Penguins Hit Their Stride

Ask any NHL coach or general manager. Ask a player. Heck, ask anyone associated with an NHL team and they’ll tell you. It’s next to impossible to maintain a consistent pace over an 82-game schedule.

So much can effect a team. Illness and injuries, for one. Not to mention the occasional slump. Or…like two years ago…an unexpected case of the mumps.

The key is to stay even-keel as possible. Keep your lows from getting too low. And ride the occasional hot streak for all it’s worth.

That’s what our Penguins have done. Following an uneven 4-5-1 stretch in November that surely had coach Mike Sullivan reaching for the Pepto-Bismol, the Pens have rediscovered their Stanley Cup mojo. Big time.

Starting with an impressive 6-2 romp over Dallas on December 1, the locals have won four in a row. They’ve struck for a whopping 24 goals in the process. An average of six per game. Unheard of in an era renowned for sticky back pressure and gargantuan goalies who hog the entire net simply by dropping to their knees.

It isn’t so much that the Pens are winning as how they’re doing it. To steal a line from Sullivan, they’re playing the right way. On their toes instead of their heels. The blazing team speed that fueled the Cup run is evident once again. They’re beating foes to the punch.

It starts with the captain. With the possible exception of his extraordinary pre-concussion performance of 2010-11, I’ve never seen Sidney Crosby this dialed in. Not only is No. 87 lighting the lamp at a scorching clip (18 goals in 21 games), he’s displayed a diamond-hard edge and intensity. From scoring clutch goals to winning key faceoffs to digging in the corners to backchecking to dropping the mitts to defend a teammate, he’s doing it all on a nightly basis.

Sid owns the game right now.

Teammates can’t help but follow his exemplary lead. Phil Kessel’s been working along the wall of late. Evgeni Malkin’s shed his penchant for careless play (and penalties) and morphed into a model of discipline and decorum. With 10 goals and 28 points, “Geno’s” found his groove, too.

Ditto heart-and-soul vets like pile driver Patric Hornqvist, the team’s physical pulse, and cagey Matt Cullen, who continues to dazzle at a ripe old age.

Depth played a huge part in last season’s Cup run. Once again, virtually everyone is producing. My goodness, has Conor Sheary emerged. Quick and creative with an uncanny nose for the net, yet able to excel in traffic. Counterintuitive for a player his size.

Bryan Rust recently rediscovered his warp-drive roots, not to mention his scoring touch. Same goes for Justin Schultz, who’s flashed the burgeoning skill that made him a hot commodity at the University of Wisconsin. With the help of assistant coach Jacques Martin, he and gritty defense partner Ian Cole (plus-16 each) have been a revelation on the back end.

Heck, any team that can afford to ship a can’t-miss rookie like Jake Guentzel back to the minors, not to mention perennial defensive prospect Derrick Pouliot, has few personnel worries.

Even players who aren’t posting big numbers are chipping in. Lunch-pail guys like Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Olli Maatta and Scott Wilson. Did anyone notice “Bones” block two shots in rapid succession during Thursday’s 5-1 rout of Florida and hobble back for more? And the pass Wilson made to Kuhnhackl after getting mashed into the boards?

Talk about desire.

Granted, there’s still a long way to go. Two-thirds of a season, to be exact. Like all clubs, the Pens have some issues. Such as dreadful penalty killing (28th in the league at 76 percent). And an awkward rotation of up-and-comer Matt Murray and incumbent Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes that isn’t ideal for either goalie.

Still, our boys are looking more and more like a team that can compete.

And repeat.