Is the Penguins’ early season performance a trick?

The Pittsburgh Penguins just keep winning. On Thursday night, they hit the road to play Minnesota and took advantage of a struggling Wild team, taking a 4-1 victory to move to 8-2-2 on the young season under first-year head coach Dan Muse.

With some help on the scoreboard, the Penguins assumed full control of first place in the Metropolitan Division, though New Jersey and Carolina are right on their heels, and Philadelphia, Washington and Columbus are not far behind.

The Penguins were tabbed as one of the contenders to finish at the bottom of the NHL standings before the year, but Evgeni Malkin (17 points in 12 games) and Sidney Crosby (15 points in 12 games) have turned back the clock while Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha have provided excellent secondary scoring.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed whether or not Pittsburgh can be counted upon to sustain this hot start and turn it into a surprising playoff berth.

Tyler Yaremchuk: A little Halloween themed segment, it is Trick or Treat? You’re going to give me one trick from the first month, something that’s not sustainable, and then we’ll wrap it up with a treat as well. Who is your Halloween trick?

Carter Hutton: My trick, I hate to do it, but I’m going to go with the Pittsburgh Penguins. I just think they’re off to a good start, but these are the old boys getting it done. Malkin leading the team with 17 points. Karlsson leading with 22 minutes a game; Letang’s playing over 21. Crosby’s going to be good, but we know that. I just don’t think this is sustainable for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’re off to a great start… I just can’t see this being consistent throughout the year.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…