You expected the Tampa Bay Lightning to be in this spot, or at least some sort of playoff spot, when the season began.
You probably did not expect the Pittsburgh Penguins to be in this spot, but they are thanks to a narrow points percentage advantage over the other wild-card contenders.
At .595 entering play on Wednesday, they are just ahead of Detroit (.587), Florida (.568), and Washington (.565).
The Penguins have cooled off considerably after their strong, surprising 8-2-1 start, but injuries have really taken a toll on their lineup, as Rickard Rakell, Justin Brazeau, Filip Hallander, Ville Koivunen, and Rutger McGroarty have all missed time this season (and all at the same time recently). Goaltending has largely kept them in it, and they will need to continue to do so until their forwards return to the lineup and mask a bad defense. Their inability to win overtime games and shootouts (0-5) has also cost them some points.
Tampa Bay could probably use some depth help at forward and defense as we get closer to the trade deadline, but its stars are playing great so far this season, including starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The big sub-plot to this potential matchup would be the Penguins against their former star, Jake Guentzel.