Evgeni Malkin was in a frustrating slump.

Evgeni Malkin broke out of a frustrating slump.

A couple of sleeping giants woke up in this one. Pens have clinched the Atlantic title and home ice through at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. Time to get healthy now.

Pittsburgh Penguins (29-10-0) @ Carolina Hurricanes (16-20-2)

ROOT, FS-CR - 7:00 pm/et

PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC

Staal. Staal. Sutter.

Also, Jokinen returns to Carolina against his old team.

The fact that they can clinch these things tonight means that these will all happen by the end of the week at the latest. But it's still fun.

1. With a win of any kind, the Pens will clinch the Atlantic Division title. First tiebreaker is ROW, and the Pens already have that sealed up

2. With a win of any kind, the Pens also clinch at least the #2 seed, meaning they will have home-ice through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Caps can still catch the Pens' ROW, but the Pens beat them on the next tiebreaker, which is head-to-head points.

3. A Caps regulation loss on its own tonight would also give the Atlantic Division winner at least the #2 seed.

Again, this all has a 99.9999% chance of happening soon if not tonight, so whatever. And don't fact-check these stats because they might be wrong.

via @11OnTheIce

The Frozen Four kicks off this week. Thursday and Saturday.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

-- Crosby spoke today. [ Pens.com ]

“It’s impossible to keep weight. I’ll be excited when I can eat,” Crosby said. “It’s been shakes. It hasn’t been too enjoyable that way. Maybe this week I’ll start doing that.”

Looks like pretty good dental work though.

-- In his latest column titled " Malkin must play better for Penguins," Ron Cook examines every point he has ever made. But acts like he hasn't... [ PG ]

-- Mark Madden checks in with his thoughts. Overall decent read until the Morrow part. [ MarginalHockeyblog ]

 Fans who criticize the play of Morrow because he has just one point in six games don’t understand what Morrow provides. He’s a leader, he’s physical, he’s gritty, he goes to the blue paint and he generates a body count. Morrow is the type of player that breaks the opposition defensemen down over a seven-game series. Murray provides the same element on defense. This is the NHL, not a fantasy league.

Leader, gritty. Could be any math teacher.

After the jump, Jagr piece from last week, Pens playoff matchup...

Via the Pens:

Penguins winger James Neal has been diagnosed with a concussion.

“James Neal has a concussion and will miss the (three-game road) trip,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. Neal was elbowed in the head by New York Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto halfway through the third period of Pittsburgh’s 2-1 shootout victory Friday night at CONSOL Energy Center.

Neal, 25, remained on the ice following the hit. He was able to skate off on his strengths after being attended to by head athletic trainer Chris Stewart and did not return in the game.

He wasn't even wearing a blue jersey when it happened....

We lived through 2001-2005. After those years we learned to never take a chance to watch the Pens in the playoffs for granted.

Nothing like seeing that "x".

The Capitals could reach 60 points, but that would mean they stay as the 3 seed.

The Jets can't catch the Pens.

And that leaves the Devils. They can reach 59 points. The Pens earning 1 more point would get them to 59. The Pens hold the tiebreaker on the Devils, which is non-shootout wins (ROW). A Devils loss in any form tonight against the Sabres gives the Pens a playoff berth. The game is on NBCSN.