"I don't want to 'pad the script with useless dialogue or an unnecessary scene,' but my best guess is I'll be at least 10 pages shy of the 90-page minimum. If I stop at around 80 pages will I be hard-pressed to get a performance or publication?"
Technically, a full-length play should run about 90 to 120 minutes. And if a play is formatted according to industry standards (see How To Type A Play Professionally), then one page of dialogue just about equals one minute of performance.
It's good that playwrights don't pad a play just for the sake of length. Personally, I want all the dialogue and characters in my plays to have definite purposes and meaning, too.
However, if you're serious about contacting publishers, it's not unheard of for the first-level readers to look at the page count, and if it's not between 90 and 120 pages, they may reject it right then.
Contacting theaters directly for production may be easier for a shorter play. Publishers look at the 90-120 pages because that's what their customers (the theaters) expect when they look in the full-length category sections of their catalogs.
But individual producers and theater groups look more for plays that are right for their groups, and may not be so strict on the length issue.
Making a play longer isn't always a case of just padding. It may be possible to look at the characters and determine that perhaps two characters who haven't yet had the chance to work through some issue could do that in a new scene. Or you could look at the storyline and see if an additional obstacle or complication might enhance the story. Or maybe a certain situation isn't completely resolved.
I generally subscribe to the theory that you start at the beginning, and when you get to the end, you stop. However, that's not a hard rule, nor will it apply every time. Sometimes there may be more story than first seems likely.
With many playwrights these days affected strongly by movies, there is a tendency to want scenes to jump and for characters to imply scenes that happened without actually showing that scene. Sometimes it's because they haven't really tackled the scenes that should really be shown. Sometimes they're not confident enough in their dialogue skills to write those scenes. These may also be options for you to consider.
Depending on the nature and genre of the play, 80 minutes may not be a bad thing. It's not unheard of for plays to run shorter than 90 minutes. Plays for schools and children, for example, are frequently shorter plays.
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