The Penguins still are the team that performed so remarkably for the first two-thirds of the 2019-20 season, that refused to fold under extreme adversity and actually seemed to be fueled by it.
Nothing ever can take that away.
But they also are the team that has lost eight of its past 10 games and, much of the time, has looked pretty wretched while doing it.
To say nothing of being the team that, in the wake of a 6-2 loss to Carolina at PPG Paints Arena Sunday, is as close to ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings -- which is the first slot outside the playoff field -- as it is to first place in the Metropolitan Division.