All things considered this start could have been a lot worse for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The defense is crushed by injuries, they have not played well and only held a lead for 34 minutes all season, they have played six of their first eight games against Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston ... and are still 4-3-1 and just had a five-game point streak get snapped on Thursday night.
Given the injuries, schedule and way they have played they could very easily find themselves sitting at the bottom of the division. Instead, the record is at least very passable with some very important points already banked.