The Penguins will finish the regular season before any of the other 30 NHL clubs, capping it with a visit from Ottawa on April 6.
Every other team will play on April 7, and two — Florida and Boston — will make up a postponed game the following day to close out the 2017-18 schedule.
All of which means the Penguins might begin preparing for the playoffs before they are certain who they will be facing in Round 1. Or — conceivably, though not likely — before they’re even certain that they’ve qualified.
This, of course, is the time of year when playoff spots — and, no less important, early-round pairings — are settled.