Penguins defeat Wild, keep pace in Eastern wild card race

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins kept pace in the Eastern Conference wild card race with a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist, and Jake Guentzel and Brian Dumoulin each had two assists for the Penguins (39-30-10), who have alternated wins and losses in their past 10 games (5-5-0). Tristan Jarry made 27 saves after allowing a combined nine goals in his previous two starts, a 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday followed by a 5-1 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh remained one point behind the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders, who hold the two wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East. Florida defeated the Ottawa Senators 7-2 on Thursday; New York won 6-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"That's the game that I think we need to emulate night in and night out," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "On the same side of the coin, I felt like we were playing on our toes and were still trying to play the aggressive game that we want to play. We just did it in a calculated way."

Marcus Johansson scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the Wild (44-24-10), who have lost three in a row (0-2-1).
Minnesota fell two points behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division.
"We didn't like the way we started the hockey game, for sure," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We knew they were going to be desperate, which they were. They came out and played the right way, we did not. By the time we caught ourselves, it was too late. We played well for two periods, but the game is 60 minutes."
Letang put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 15:02 of the first period. He drove around Marcus Foligno to the outer edge of the right face-off circle and scored on a snap shot just inside the right post from a sharp angle.
"I think the start helped," Letang said. "When you come out of the gate and you're on your toes, and you're playing well like this, it sets up success for the rest of the game."

The Penguins outshot the Wild 19-5 in the period.
"It happened," Fleury said of Minnesota's slow start. "I feel like it's my job to pick it up when the other team is on us or shooting a lot of pucks."
Rakell made it 2-0 on the power play at 10:53 of the second period, scoring with a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Letang.
Jason Zucker pushed it to 3-0 at 2:58 of the third period after Evgeni Malkin set him up for a one-timer from the top of the right circle.
Johansson cut it to 3-1 on a 5-on-3 power play by stuffing in a shot from the right post at 7:39.
Jeff Carter deflected a pass from Drew O'Connor in the slot at 13:08 for the 4-1 final.
"We've got to keep it going," Jarry said. "Obviously, we're still chasing teams. We have to bring it every game. Every two points helps."

The Wild had a 23-12 shot advantage after the first period.
"I feel like they were more desperate than us, they came out hotter and looked like they wanted it more," Johansson said. "We can't wait until we're down and start chasing. We have to be ready from the start. We've got nothing to wait for. We have to keep building our game and play the way we need to play.
"Get ready for the playoffs. There's no point in just sitting around and waiting for it."
NOTES: Minnesota forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Oskar Sundqvist left during the second period. Just before Rakell's power-play goal, Eriksson Ek took a slap shot from Malkin off his ankle at 10:39; Sundqvist exited for an undisclosed reason after his final shift at 10:00. There was no update with them continuing to be evaluated. … Wild forward Matt Boldy had a secondary assist for his 100th NHL point. He has 45 goals and 55 assists in 125 games. … Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta had a shot on goal, three hits and two blocked shots in 16:54 of ice time after being a game-time decision. He missed the previous 10 games with a lower-body injury. … Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby, who has a seven-game goal drought, was held without a shot on goal. He has not had a point in five of his past seven games and remains three points from 1,500 in the NHL with three games left this season.