If I were a betting girl….

See, I just had this feeling about last’s night game against Carolina. The defending Cup champions had to wake up at some point. The Penguins, after their victory against New York, weren’t going to be able to get away with playing the same style against Carolina. Plus, the Penguins traditionally don’t play well against the Hurricanes (I’m not going to analyze the reason for that at the present moment; perhaps someone else can comment or I’ll leave it for another day).

I wasn’t surprised to see the team lose. I saw encouraging things, but as soon as that first period goal went in on Fleury, I just sighed. My suspicion that it was going to be "one of those nights" proved true.

I wondered about my suspicions—somehow knowing the Pens would match up well with New York but not with Carolina—and while I know that I don’t bet or plan to bet on games, well, I could have made money last night.

Yet still, when it comes to my young team, I don’t really want to bet against them. Because—as in Letang’s goofy bounce goal—there are always signs something good might be just around the corner. And honestly—there will be nights like last night and nights like the Rangers game, sometimes in back-to-back games. Other times such nights will string themselves together.

Let’s just remember what we have: A young, talented team. Root for them, cheer for them—but don’t freak when they lose to the team that claimed the Cup last year. We’re not at the place where we can freak about that yet.