from Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

The Penguins positively punked the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1, on Thursday night — and it wasn’t because the Lightning were banged up, disinterested or mired in a funk.

It was because the Penguins were really good.

Strike that. The Penguins are really good.

Does that mean they’ll make a long playoff run? Not necessarily. The Eastern Conference is so deep that several really good teams will lose early. The point is that the Penguins have proven themselves capable of running the gauntlet. They have proven to be a team worth adding to at the deadline.

The Lightning had won five in a row and were 12-3-1 in their previous 16. They’d only lost twice at home in regulation since Nov. 20 and hadn’t lost one such game since Jan. 8. They’re deep, talented and plenty physical — and you know the Penguins had their attention because any team that shows up with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin has your attention, and because of that 6-2 drubbing in the season opener (from which Crosby and Malkin were absent).

Yet it was the Penguins who charged from the tunnel with jet packs on their backs.

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