PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins downplayed the idea they tried to send a message during a decisive 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, a win that gave the defending Stanley Cup champions the inside track on home-ice advantage when the teams meet in the playoffs next week.

“I mean at the end of the day it’s just another win,” goaltender Matt Murray said after stopping 38 shots. “Everything resets moving forward.”

Maybe, but the way the Penguins pulled away in their final home game of the regular season — quick passing, production from unexpected places and Murray’s steady hand — could go a long way toward escaping what could be the best first-round series of the postseason.

“I like the way our team is tracking,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think we’re really starting to establish the playoff mindset you need to win this time of year.”

Patric Hornqvist picked up his 20th goal of the season for Pittsburgh. Rookie Jake Guentzel added his 14th, Carter Rowney his second and Brian Dumoulin his first in more than two years as the Penguins moved three points ahead of Columbus in the race for second-place in the Metropolitan Division with three games remaining.

The Penguins have won three straight to sprint ahead of the slumping Blue Jackets, who are winless in their last four and have dropped three consecutive regulation games for the first time this season.

Brandon Dubinsky scored a short-handed goal midway through the third period to avoid the shutout. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots but the Blue Jackets struggled to get anything going around the Pittsburgh net, settling for long-range shots that either sailed wide of the net or were gobbled up by Murray.

“We’re just simply in a funk offensively and tonight didn’t get any better,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “We have to continue to work at all parts of our game, but the offensive part starting with our top guys, we’ve got to get some sort of situation where we’re making plays.”

The teams are almost assured of facing each other when the playoffs begin next week, a rematch from a 2014 first-round series the Penguins won in six.

Three years later, Columbus has officially arrived, though the team that spent the better part of 60 minutes chasing the Penguins around sold-out PPG Paints Arena hardly looked like the one that came in 2-0-1 over its first three meetings of the season.

The Penguins’ fourth line helped bolster a largely lifeless performance in a victory over Carolina on Sunday and the momentum carried over. Rowney put Pittsburgh in front with 1:09 left in the first period when he planted himself in front of Bobrovsky and redirected a feed from Scott Wilson over Bobrovsky’s shoulder.

“It was just a kick in the teeth,” Tortorella said. “I mean it was just a free goal.”