from Ron Cook of the Pitgtsburgh Post-Gazette,

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.”

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