Say this for the Pittsburgh Penguins: They have at least made this season a little more interesting than it looked like it was going to be only a few weeks ago.
They enter the holiday week back at a .500 points percentage and are right in the thick of the mediocrity that is the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. They navigated one of the most daunting parts of their schedule (at least in terms of quality of opponent) far better than even the wildest optimist could have anticipated, and now enter a stretch for the rest of the calendar year where they get a series of teams they should — emphasis on should — have an opportunity to stack some points against.