The road trip was supposed to make the obvious, official.

To put the Penguins' season on mathematical life support, make their eventual elimination from the Eastern Conference playoff race nothing more than a formality.

To make it possible for the Penguins, when they returned home with two, maybe three, points to show for their visits to Chicago, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Florida and Washington, to focus on more pressing concerns. Scheduling mid-April vacations, for example, and evaluating the top-end talent available in the June entry draft.

It all seemed perfectly reasonable for a team that had won two of its previous 12 away games.

Except that the 10-day span that was supposed to sabotage the Penguins' season turned out to be its salvation, as they ran off five consecutive road victories, matching their total between Dec. 18 and Feb. 21.

The Penguins knew going in, of course, that it was possible they would put together the first 5-0 road trip in franchise history. Just as they were aware there was absolutely no reason to expect it.

"I think we were 2-9 or something like that on the road before the trip," defenseman Brooks Orpik said yesterday. "So who would have thought that would have happened?"

Probably no one who doesn't regard hallucinogens as one of the primary food groups.

Nonetheless, the Penguins' improbable surge has lifted them from the periphery of the Eastern playoff pack and placed them in the midst of a group fighting for the final four berths.

Whether they ultimately will claim one of those might hinge on what they can accomplish while playing nine of their next 10 games at Mellon Arena, beginning with one against Florida tonight.

While no one expects them to go 9 for 9 -- at least no one who failed to foresee them going 5 for 5 on the road -- this extended homestand, which will be interrupted only by a trip Thursday to Columbus, should give them an opportunity to tighten their hold on a playoff spot.

"After a 10-day road trip, it's kind of nice to know that you're home for a while," center Jordan Staal said.

That's understandable, although a case could be made that the Penguins actually will have too many games at home for their own good. Teams sometimes get stale over the course of a prolonged stretch at home, and a few players acknowledged that they'd prefer to have a trip or two simply for variety.

"I like the change sometimes, the change of atmosphere," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "Just to get into a game that's different, I like that."

Most of his teammates, however, insist there is no downside to having so many games at Mellon Arena, where the Penguins have won eight of their past 10 games and are 17-12-2 for the season.

Orpik, smiling broadly, volunteered that "maybe some guys get sick of hearing their wives tell them what to do," but was quick to add that the opportunity to generate points and momentum by winning on home ice outweighs all other considerations.

"You want to develop what we did toward the end of last year, that home-ice advantage," he said. "We were really tough to play against at home. That's something that really helped us in the playoffs."

Outrageously successful as the Penguins' road trip was, tonight they will have to contend not only with the Panthers -- one of the clubs with whom they are competing for a playoff spot -- but the time-honored truism that teams almost invariably struggle in their first game at home after a long trip.

The Penguins not only know about that nugget of wisdom, but also have experienced it. Even so, most contend it doesn't apply to a game with stakes like the ones tonight's will have.

"That might be true in regular circumstances, but not now," defenseman Hal Gill said. "Not at all."

Even if precedent doesn't concern the Penguins, what they saw from the Panthers in a 4-1 victory Thursday at Florida might. Florida impressed the Penguins, who won on the strength of perhaps their best 60-minute effort of the season.

"They're a good team that works well together," Gill said. "They get the puck to the net and crash it."

Guys such as Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin have helped to put that back into the Penguins' repertoire, too. And that's just one aspect of their game that has been upgraded dramatically since a 6-2 loss Feb. 14 in Toronto that seemed to perform the last rites on their season.

"We've done a lot of good things, but we still have a ways to go to be the team we can be," Bylsma said. "And we have 15 games to do it."

Matchup: Florida Panthers at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.

Internet: Blog updates at Empty Netters.

TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh; WXDX-FM (105.9).

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Tomas Vokoun for Panthers.

Penguins: Are 1-1 against Panthers, including 4-1 victory Thursday at Florida. ... Fleury has career record of 2-4 against Panthers. ... Have gone 8-2 in past 10 home games after being 9-10-2 in previous 21.

Panthers: Are 6-4 in past 10 road games. ... RW Richard Zednik needs three goals for 200 in NHL. ... Have posted league-high nine shutouts, including six by Vokoun.

Hidden stat: Panthers are 9-1 on Tuesday this season.