Not even the thought that Sidney Crosby will not play again this season, one that is raised regularly now because the NHL's biggest star is still not symptom-free two months after suffering a concussion, can rattle the hard-won equanimity of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Head coach Dan Bylsma and his coaching staff spent a long time drilling the idea into the heads of their young charges that no matter who is in or out of the lineup, no matter how bad things get, they must play the same. Now, with Crosby still unable to practise since taking two blows to the head in the first week of January and Evgeni Malkin, the team's other superstar, lost for the season with a knee injury, the Penguins are rewarding Bylsma by staying near the top of the NHL's Eastern Conference.
"We spend a lot of time talking about the way we want to play and the expectations," Bylsma said Wednesday as the Penguins prepared to play the Toronto Maple Leafs that night. "No matter what happens in a game, no matter if we're in a tough building on the road, no matter if we're up or down, we want to continue to play the same way, with the same expectations, the same execution.
"That does not change, no matter who's on the ice. If someone is not in the lineup, that doesn't change. We don't sound fire alarms. The guys have done a good job staying on that task, holding each other to the expectations."
In the meantime, all Bylsma will or can say about Crosby is that they still anticipate he will get better. The problem is, the coach admitted, "that may be in a month, we don't know, or it could be this summer. I can't give you any kind of date on it."
Those who read hockey's tea leaves say Penguins general manager Ray Shero traded for wingers James Neal and Alexei Kovalev before the NHL trade deadline because he thought Crosby would be able to return to play centre for either or both of them. Shero, though, said Crosby's status did not play a role in either deal, just the desire to keep the Penguins playing well despite a host of injuries.
This tends to get forgotten but, in addition to the pair of big stars, the Penguins are also missing forwards Mike Comrie, Arron Asham, Chris Kunitz, Nick Johnson and Eric Tangradi and defenceman Brooks Orpik. Wednesday's game against the Leafs saw the return of winger Tyler Kennedy, who improved his production after Crosby and Malkin were lost, and defenceman Paul Martin from relatively brief injury stints.
Despite all this, the Penguins had an 11-9-3 record going into Wednesday's game since Crosby was lost and they were 8-7-2 after Malkin joined him on the shelf Jan. 20. The numbers look pedestrian by themselves but they are good enough to have the Penguins placed fourth in the Eastern Conference.
In addition to Kennedy, who had 14 points in the Penguins' 23 games since Crosby's departure, the Penguins are seeing an important contribution from rookie centre Mark Letestu. His ability to be the No. 1 centre between Neal and Kovalev, at least in the short term, allowed Bylsma to return centre Jordan Staal to his regular linemates Kennedy and Matt Cooke for Wednesday's Leafs game.
"This is a big opportunity for me to show I can play on the top six [forwards]on a top team," Letestu said in explaining how he and some of his fellow youngsters are playing so well. "Obviously, with those guys out we miss them dearly but I think I can fill in there, maybe not to the full extent but definitely enough to get this team some wins down the stretch."
Letestu eased a considerable burden on Staal, 22, who was asked to play on the first power-play unit in addition to his regular penalty-killing duties, which put his ice time over the 30-minute mark.
The biggest individual contributions are coming from defenceman Kris Letang and goaltender Marc-André Fleury. Letang, 23, is having a breakthrough season and Fleury saved his best work for after Christmas. Fleury's win-loss record in his last 41 games is 27-10-4.
"I guess I don't think too much about it," Fleury said of the injury troubles. "I'm not going to score too many goals, so I just try to stop the puck."