New York @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 25, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 5, NY Rangers 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins still have some important work to do after clinching a playoff spot for the 13th straight campaign when they finish the regular season against the visiting New York Rangers on Saturday. The Penguins need a victory to secure a matchup with the New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs next week, but a loss could drop them into a series against reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington.

“It’s not easy (to make the playoffs),” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby told reporters. “You can see it comes down to Game 81. There are a lot of things that happen over the course of the year, so it’s difficult. It’s a tight league. You’ve got to earn it. So it’s a good feeling, but we’ve got a game left here and we’ve got to take advantage of that, get some points and get ready.” The Penguins have won all three meetings with the Rangers this season, scoring a total of 18 goals, and have notched at least one point in 10 of their last 13 overall games (8-3-2). New York will miss the playoffs for the second straight season and needs at least one point to match its total of 77 from 2017-18 after losing to Columbus 3-2 in a shootout on Friday in its home finale. Pavel Buchnevich scored with seven seconds left in regulation to send Friday’s contest to overtime and has recorded six of his career-best 21 goals - along with four assists - in his last 11 games.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh

ABOUT THE RANGERS (31-36-14): Chris Kreider matched a career high on Friday with his 28th goal and is one shy of equaling his career best of 53 points he produced in 2016-17. Mika Zibanejad registered a pair of assists in the loss to Columbus to push his team-leading total to 74 points while Ryan Strome, who set up one tally, has collected five goals and three assists in his last nine contests. Rookie Lias Andersson scored his second goal of the season on Wednesday against Ottawa, but fellow 2017 first-round pick Filip Chytil (upper body) has missed the last two games.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (44-26-11): Phil Kessel is finishing the regular season on a hot streak with three goals and six assists over his last six contests to tie the second-highest point total of his career (82). Crosby is two shy of reaching 100 points for the sixth time in his career and first since 2013-14 while Jake Guentzel scored in Thursday’s 4-1 win over Detroit and needs one tally for his first 40-goal campaign. Defenseman Kris Letang is one goal away from topping his career best of 16 that he registered in 2015-16.

OVERTIME

1. Pittsburgh G Matt Murray, who could play in his career-high 50th game Saturday, is one win from his second season with at least 30.

2. New York G Henrik Lundqvist (18-23-10, .907 save percentage) will finish without 20 wins for the first time in his career.

3. The Penguins have given up one power-play goal in each of their last five games, going just 5-for-10 on the penalty kill in that span.

PREDICTION: Penguins 5, Rangers 2