PITTSBURGH _ The Penguins' game against Columbus on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena was widely viewed as a preview of a first-round playoff matchup.
The Penguins can only hope it was a portent, too.
They defeated the Blue Jackets, 4-1, to move three points ahead of Columbus in the Metropolitan Division standings.
The Penguins (49-19-11) will be guaranteed home-ice advantage in a series against the Blue Jackets if they can take four points out of their remaining three regular-season games.
They will close out the regular season with a three-game road trip, visiting New Jersey on Thursday, Toronto on Saturday and the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Columbus will play Winnipeg at home Thursday, then go to Philadelphia on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday.
The Penguins' victory gave them 109 points, matching the second-highest total in franchise history.
No fewer than 66 of those points were earned on home ice, where the Penguins went 31-6-4 in 2016-17.
The Blue Jackets play a physical game, and three Penguins forwards, Bryan Rust, Scott Wilson and Matt Cullen, went to the dressing room over the course of the game.
It was not clear what happened to Rust, but Wilson was driven face-first into the glass by Columbus defenseman David Savard at 18:53 of the second period.
He was back for the start of the third period, but Rust did not return.
Cullen appeared to take a hit in the head from Blue Jackets winger Scott Hartnell early in the third period and did not play again.
Center Carter Rowney put the Penguins in front to stay when he deflected a Wilson feed under the crossbar behind Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at 18:51 of the opening period.
The goal was his second of the season and gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead for the eighth time in the past nine games.
Patric Hornqvist padded their advantage at 9:26 of the second, as he drove down the slot and flipped the puck past Bobrovsky after getting a pass from Tom Kuhnhackl.
Hornqvist's goal was his 20th, making him the fifth Penguins player to reach, or exceed, that milestone this season. The others are Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin and Conor Sheary.
Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who didn't have a goal in his previous 150 regular-season games, made it 3-0 at 12:30.
He carried the puck around the Columbus net and tried to tuck a shot inside the right post. It caromed off the skate of Blue Jackets winger Cam Atkinson and skidded into the net.
The Blue Jackets challenged the goal, contending that the play had been offside, but it was upheld by a video review.
Jake Guentzel and Crosby received assists.
Guentzel snuffed any comeback hopes the Blue Jackets had 33 seconds into the third period, when a Justin Schultz shot from the left side caromed off him and into the net to put the Penguins up by four.
The goal was Guentzel's 14th.
Penguins goalie Matt Murray lost his shutout bid at 10:20 of the third, when Brandon Dubinsky beat him from the right dot while killing a high-sticking minor called on teammate Nick Foligno.
