The standings are chest-squeezingly tight. Time is running out. Injuries are stacking up. Parts of the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 game \u2013 particularly the part about giving up too many goals \u2013 have waned.<\/p>\n
So what sort of response does the team expect of itself as a spot in the playoffs is growing more precarious with just 11 games left?<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s not exactly John Belushi imploring his besties to not give up \u2013 \u201cWas it over when Germany bombed Pearl Harbor?\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Penguins have gotten out of jams before this season, and they seem ready to spit in the eye of pressure during this stretch run.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the team, backs against the wall, we\u2019re going to come out and play hard,\u201d Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon said after practice Wednesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to stick to our identity here and hopefully have some success in the games coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those games coming up are quite the gauntlet, beginning Thursday at Ottawa. The Senators are one of six teams clustered within four points in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference wildcard spots.<\/p>\n
Ottawa holds the second and last wildcard position in the East and is just one point behind the Penguins, who fell a spot to third in the Metro after Tuesday\u2019s 6-2 loss <\/a>at home against Colorado, on the heels of a 5-1 loss<\/a> to Carolina, also at home.<\/p>\n Over their past four games, the Penguins have given up 21 goals. And injuries are popping up. Forwards Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte already were injured, and now forward Anthony Mantha<\/a> could miss a game or more.<\/p>\n The Penguins have not lost as many as three straight games since their one big eight-game season swoon in December when they went 0-4-4. In fact, they have not dropped three in a row at any other point.<\/p>\n They also have not lost the understated swagger that has carried them to something well beyond widespread offseason expectations that they would not sniff the playoffs and sit out the postseason for a fourth straight spring.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just the belief in this group,\u201d Penguins winger Justin Brazeau said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody looks at those last two games and is panicking or anything like that. We know we\u2019ve got to get back on track, and we have a big chance in Ottawa.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not as if the schedule lightens up after Thursday. Two of the top NHL teams, Dallas and Tampa Bay, and two clubs in the same clump of Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls as the Penguins, the New York Islanders and Detroit, make up the following four games.<\/p>\n Penguins rookie head coach Dan Muse has learned enough about his players to trust that the resilience they have built will carry them through.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just what we\u2019ve seen throughout the entire year. When things get hard or if we don\u2019t like a game or a stretch or a couple of games, they\u2019ve shown the response,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I have no reason to think (they will handle things) otherwise based on what I\u2019ve seen out of this group the entire year.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Dan Muse<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> Shelly Anderson<\/a> <\/p>\n