Two games, two wins. Two different ways on two different days. The Penguins are becoming a force. The Penguins might deploy the best 4th line in hockey. Sidney Crosby is scoring goals at the second-best rate of entire career; he’s 38 years old. Come Thursday they will be getting another close to 40-year-old player back, his name is Evgeni Malkin, and he has 29 points in 26 games. As I wrote last week, you were premature to the old photoshop machine putting McKenna in black and gold. What we saw in December was a mere mirage, the true Penguins are the Penguins we saw during the first two months of the season.

Let’s start by saying that the Penguins boast a beyond playoff caliber group of forwards. The fourth line is the best fourth line in the league. I have done absolutely no research into that claim, but I watch a lot of hockey and can’t think of one better. The Penguins would have been unable to roar back from a 4-1 deficit Sunday against Columbus if not for a Noel Acciari goal with 3 minutes left in the second period.

This team is oozing with depth. In years past, they had to rely completely on Crosby’s line. Now, every single line is a credible threat to score. That Flyer’s blogger crumbum nerd Eric Tulsky (now Carolina GM), a supposed brain wizard, signed Nic Ehlers in free agency for 8.5 million a season. Ehlers has two more points than Anthony Mantha (signed for 6 million less) and is tied with Brazeau in points per game (signed for 7 million less). The Penguins added the two most impactful free agent forwards, that is just a fact. So much was made about Dubas intentionally putting together a stinker of a team, but in reality, he gave them more firepower than they’ve had in years. The third line is young and beginning to click scoring goals in back-to-back games thanks to the newly acquired Chinakov and Koivunen scoring in his return to the lineup. Tommy Novak acquired last year is clicking at a point per game. Rickard Rakell is looking healthy and reacclimated, scoring a gigantic goal to send Sunday’s game to overtime. This team legitimately has too many good forwards, when Malkin returns on Thursday someone undeserving is going to be seeing the press box, or the minors. In years past, you could have reasonably benched everyone that wasn’t on the top line. Not this year.

I don’t want to sound like too much of a broken record, but you are a moron for thinking this team was cooked. Everyone is playing phenomenal. The offense is one of the deeper units in the league as I discussed, but the often laughed at defense isn’t too shabby. Kulak has found his footing since being acquired and has helped Letang steady himself. Karlsson has been the good version of himself way more often than the bad version. Parker Wotherspoon, much like Brazeau and Mantha, is a top 3 free agent signing on defense (and he might not be 2 or 3). For whatever reason Sullivan never used Shea-St. Ivany last season after that pairing nearly helped them make the 2024 playoffs, they’re back together and they’re great together.

The goaltending is the goaltending. It isn’t phenomenal but it is capable of winning hockey games. On Saturday against Detroit, they played such excellent hockey they might have been able to win without someone in net.

When you break it all down, this is no fluke. The fluke was whatever happened during those two weeks in December. The special teams are excellent. The coaches have been making almost perfect choices every step of the way. The guys are bought in and above all else Sidney Crosby doesn’t age.

What in the hell were the Blue Jackets complaining about on the overtime winner by the way? Charlie Coyle is a n idiot who took his man (Novak) and practically walked him to the bench, allowing for Sid to easily jump on and ahead of everyone else. No play has ever been more onsides, yet they were slamming they sticks causing a ruckus for absolutely no reason. I truly think Crosby has broken the brains of the players in Columbus’ room. Columbus is to Pittsburgh what Michigan State is to Michigan. They want to be rivals with us so so bad, but they suck and the Penguins concern themselves with true rivals like Washington. In 2017 the Jackets had a chance to make it feel like an Ohio State v. Michigan rivalry, but the Penguins demolished them in five games. The tone was set, the story was told, they are our little brother who we will never need to concern ourselves with. Columbus fans knew that Sid was going to find a way. Crosby will continue to remind them that they are not on our level every single chance that he gets.

Big brained people, like me, knew this team had the firepower to be great as long as they could play a little bit of defense. So far, so good. Five wins in a row. Back in the playoffs and the rest of the league better pray they don’t stay there because number(s) 87 and 71 have a number 81 playing on their third line and we all know what they’ve done with that combo in the past.