The Pens defeated the Lightning and the Senators this week, both games were solid outings by Pittsburgh, and games to be proud of. Last night, they lost to the Maple Leafs, one of the powerhouses in the Eastern Conference. In no way was this a bad loss, but Pittsburgh is currently involved in a jammed division, and Carolina is starting to catch up.
If Columbus was not suffering from their worst stretch of the season, then Pittsburgh would be in that last spot. The Penguins have done a good job avoiding long stretches of losses, but if they did not have the long win streak a while back, they would not be even close to where they are right now in the standings.