before the puck even drops.

The Penguins came into Monday with two different avenues to make the playoffs -- Either the Islanders lose their last two games in regulation (including Wednesday against the Penguins) and the Penguins win out, or the Penguins lose out and the Red Wings and Capitals sacrifice at least a point in the standings over their remaining two games.

The Islanders' 4-1 win over the Devils clinched a playoff spot and eliminated that path. The Capitals beat the Bruins 2-0, and the Red Wings -- despite trailing by three goals at one point -- rallied and won 5-4 in overtime over the Canadiens. That gives the Capitals and Red Wings each a one-point lead over the Penguins in the standings with only a single game remaining:

The Capitals' regular season ends Tuesday with a 7:08 p.m. meeting with the Flyers in Philadelphia, and the Red Wings will play the Canadiens again at the same time in Montreal.

The Penguins need both of the Capitals and Red Wings to lose on Tuesday in any fashion to keep their playoff hopes alive. If both the Capitals and Red Wings lose in regulation, then a win or an overtime loss to the Islanders on Wednesday will get them into the playoffs. If either or both of the Capitals or Red Wings lose in overtime, the Penguins need a win over the Islanders to get in.

But if the Capitals or Red Wings win in any fashion on Tuesday, it's over. There wouldn't be a path. That game against the Islanders would be meaningless for both teams, after the Islanders locked in the No. 3 seed.

"I saw the scores," Rickard Rakell said of those other games. "Saw them during the game, too. We did our part. The hope still lives. We've just got to get ready for the next one."

"Detroit's winning. Washington's winning," Evgeni Malkin told me. "Nobody helped us. We just do what we can. Play to win."

That's what the Penguins did on this night against a good Predators team that has already clinched a playoff spot but was still battling to solidify their position. It was the kind of win that shows that this team might be able to go somewhere in the playoffs ... if they actually make it there.

The Penguins got an early first-period power play when Luke Schenn took a delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass in his own end, a result of good defensive play and pressure by Reilly Smith to force Schenn to make that bad move. Michael Bunting scored midway through the power play, but it was called back after Nashville challenged it for goaltender interference, with the league ruling that Bunting made contact with Juuse Saros' stick.

The goal was obviously a big moment. But instead of letting the goal coming back be deflating, the Penguins' power play went right back out there and did it again in the time that was back on the clock for the man advantage. Bunting took a shot that was stopped by Saros, but Saros lost track of the puck and didn't realize it was sitting behind him in the crease. Sidney Crosby sure did, and dove to knock it over the line:

The Penguins doubled their lead just under seven minutes later when Erik Karlsson's shot from the blue line went in, made possible by Drew O'Connor's screen right in Saros' crease:

Kris Letang appeared to make it a 3-0 game late in the first as another power play expired, but Nashville again challenged for goaltender interference, and the goal again came back -- this time for Lars Eller providing a net-front presence and making contact with Saros' stick.

It was one of the more dominant periods from the Penguins this season. Two goals (four, one could argue) and they outshot the Predators 20-5.

Of course, the Predators pushed back after such a slow start in the second period. They beat Alex Nedeljkovic first with a scramble in front of the net, capitalizing after Gustav Nyquist got one too many whacks at the puck in the chaos. But it only took 57 seconds for the Penguins to respond, as Smith cut through the slot and finished a feed from Eller:

The Predators got one more goal before the period was over -- a Filip Forsberg shot off the rush that got over Nedeljkovic's glove. Then the Penguins tightened things up again in the third period, limiting the Predators to nine shots and getting the frame's only goal -- an Emil Bemstrom one-timer from the left circle:

That's exactly the kind of goal that Bemstrom is known for, and it seemed like the Penguins would get a few more of after trading for him in February. 

This win had a lot of good in it. Crosby being Crosby. Smith getting his first goal in a month. Depth scoring from Bemstrom. Net-front presence on the power play, apparently to a fault. Tight defense, and the ability to respond after Nashville pushed in the second. Nedeljkovic, who was trusted in net by Mike Sullivan for a 12th straight start after getting yanked in the second period Saturday against the Bruins, rebounded with a 28-save performance.

"(Nedeljkovic) is playing really good right now," Malkin said of his netminder. "We try to help him and play right tonight. We score on the power play, two goals, didn't count. We dominated two periods, they played a good second period. Ned played unbelievable, the D played unbelievable tonight."

It was a pretty complete win. And with the exception of Saturday's loss to the Bruins, it was more of the way the Penguins have looked over the last several weeks

"I thought we came out really good and had a great first period," Rakell said. "We really controlled that one, controlled the puck, attacked the net. They took over a little bit in the second, but then we came out again in the third and had a really solid period. Overall, throughout the lineup, we had a really, really strong game."

They've got the goaltending. They've got the top-end and depth scoring. They're getting good defensive play. Special teams are clicking. If the Penguins played like this all season, they'd be comfortably in a playoff spot. If they play like this in the playoffs, they could have a real shot at making a run. 

"We have great potential here, you know?" Malkin observed. "We know that. But we started a little bit late, probably. It's fun to play with these guys the last three weeks after the trade deadline. We traded (Jake Guentzel), and everybody probably said we had zero chance. We probably had 1% three weeks ago. Now we're still fighting."

And now they'll need some help to get the playoffs. And with the Capitals and Red Wings fighting for their own playoff lives, they're not going to go down easy.

A few Penguins players said they'll be watching those two games on Tuesday -- with Smith quipping that he might have to just because there's not much better to do on Long Island.

Not everyone will be tuning in, though. They're preparing as if that Wednesday game on Long Island is going to be a do-or-die regardless. It's all they can do.

"I mean, the only thing we can do is win the game," said Letang. "It doesn't matter if I put my eyes on (the Red Wings and Capitals games) or not. The only thing we need to do is just come prepared and win that game."

Luck will need to go the Penguins' way, and then they'll need to take care of their business one last time too. But after the way this team looked only a month ago, and remembering where they sat in the standings with the seemingly insurmountable task ahead of them, the fact that they're this close to Game 82 being meaningful hockey is an accomplishment.

"Whatever happens around us, there's not much we can do about it," Karlsson said of the Penguins' predicament. "We put ourselves in a great position here. It's something that we could only dream about a few months ago."