Perhaps it's the start of something bigger, a season-long tour de force where the Penguins prove to the rest of the NHL that rumors of their demise were premature, that the old guys can keep up and the younger core can play a little, too.
Or maybe it's just two games — Thursday against lowly Arizona, Saturday hosting a Tampa team playing for a second consecutive night and thus resting Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Whatever the case, the Penguins have been impressive through a pair of 6-2 victories. Scoring has been widespread. Five-on-five defense has been air-tight. The penalty kill has improved.
It's been easy to link the Penguins' dominance to the group looking to atone for another first-round flameout, and there's probably a measure of truth there. It's also true that points now count the same as points in March or April.
"They're a proud group," coach Mike Sullivan said late Saturday when asked whether he thinks his players are trying to prove a point. "They have an appetite to win. There's no other way to say it. They're willing to put in the work."
As for what specifically Penguins fans should get excited about, there's plenty.
First on this list is fairly predictable ... but also necessary given what we're talking about here. With back-to-back three-point games, Sidney Crosby was tied for the NHL scoring lead entering play Sunday.
The captain has also barreled his way into the NHL's top 20 all-time scoring list, past Doug Gilmour, and has 1,415 career points. (Fun fact: Seven of the those 20 spots are now occupied by players with ties to the Penguins: Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi, Paul Coffey, Bryan Trottier and Crosby.)
Crosby's deke around backup Lightning goaltender Brian Elliott on Saturday was pretty, but it also feeds into another important takeaway from these first two games: the impressive play of Jake Guentzel.
He looks faster, one. But I've been more impressive with his playmaking. On Crosby's goal, Guentzel carried the puck through the neutral zone and smartly slid a pass around Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, who had dropped to the ice.
On Thursday, Guentzel fished a puck out of the right corner and put a cross-ice pass onto Crosby's tape for a back-door goal.
"I think he's playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of poise," Crosby said. "He's played in the league for a while now. He can contribute so many different ways. He's got speed. He can see the ice. He can score a lot of different ways. He plays hard. He's continuing to get better ever year. It's great to see."
Don't stop there. Keep expanding.
The third player on that top line, Rickard Rakell, has hardly been an impediment and scored an empty-net goal Saturday. Another fun fact: Each member of the Penguins' top nine has scored at least once.
A bigger point: The chemistry displayed by Rakell with Crosby and Guentzel has allowed the Penguins to spread the wealth. Jason Zucker, noticeably healthy and shooting more, has been a force alongside Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust through two games.
When considering all lines throughout the NHL with at least 10 minutes together five-on-five this season, Zucker-Malkin-Rust has a league-high expected goals for percentage of 85.7%, per Moneypuck. Its goals-for per 60 of 8.46 also ranks No. 1, while that line has had a 22-6 edge in scoring chances, 12-2 of the high-danger variety.
In short, that line has been dominant and defensively responsible, while Malkin himself has looked plenty healthy and motivated.
"I feel so much better from last year," Malkin said. "My knee is strong. My body is stronger. This year is very important for me. I know that. I try to show my best. ... I'm not done."
To complete the Big 3 lap, another encouraging sign for the Penguins has been the play of Kris Letang, who has been outstanding at both ends of the ice. Similar to the Malkin line, Letang's expected goals percentage (84.31) is crazy good. So are high-scoring chances (32-13) and high-danger chances (20-2).
The caveat: We know it's only two games. In October.
But watching Letang throughout the preseason and what he's done thus far, there's zero reason this can't continue. Letang's athleticism and vision have never been a question. Why start now?
Most impressive might be Letang's defensive work and decisions with the puck — easily repeatable parts of the process.
"He's playing a smart hockey game on both sides of the puck," Sullivan said. "When he does that, he's an elite defenseman."
You'll notice a theme here. Many of these things are linked, and Letang's solid play and decision making have helped the power play, which created plenty last year but had trouble finishing. That group has finished through two games. A lot.
The power play is 4 for 10 and has looked cohesive and threatening while doing it, featuring a ton of player and puck movement. It's what assistant coach Todd Reirden has long sought out of this group, to guard against being stagnant.
On the flip side, the penalty kill has had a few leaks, like losing Nick Ritchie twice against Arizona via communication issues. Those seemed to disappear against Tampa, though Pittsburgh did rotate slower than Sullivan would've wanted to defend a Steven Stamkos one-timer.
Whatever. They happen.
A big moment in Saturday's game occurred in the second period, when Malkin took a hooking penalty and the Penguins were called for having too many men on the ice. They killed the ensuing penalties and grabbed momentum back while doing it.
"Just getting the kill is one thing, but to do it a certain way and to put pressure on them and generate some chances ourselves, that's a huge momentum shift," Crosby said. "That'll make big differences in games."
A big help there has been Jeff Carter, solid through two games. His line, too. Kasperi Kapanen, looking to erase a bad 2021-22, has had jump, pushing defensemen back. Danton Heinen's goal Saturday featured more bounces than the nightly lottery.
The trio has provided a depth-scoring punch that will help any team.
"That line," Sullivan said, "has all the makings."
Again, it's only two games. One and a half, if we're being honest about Arizona.
At the same time, there are some important trends beginning to develop ... without even mentioning the one five-on-five goal allowed and some excellent play from Tristan Jarry.
"Every game we're learning," Jarry said. "Every game is a different situation, different scenarios that we could learn from. I think we're doing a great job being able to implement it in practice and working on things. I think we're coming together well."
