By the time the Pirates season ended, I was worried whether I’ll have enough time off to go home for the holidays, I had thousands of emails in my inbox and—hey, look at that!—the Penguins were already 3-0-0!

Pittsburgh sports fans are little like Miami fans, they really only have enough bandwidth to support one team at a time. In Miami, this is because fans are simply indifferent, and only care about whichever team happens to be winning. In Pittsburgh, this is because people invest all of their energy into one team and go a little crazy over it. Now that the Pirates are done until the spring and fans have had time to breath, it’s time to turn our attention back to the Boys of Winter.

We all know about the star power the Pens have on offense. And it would be a waste of time if I “previewed” what Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can do this year. Hell, Crosby’s line with Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis might even stay together on Team Canada (boo, Canada!).

The two questions going into the season were defense and goaltending. The Penguins reaffirmed their trust in Marc-Andre Fleury—after he saw a psychologist, of course—and brought back Tomas Vokoun to help ease the load of a full season off Fleury’s shoulders.

Then, Vokoun almost died. And now the Penguins have no legitimate back-up in net. Fleury has started 8 of the first nine games, going 7-1. The one game they gave Fleury the night off, they lost 6-3 to the Panthers, in Jeff Zatkoff’s first NHL appearance.

So while he may be off to a great start, Fleury looks like he may have to play in quite a few games this year. Luckily, he has a little more stability in front of him this season.

Some credit Fleury’s newfound calmness in the crease to his therapist, but I choose to praise Rob Scuderi. The Penguins thought they could live without Scuds after they won the Stanley Cup in 2009. But since then, only Scuderi has won another Stanley Cup. He just brings a stability to the blue line that calms everyone around him. He’s already made some clutch blocks and saves this season.

Kris Letang proved to be the Penguins’ best offensive defenseman last year (at least during the regular season), but an early season injury has kept him out of the lineup thus far. However, rookie Olli Maatta is quickly making a name for himself. He’s giving the coaching staff a difficult choice for when Letang returns to the blue line.

But who am I kidding? Nobody is worried about the Penguins this year…during the regular season. We’ve seen it four years in a row. The Penguins stroll through the regular season—with the exception of 2010-11, where they injured themselves through the regular season—only to flop on the big stage.

The Penguins regular season looks to be just like all the rest in recent memory. They should have no trouble finding a playoff spot, even if they don’t finish at the top of the standings. The only thing different this year is that the fans are getting anxious for more playoff success. Yes, a conference finals appearance last year was nice.

But the way that they lost left a bad taste on the season. Losing in a close-fought, seven-game series to the Bruins would have been a respectable way to go out, but scoring as many goals in the entire series as the Blackhawks did in 17 seconds against the Bruins is a little embarrassing.

Thus, the playoffs will define the Penguins’ season this year, and—unless something crazy happens—the regular season will be of little consequence. But hey, there’s another outdoor game this year!

Because if there’s one thing that NHL fans want more of, it’s the Penguins playing outdoors.

I wouldn’t begin to approach either performance as  perfect, and there are certainly aspects of their game that need to be  cleaned up and worked out, but I want to be extremely clear about one  thing: the Pittsburgh Penguins beat themselves last year, and they  won’t do it again this year. If these two games are any indication of  what’s to come, this season could be one hell of a ride.

That whole, uhh, “extended offseason” gave folks a lot of time to  think about everything that happened in the spring and summer. The  lack of discipline, the terrible penalty kill, Marc-Andre Fleury’s  inability to track anything smaller than Pierre Maguire’s ego. The death threats against Paul Martin, the salary dump of Zbynek Michalek  (I already miss you, boo), the confusion around who would play with  James Neal and Evgeni Malkin.

Who would the Penguins be if and when  the new season started?   This past Saturday and Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins were focused, confident, authoritative, and truly didn’t give a fuck.   In some ways, I think starting on the road, particularly *that* road  in Philadelphia (and MSG, to some extent), was beneficial. Playing  hockey on the road requires that extra bit of mental fortitude,  keeping you locked into the game and the details of what you’re doing out on the ice.

After the embarrassing end to last season, this kind  of strong start is at least a little bit encouraging. Getting the crowd at Madison Square Garden to boo their own team the first time you step into their barn is priceless and will never, ever get old.  Ever.

As I said before, though, these were not two perfect performances.  Mental lapses, sloppy passing, poor timing – the Penguins will need to  work on these things as the days pass, even if some of the sloppiness  and timing can be attributed to the understandable amount of rust for  some players.

I could do without Geno basically handing the puck to Rick Nash on a platter, and I think it’s going to take Simon Despres  some time to find his stride (yeah, um, can people please finally shut  up about him being a replacement for Martin, by the way?).

I will be  watching the James-Neal-on-the-point power play with a close and  skeptical eye. But you have to like some of the things that have come out of games 1  and 2. James Neal is picking up right where he left off, demonstrating  his uncanny chemistry with Evgeni Malkin. Paul Martin is playing  confident, smart hockey and anchoring a top-2 pairing with Brooks  Orpik. Brandon Sutter has made me forget that guy who looked like Big  Bird’s hotter and kind of trashy cousin. Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun turned in some solid performances, and I imagine 92 will start  around 24 more times.

What I like most, though, is that we’ve got a 4-point lead over two  division rivals in a shortened season. The worst thing in the world is  having to rely on other teams to lose, and these two games could prove  to be huge as the playoffs approach.

The Penguins open at home on 1/23 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, so we can basically be assured that their road dominance will be followed  by a puzzling performance at home against a team that should be blown out of the building and into the Allegheny. That could be the cynic in  me speaking who’s afraid to believe the hype that I saw with my own two eyes. It could also be me bracing myself for injuries that could derail a team that has the makings of a locomotive (one that can win the whole thing, I mean – sorry, Vancouver and Washington).

I approach the rest of the 2012(ha)-2013 season with cautious optimism. The Penguins basically ran shit against two of the best  teams in the league, and Sidney Crosby wasn’t a dominant player in either. When Stella gets her groove back, along with the rest of these flightless birds, one would have to think that things will only get  better. Or, to continue with the “Move Bitch” theme, in Mystikal’s words:  ”Better not walk in front of their tour bus.”

A lot of ink will be spilled on the react to the game, from far smarter puckheads than us, but a few choice moments stood out from a very memorable evening:

Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post

We would’ve loved to have hung with Locher for the game. 

The network guys couldn’t lay enough hate on Ovechkin while they did whatever they could to beatify the not-so-great 87. 

The overarching storyline of Saint Sidney and flailing Alex was spoiled.  Pity.

Jamie Sabau/Getty

Was Mike Rupp left begging for his life after John Erskine boxed his ears?  Erskine bouncing back to his feet in that dust-up was amazing.  Was he ever a figure skater? 

You knew a fight was coming at some point and he would have a claim to it. We heart #4, his handlebar and his fists o’ fury.

Jason’s near-miss was a heartbreaker and so was Alex’s pas de deux avec Fleury wash out.  Sidney’s waved off goal made us giddy, his aborted celebration and then the sads.

Knuble’s triumph on the PP gave us that funny feeling in our pants again. 

For a guy who could have qualified for Friday’s old-timer game, he was rock-solid and ripshit. Love.  Total class act and talk about a Puck Daddy…

How great was Varly?  So proud.  We totally love us some Neuvirth, big time, sometimes a little too much, but Varly… wow.  They should give out two hardhats.

We need a pic of Eric in his.  Alex and he looked absolutely spent during the post-game presser.

Heartwarming to hear Alex describe the crowd, overwhelmingly stocked with Pentards, but scattered clusters of Caps fans, a thousand here, a thousand there. 

Alex mentioning national anthem, heard the shouts of “RED” and “O” made it down to the ice.  Never ever underestimate the value of screaming yourself hoarse.  

Who bought the douche hat for Bylsma?   A gag Christmas gift? 

“Look at me – I’m Bear Bryant. But without the charm.”  

While Mr. Personality was typically robotic in the post-game presser, Sidney however was catatonic.

Was Supercoach or any of the other Pens asked why they didn’t do the hand shake after the game?  They afraid that Erskine could still go rogue again? 

Let’s Go Caps. Get some rest. You made us proud. Again.