They have a chance to build a nice cushion between themselves and one of the teams they are competing with for a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Maybe it was because of the matchup between Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Maybe it was because the Pittsburgh Penguins put on a show in the first period with four goals and brought some excitement to the ice against a really good team that had been one of the hottest in the NHL entering play on Thursday night.
Maybe it was a combination of the two things.
Whatever the case, there seemed to be some real juice in PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night for the Penguins’ 5-3 win over the Oilers, which has not always been the case this season.
Or over the past season-and-a-half.
It is understandable. The team has mostly descended into mediocrity and the games just do not have the same level of importance or intrigue that they did over most of the previous 15-16 seasons. It happens. Fans are not stupid, they know when the team has it and when it does not. They know what games are big and what games are not.
Well, if you still have some hope and belief in this team making the playoffs this season then you should be looking forward to the two games ahead this weekend against the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning because they, at least in the short-term, play a big role in shaping what direction the Penguins season takes from here.
Not only because they are simply two big games, at home, but because they are teams the Penguins are in competition with for one of those wild card spots in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
They are two points behind the Lightning in the standings (Tampa Bay has several games in hand, however) and three points ahead of the Senators (Ottawa again has several games in hand).
I do not expect the Penguins to catch the Lightning in the standings, and it is also quite likely that Tampa Bay is out of the Wild Card discussion in the not-too-distant future as they solidify themselves in a top-three spot in the Atlantic Division (the Boston Bruins are actually the team to be watching here) but it is still two big points, at home, against a team the Penguins have played exceptionally well against over the past few years. Playing them on the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday (Tampa Bay will be in the same boat, with travel) will be tough, but it would be a very nice two points to have before closing the home stand on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. Then the team goes on a big road trip.
The Ottawa game on Saturday is the one you really want to win.
Not only because a win would give you a pretty solid cushion over the Senators, but because Ottawa is a team that can probably be had right now. Not only is starting goalie Linus Ullmark injured, they have lost four games in a row and six of their past seven games, scoring just 10 total goals during that stretch.
The Penguins already let one very winnable game against a fellow Wild Card contender (Columbus) slip away on this home stand. They can not do it again here. If they can beat Ottawa and maybe at least get a point against Tampa Bay that would be the start of a (potentially) very good home stand.