For those who remained at PNC Park in the ninth inning of the Pirates 2-0 win over Cincinnati, they may have felt a big gust of wind coming across Allegheny River.

It was the collective sigh of 18,574 Penguins fans up the hill at PPG Paints arena.

The Penguins finally wrapped up a 13th consecutive playoff appearance by beating the Red Wings, 4-1, Thursday night.

It took 81 games to accomplish that goal, but they got it done.

“It’s the minimum expectation around here,” said defenseman Kris Letang, who totaled 25:52 of ice-time in his return from injury.

Now the conversation can officially shift from “Will the Penguins get into the playoffs?” to “Who will they get as an opponent in the first round of playoffs?”

And how far will they go? Can they potentially upset Washington or Tampa along the way? And how much will Letang and Evgeni Malkin be able to contribute now that they are back in the lineup?

Penguins beat writer Jonathan Bombulie and I discuss all those topics in our Sided.co podcast for Friday morning.

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