Of the Penguins' five Stanley Cup titles, only one has come following a regular season in which they earned a division title.
Broken down further, the Penguins historically have actually been much better off entering the postseason as an also-ran in their division: they are 1-for-9 (11.1 percent) in winning the Cup during seasons in which they won a division, and 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) as a playoff team that finished second, third or fourth during the regular season.
These facts might not be known by the current Penguins – then again, maybe, because they did claim the Stanley Cup the past two seasons as second-place teams in the Metropolitan Division. Regardless, good luck finding anyone in their dressing room willing to admit a high priority over the final 10 games is being placed on catching the Washington Capitals for first place.
"We just focused on every game – (Tuesday's) game – without looking too far ahead," defenseman Justin Schultz said after practice in Cranberry Township on Monday. "It's so tight that you've just got to focus on each of your games, and if you do that you will be fine."
The Penguins (87 points) entered Monday's action trailing Washington by two points and holding a two-point lead over third-place Philadelphia. Columbus (83 points) and New Jersey (82) also were well within striking distance.
NHL Metropolitan Division Standings for 3/19/18: 1: Washington Capitals2: Pittsburgh Penguins3: Philadelphia Flyers4: Columbus Blue Jackets5: New Jersey Devils6: Carolina Hurricanes7: New York Rangers8: New York Islanders — HIGHLIGHTS ARENA (@HighlightArena) March 19, 2018
For that matter, the Penguins haven't even yet clinched a playoff spot, let alone worry about a division title. But with a 10-point lead on Eastern Conference ninth-place Florida (albeit the Panthers have three games in hand), that is becoming close to a formality at this point.
"We are focused on ourselves and how we play," wing Bryan Rust said, "because if we play the way we know we are capable of playing, I think the rest will just take care of itself."
The Penguins have been one of the NHL's better teams since the season's true midway point – their ascension up the standings since that point is more of the effect of playing better than it is a sudden motivation for having a better record.
"It's important for us to try to put ourselves in the very best possible position to succeed, and that's the way we look at it," coach Mike Sullivan said. "We are going to control what we can, try to take each game as it comes, try to put our very best on the ice each and every game and see where it takes us.
"I think if we do that we will continue to grow as a group, we will get better as a team and that will put us in the best position."
Last season, with 10 games to go, the Penguins began a four-game losing streak before winning four in a row. The year prior, they enjoyed an eight-game winning streak amidst their final 10.
In short, do win/loss results matter at this point of the season, at least inasmuch as how that could affect postseason success?
"It's important to be playing the right way," Sidney Crosby said, "and I think if that's something that puts us in position to win the division, it's important, (because) it's nice to have that. But that being said, we just want to make sure we are playing the right way and hope that earns us that first spot."
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.