A nervous Sidney Crosby talks about missing the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in a very unfamiliar position at this point in the regular season.

The Penguins are one point behind both the New York Islanders and the Florida Panthers for a Wild Card spot in the NHL's Eastern Conference standings meaning that Sid the Kid and the Penguins' 16 year playoff streak is in serious jeopardy. If in fact the Pens come up short of a post-season invitation, it will be just the second time in Crosby's career that the team has done so... the last time coming during Crosby's rookie season in 2005-06.

Both the Panthers and the Islanders are in action this evening and you can bet that Crosby and the Penguins will be watching for scores.

"I’m sure I'll keep an eye out, whether I watch or watch the score," Crosby said after his team's practice earlier today. "But it doesn't change what we have to do. Obviously, we got to worry about ourselves in that way."

The Penguins have two games left on the schedule and, in theory, shouldn't have too much difficulty with their opponents. They play the 32nd ranked Columbus Blue Jackets and the 31st ranked Chicago Blackhawks to end off their regular season.

"Knowing how close it's been for a while now, we all understood that there was a good chance it was going to come down to the last game, and that’s the way it is," Crosby said. "We've done a good job the last couple games of focusing on the game in hand, and we got to do that tomorrow."

Of course, the Penguins will need some help even if they managed to pocket four points in their final two regular season games. They'll need the Islanders to stumble against either the Washington Capitals or Montreal Canadiens in their final two games and/or for the Panthers to stumble against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes. 

Now, obviously the Penguins have the easiest schedule of these three playoff hopefuls, but to me the Panthers have by far the toughest. The Leafs and the Hurricanes are two of the best teams in the East, so if the Panthers want a ticket to the dance they'll need to earn it.