The Pittsburgh Penguins earned a split-decision in their back-to-back against a couple of the NHL’s weaker teams. First, on Friday in Columbus, the Penguins made things interesting for a minute when they worked their way back from an early 2-0 deficit, but they eventually ceded four unanswered goals on their way to a 6-2 loss against the Blue Jackets. Then on Saturday, they would give back a 3-0 lead to the visiting San Jose Sharks before Pittsburgh would find a 4-3 win in a shootout. A better Penguins team from a not-too-distant time probably would not have put themselves in such a precarious situation, particularly against seemingly lesser teams, but the current iteration is not well built and has to rely on a lot of things working in their favor. Given Pittsburgh’s circumstances as a team in perhaps the second-lowest tier in the League right now (if you’re feeling generous, arguably in the middle tier), letting their rivals for a high-end draft pick get some points is ultimately a matter of good long-term decision making business-wise, if it’s not the ideal result for a team that would rather just be winning and have their sights set on a long and serious playoff run.

Starting with tonight’s visit from the Tampa Bay Lightning, ahead for the Penguins is a ten-game, three week stretch from now until December 10 that looks pretty daunting. While eight of these next ten games are at home, the two road games are against the Boston Bruins (never a fun time) and the New York Rangers, and there are three back-to-backs. They’ll face two division leaders (including Friday’s matchup the NHL’s best team, the Winnipeg Jets), both of last year’s Eastern Conference Finalists, and none of the League’s bottom-feeders or basement dwellers. They’ll face five teams against which they’ve already played and lost this season. If the Penguins have any hope to stay in the playoff race (a fool’s errand if you ask me), they’re going to need to play better defensively than they have shown to be thus far, as many of these next ten teams are towards the top of the NHL in goals scored and/or expected goals for. In summation, it will be a big challenge for a Pittsburgh team that has struggled against teams above them in the standings.

The Lightning come into tonight’s game sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division (tied with Boston) and a modest two game winning streak which comes at the behest of two of the top teams in the League. After almost a week off to contemplate a four-game losing streak, on Thursday they allowed Winnipeg just one goal in an impressive 4-1 win, which was also Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 300th career win. Then they followed that up with a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. It’s been a better start for Vasilevskiy after an uncharacteristic off-year last year, as he is currently towards the top of the NHL in goals saved above expected, fourth among starters. To consider themselves a serious playoff team, this aging Tampa team needs a Vezina-caliber season from their veteran starter in order to keep up with the likes of the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Speaking of milestones, Sidney Crosby needs one more goal to become the 21st player in NHL history to notch 600 career goals. At home tonight and with former linemate Jake Guentzel on the other side of the ice, it would be an excellent moment for Sid to cross the milestone and continue fortifying his position as one of the all-time greats in the hockey history.