Close your eyes and go back in time to October 5th, 2017. The Penguins just lost 10-1 to the Blackhawks. If you were told at that point one of these powerhouse teams, the fellow darlings of the salary cap era would end up slumping to a forgettable season and miss the playoffs and the other would go on to collect 100 points in the standings and comfortably make the playoffs, you would have to think that Pittsburgh was likely in for a rocky winter.
That assessment wouldn’t change later that month with 7-1 losses to Tampa and Winnipeg in the month of March.