PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby and the Penguins stayed alive Monday by beating the Nashville Predators, 4-2, at PPG Paints Arena. Crosby had two points in the must-win.

With the win, the Penguins jumped back ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings. But they still remain one point back of the Washington Capitals and the Detroit Red Wings, who were both victorious Monday.

Both the Capitals and Red Wings play games Tuesday. If either wins, the Penguins are out. The Capitals visit the Flyers. The Red Wings will be in Montreal.

The Penguins’ season finale is Wednesday against the New York Islanders.

The Penguins opened the game with one of their most dominant periods of the season. With Crosby setting the tone early, they scored two goals – and had another two taken off the board. They outshot the Predators, 20-5, in the period.

They took a 1-0 lead on power-play goal by Crosby seven minutes into the first. The captain laid out to smack in a loose puck in the blue paint after Juuse Saros was unable to squeeze the initial shot. The goal came 39 seconds after Michael Bunting’s sweet between-the-legs goal was waved off for goalie interference.

Erik Karlsson’s one-timer from the point made it 2-0 later in the period. Crosby put it on a tee for him and Drew O’Connor crashed the net, screening Saros. It was another low-to-high goal for the Penguins, who have a lot of those lately.

The Crosby line generated nine scoring chances in that period, per Natural Stat Trick. The puck was glued to Crosby’s blade whenever he hopped onto the ice.

The Predators pushed back in the second, twice pulling back within one goal.

Gustav Nyquist swept a rebound past Alex Nedeljkovic, who got the nod over Tristan Jarry. But Reilly Smith restored the two-goal lead just 57 seconds later.

Smith and Eller ran a clever give-and-go out of the corner. Eller flipped a pass into the slot for Smith, and he whipped a perfect shot into the upper left corner. That snapped a 13-game drought for Smith. He had last scored on March 17.

But with 2:24 left in the second, Filip Forsberg ripped one from the right dot over Nedeljkovic’s left shoulder. His 48th goal of the season was a heck of a shot.

Pittsburgh’s fourth line scored a rare goal to provide some insurance in the third period. Karlsson dished a deceptive pass to set up Emil Bemstrom’s big blast.

That was enough for Nedeljkovic, who made 28 saves to earn another victory.

Ice chips

• Jansen Harkins was activated from injured reserve and played his first NHL game since breaking his hand March 7. The Penguins plugged him back into their fourth line. Jesse Puljujarvi, Radim Zohorna and John Ludvig were scratched.

• The Penguins’ 20 shots in the first were their most in a period since Dec. 27.

• Kris Letang also had a goal erased by goalie interference in the first period.

• The Penguins now have power-play goals in back-to-back games. It was the first time they did that in nearly a month. No shorthanded goals against, either.

• Bemstrom has three goals and two assists in 24 games since the Penguins acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Alex Nylander.

• Noel Acciari took part in Monday’s morning skate, his first full-team skate since going on injured reserve. He’s not eligible to return during the regular season.

Stat n’at

7– multi-point performances for Crosby in Pittsburgh’s last dozen games

Coming up

The Penguins are scheduled to practice Tuesday afternoon in Cranberry before they fly to Long Island to play their regular season finale against the Islanders.

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