There is no reason for concern, right? The Penguins were due for a couple of bad games. They were coming off a 26-5-4 run, matching the best 35-game stretch in franchise history. There was no way they were going to maintain that pace. There was no way they could.
But ...
It was hard not to notice that the Penguins stepped up in class the past two games and came up short each time. They were beaten at home Sunday afternoon by Carolina, 4-3, in a February battle for first place in the Metropolitan Division. They also lost at Toronto to the playoff-bound Maple Leafs, 4-1, Thursday night.
"We need to address [the team's issues] quickly," Bryan Rust said. "We've got a dogfight for positioning down the stretch."
There were some good things that happened in the loss to Carolina, as Mike Sullivan was quick to point out. The Penguins trailed, 2-0, late in the second period before forcing a 2-2 tie by getting a rebound goal by Rust and a beauty of a slap shot by Sidney Crosby, who's now 99 goals from 600 in his career. They also trailed, 4-2, late in the game before getting a 6-on-4 power-play goal by Evan Rodrigues to give themselves a chance. Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta stopped Jake Guentzel from in close with :03 left to secure the Hurricanes' win.
"I loved our fight in this game today," Sullivan said. "I thought the second half of the game, I felt like we were the better team. This team is never out of it. We kept fighting to get back in it."
But there also were glaring problems for the Penguins. Carolina scored goals in just 9 seconds to start both the second and third periods, inexcusable breakdowns by the home team. "We've just got to be more ready," Rust said, rather disgustedly. The power play also was impotent for the second game in a row before Rodrigues' late goal with Tristan Jarry pulled. The first three power plays against the Hurricanes didn't produce a shot on goal. The power play against Toronto went 0 for 5 and gave up a short-handed goal.
How does that happen with the Penguins' top-end talent?
"We self-inflicted in a couple of situations," Sullivan said. "It was about attention to detail and execution. We've got to be a harder team to play against. When we have the puck, it's about execution. When we don't have the puck, it's about attention to detail.
"It's hard to play a perfect game out there. But we have a high standard in our room and we have high expectations. I think we're capable of a stiffer game without the puck and I think we're capable of a sounder game when we have the puck. That's the game that we envision."
Rust is right about the dogfight to come. The Penguins have 30 regular-season games left and are a lock to make the playoffs for the 16th consecutive season, the longest active streak among North American sports leagues. But that isn't to say the road ahead is easy. The Penguins have two more games with Carolina and four with the New York Rangers, the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division. There also are games against fourth-place Washington, Atlantic Division powerhouses Tampa Bay and Florida and two against Central Division-leading Colorado.
It's nice to think most of those games will go better than the past two.
Sullivan sounded optimistic.
"I know we're capable of better. That's the conversation we had with our guys after the game.
"That's a really good hockey team," he said of the Hurricanes. "They've won a lot of games this year. They're in first place for a reason. They've got a lot of talent. They're a deep team. They're well-coached.
"It was a hard game. It had a playoff-feel as far as there wasn't a lot of room out there. You've got to fight for every inch. That's the game we need to embrace moving forward because that's playoff hockey. I know this team has the ability to succeed in that environment."
