Let's put it this way: If the Penguins aren't "mad at each other," to borrow Evgeni Malkin's already infamous phrase from Newark over the weekend, then they probably ought to be.
Seems to work ...
Yeah, that was No. 71 doing some serious splitting of the Wild defense -- dragging the puck between them like they were bronzed Islanders, no less -- as part of his four-point gem and a 4-3 victory Tuesday night at an oddly electric Consol Energy Center.
And by oddly electric, of course, I'm referring to the home team's energy level.
Who were those guys?
"We were the Penguins. We played Penguins hockey," David Perron was telling me after striking first on this night. "That's what we look like when we're playing our game."
OK, but what's that?
The same question has been simmering all through this indescribably inexplicable 11-7 start, and it has applied whether they've won or lost, whether it's been home or road, early or late.
What does this team look like when hitting on all cylinders?
Set aside the head coach for a moment, difficult as that can be given all the distress signs around Mike Johnston. I'm not talking about him in this instance.
I'm talking optimal Penguins.
How do they not only win but also take legit strides toward Cup contention?
I've asked that question a ton already through these first six weeks. From Jim Rutherford to Johnston to his assistants, and all around the big oval locker room, in Pittsburgh and Nashville and Washington, I've repeated myself so often it might as well be a Vine or a gif.
Turns out this game -- no, the past four days as a whole -- might provide the answer.
Not the solution, mind you. But at least the endgame.
It's necessary to rewind to late Saturday night in Newark and Malkin's response when our Josh Yohe asked him to pinpoint the Penguins' primary problem after losing to the Devils, 4-0: “Everything. We don’t play right. We don’t work hard. It’s tough right now. We’re mad at each other. We need to just stop, look in the mirror and start working.”
You've read that and heard it, I'm guessing, probably more than once.
Predictably, by the team's next public availability Monday, the Penguins' perpetually churning spin machine was put into motion to downplay it. Malkin was taken out of context, some claimed, which is hilarious considering every syllable was printed and easily available on audio. Malkin doesn't really know English too well, others claimed, which is both hilarious and insulting. Even Sidney Crosby and Malkin himself were dismissing it.
Sidney Crosby stickhandles into traffic, including the Wild's Matt Dumba, Tuesday. -- GETTY