CRANBERRY, Pa. -- This is, for the most part, the team won 17 of 19 games between early December and late January.
That surged from a 5-6-4 start to first place in the Metropolitan Division, where it had squatter's rights as recently as a week ago.
That bulled its way into conversations about serious contenders for the Stanley Cup.
And that now has lost three games in a row, and often looked pretty bad in the process.
Whether the Penguins bottomed-out with a 6-1 loss to the Devils Thursday remains to be seen -- a five-goal defeat at home by a team that will sit out the playoffs sets a standard that won't be easy to clear -- but there's no question the Penguins have contributed mightily to their miseries of late.