Mark Madden: It's been a bumpy path, but there's been more good than bad for Penguins

The numbers don’t lie.

But some of the Penguins’ stats suggest a bit of fibbing by way of dark humor.

The Penguins got a two-goal lead for the first time all season in Sunday’s home win over Washington. They scored two empty-net goals to make the final 6-3. That’s just showing off. Sunday also marked the first time this campaign the Penguins were ahead at the end of two periods.

The Penguins have come from behind in each of their seven wins. That’s only the fourth time that’s ever happened from the start of an NHL season. Buffalo did it 10 times to begin 2013-14.

That’s not necessarily inspirational. Those Sabres finished dead last, and did so again the next season. They drafted standout Jack Eichel in 2015 with the resultant draft pick. But Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs since then, or since 2011, and aren’t a good bet now.

The Penguins are 5-0 at home.

But only two of the Penguins’ seven wins have come in regulation.

The Penguins are 3-0 vs. Washington, which will likely battle the Penguins and New York Islanders for the last two playoff spots in the East. (The Penguins are 1-1 against the Islanders.)

The Penguins have taken a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in five consecutive games. Do they not understand the rule?

Bryan Rust leads the Penguins in points. Not Sidney Crosby. Not Evgeni Malkin. It’s Rust. Good for Rust, but what the heck?

The Penguins power play ranks 23rd in the NHL, the penalty-kill 28th. Yuck. The Penguins have only been on the PP three times in the last three games. Double yuck. That means they’re not playing in traffic enough, or well.

The Penguins are 7-5-1, so there’s somehow more good than bad. But it’s been a bumpy path.

Malkin had jump Sunday after a mostly barren start to the season, perhaps feeding off his game-tying goal with 18 seconds left at Long Island Thursday. But Malkin was pointless, minus-1 and made a terribly lazy play to let Nicklas Backstrom get by him to score a late second-period goal that cut the Penguins’ lead to 4-3. The Penguins’ first two-goal lead of the season lasted 7:05.

Kris Letang’s game is coming along, but he’s had peaks and valleys. Cody Ceci and Chad Ruhwedel are the team’s most consistent defensemen. That’s not good.

Crosby’s effort and fundamentals have been to their usual level, but he’s not producing as he’d like. He’s scored just once five-on-five. That was yesterday, and into an empty net. (Not that anyone’s complaining about his two overtime goals, or his shootout winner Thursday, or the eight points the Crosby-Rust-Jake Guentzel line racked up Sunday.)

Tristan Jarry continues to be an enigma. He played OK Sunday, allowing three goals on 31 shots. But his flaws were again on display. He scrambled constantly. He’s only allowed less than three goals once in his eight starts. That won’t win often enough.

Good goalies steal 4-5 games per season. The Penguins need those wins. Jarry shows no sign of delivering.

Heaven knows what new GM Ron Hextall and new president of hockey operations Brian Burke thought as they looked down from their box. The win was good but the Penguins — as they have all season, and since 2018 — sent a lot of mixed messages.

If Jarry doesn’t straighten out, Hextall might have to get a cheap, steady veteran goaltender. (Or play himself.) But any big moves will likely wait until the offseason.

That’s fine. Hextall and Burke should use this season primarily for evaluation.

It might be bad if the Penguins not only made the playoffs, but won a series. A false dawn might temper and limit moves made. If not, big moves might draw fan ire. You want the Penguins to be good again, but you don’t want any of your favorites traded.