CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Penguins’ past few weeks have not only been nightmarish, but there has also been a feeling of inevitability.

Despite those magical first two months, the Penguins entered the season with very low expectations around the NHL. They looked the part over their past 10 games, which have seen them accumulate nine losses and head toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Will the plummet continue? Or was the team that took the league by storm in October and November the real Penguins?

Sitting quietly at his locker following practice on Saturday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, a contemplative Crosby suggested that counting out the Penguins would be unwise.

“First of all, this break came at a really good time,” Crosby said. “I think last year, we were on a roll entering the break and it didn’t come at a good time. That happens sometimes. But this time, it came at the right time.”

Nobody could question that.

A look at the past 10 games reads like a horror movie. Consider what has happened:

• On Dec. 7, the Penguins played perhaps their finest game of the season, holding Dallas to 19 shots in regulation. However, a late Dallas goal evened the game with less than two minutes remaining, and the Penguins lost in a shootout.

• On Dec. 9, the Penguins endured one of the most bizarre losses in franchise history. They were up 3-2 against Anaheim and were awarded a power play, bringing the faceoff to Anaheim territory, with 18 seconds remaining. Remarkably, they allowed the Ducks to even the game with 0.1 seconds remaining because of a comedy of errors. They lost in a shootout.

• On Dec. 11, the Penguins had to push back the start time of their game against Montreal because many players were stuck behind a traffic accident north of Pittsburgh. They should have just forfeited because they didn’t show up, even when the players arrived in a 4-2 loss that wasn’t as close as the score indicates.

• On Dec. 13, the Penguins led San Jose 5-1 in the third period, and it was 5-2 with six minutes left. In one of the more startling meltdowns in franchise history, they ended up losing in overtime 6-5.

• On Dec. 14, 24 hours later, the Penguins led 3-0 against Utah through two periods. Disaster struck again, as they fell to the Mammoth in overtime, 5-4.

• On Dec. 16, the Penguins watched Connor McDavid skate circles around them in a 6-4 loss on home ice.

• On Dec. 18, we witnessed the worst, most uninspired performance from the Penguins all season in a 4-0 loss in Ottawa.

• On Dec. 20, they still weren’t able to put the puck in the net even though they played better, losing 4-0 again, this time in Montreal.

• On Dec. 21, they found an oasis in the desert as Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s franchise point total and the Penguins, despite being badly outplayed in the third period and in overtime, beat the Canadiens in a shootout.