The Penguins have made it through the first quarter of their season with their playoff hopes intact, even if their lineup hasn't been.
The opening quarter of 2019-20 officially will expire at the midpoint of their game against the Islanders tonight at PPG Paints Arena, by which time their man-games lost to injury total will have swollen to 78, since Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and Nick Bjugstad are not scheduled to play.
But despite missing core players like Crosby, Letang and Evgeni Malkin for a combined 21 games (as of this evening), the Penguins take an 11-7-2 record into the Islanders game and sit seventh in the Eastern Conference.