The Penguins aren't in control of their fate as they enter this last stretch of the regular-season schedule.
With a 40-30-10 record, the Penguins have 90 points in the standings and sit just on the outside in the race for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference. Both the Panthers and Islanders occupy the two wild card spots with 91 points. Since all three teams have two games remaining, the first tiebreaker is the number of regulation wins, and the Panthers have the edge with 36 over the Islanders' 35. The Penguins have just 31 regulation wins, so they cannot catch up to either the Panthers or Islanders to take control of the tiebreaker.