LOS ANGELES -- This can be a hell of a hockey team. Still. For real.
I've felt that way about these Penguins through training camp, through the season's slow start, through tearing it up for a month, through knocking off powerhouses, through letdowns against last-place patsies, through this particular California trip's opening romp Friday night in Anaheim and, yeah, believe it or not, through this 6-0 blanking by the Kings less than 24 hours later here at Crypto.com Arena.
Maybe that'll sound silly. Or even stupid. I'm certainly aware of the timing.