Are the Penguins for real now after recent hot streak?

Surprisingly, one of the best teams in the NHL over the past week has been the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Not long after many were calling for general manager Kyle Dubas to kickstart the rebuild and start offloading contracts, the Penguins decided it was time to go on a run to get them back into the playoff conversation. Thanks to Blake Lizotte going on a hot streak, and Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby playing well, Pittsburgh has reeled off four consecutive wins, including a 5-4 overtime win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

With notable wins over the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames during this stretch, the Pens have closed the gap between them and a Wild Card spot. As of Wednesday, Pittsburgh is sixth in the Metropolitan Division but just one point back of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Steven Ellis and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss whether the Penguins’ recent run makes them a true postseason contender.

Steven Ellis: I’m not convinced yet. I will say it’s been really good to see Tristan Jarry going out there and playing as well as he has…This is a guy who has been through so many struggles. He is supposed to be the guy, so when he was sent down to the AHL, it looked like he was the third-stringer at one point, that had to be mentally hard on him, but he’s starting to figure it out…he’s getting the wins.

You look at what’s happening here. It’s not just Crosby going out there and scoring, it’s not just Malkin. In fact, Crosby doesn’t have a goal in his last four games, but he’s got five points…You look at what Philip Tomasino’s doing, he’s been productive. There’s actually 11 players with three points in the last four games. So, the scoring has been all over the place, which is good…I still don’t know if I trust either Pennsylvania team at this point. When it comes to the Penguins…what does the goaltending look like? It’s good right now, but I don’t trust it.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…