The calendar says the Stanley Cup playoffs haven’t started yet, but the standings indicate that the game Thursday between the Pittsburgh Penguins and visiting Detroit Red Wings might as well be a postseason affair.The Penguins (36-30-12) and Red Wings (38-32-8) are tied with 84 points each, one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and each has four games remaining.”(Detroit) is a team that we’re directly fighting with, so it’s a four-point game,” Pittsburgh winger Bryan Rust said. “It’s an absolutely huge one.”The Penguins, languishing nine points out of a playoff spot in late March, have surged back into the chase for a postseason spot with a nine-game point streak (6-0-3).Even with the point streak, the Penguins were disappointed to lose out on a second point Monday, when they lost to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, 3-2 in overtime.”We’ll look at this, hopefully, as an important point down the road,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said, trying to put it in the best light.The lost point Monday allowed Washington to leapfrog the Penguins into the second Eastern wild-card spot with a win on Tuesday, knocking Pittsburgh out of a playoff spot. However, that win helped set up Thursday’s game nicely — it came against Detroit.”We’ve just got to keep looking forward,” Pittsburgh winger Michael Bunting said. “We’re still in it.”With only two playoff spots up for grabs in the East — third place in the Metropolitan Division and the second wild card — there are five teams still in the mix. The New York Islanders are third in the Metro with 87 points.The Penguins and Islanders meet in their regular-season finale. The fifth team, Philadelphia, is just a point behind Pittsburgh and Detroit but has played one more game and appears to be in freefall.Thus, the high level of intensity surrounding Thursday’s game.