December pretty much sucked for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pascal Dupuis had to hang up the skates. The team's slump and ill-fiting system cost Mike Johnston his job, followed by an adjustment period to Mike Sullivan's more uptempo system. Marc-Andre Fleury had a concussion and missed most the month. December nearly derailed the Pens to the point where 2015-16 was starting to look like a lost season on the wrong side of the playoff bubble, a shocking development for a star-powered team expected to contend.
Luckily for Pittsburgh January was a stabilizing month with a 6-2-3 record, including wins in 4 out of the last 5 and at least a point in the standings in 7 of the last 8 games of the month.