So much for that three-peat, right?

Lots of puck is left to be played, but after the Antti Niemi band-aid solution was a disaster, and without a capable backup netminder in Pittsburgh to support No. 1 stud Matt Murray, the Penguins are in serious trouble, putting a third Stanley Cup in three years in doubt.

And that's especially true when you consider the following factors:

Tough schedule ahead

The Penguins have shown over the first month of the season that they don't play well on the second night of back-to-backs, losing all four games in that scenario by a combined score of 29-7.

Making matters worse, Pittsburgh plays on back-to-back nights a total of 19 times this campaign - tied for the most of any team - so the schedule isn't doing it any favors. And with another 15 still left to go, the need for a quality backup will become that much more crucial, as most clubs use their No. 2 netminder when they play on consecutive nights.

If the Pens want to start winning some of these second legs, they'd better start looking for an answer in the crease to support Murray before the rest of the East passes them by.

Murray needs his rest

In addition to cementing himself as a bona fide starter over the past two seasons, Murray has demonstrated that he gets injured a lot. Broken bones, pulled hamstrings, concussions - you name it - he's already dealt with plenty of ailments across just 73 career regular-season games.

That's not to say Murray can't be a stellar No. 1 guy, because he obviously can, but he'll need a goalie behind him who's able to play at least 10-to-15 games and allow him time to lick his wounds.

Sunday's lopsided loss to the Winnipeg Jets was a perfect example. Murray looked gassed after the first period, allowing four goals on nine shots after playing the previous night against Minnesota.

There's still plenty of games to go, so the remaining workload will need to be split between two capable 'tenders. But right now, Pittsburgh only employs one.

Patchwork blue line can't be relied on

With all due respect to the Penguins' D-men, this group just doesn't look ready to propel the team to a third Cup in three years.

Sure, lots of these guys got the job done last season, but that was in front of a well-rested Murray and with an ace in the hole on the bench in Marc-Andre Fleury; they currently have neither of those luxuries.

Factor in that Kris Letang is off to one of the worst starts of his career defensively - registering a league-worst minus-14 rating and a crooked amount of giveaways - and the need for an answer behind Murray grows exponentially.

With no solid options currently at his disposal, general manager Jim Rutherford better start working the phones looking for a quality No. 2, or else the Penguins are in for one scary-looking season.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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In this season's first edition of the player power rankings, theScore hockey editors Josh Gold-Smith, Flip Livingstone, and Ian McLaren evaluate some of the NHL's biggest names based on their star power and how they've performed so far.

10. Sergei Bobrovsky

Other goaltenders like Jonathan Quick, Pekka Rinne, and Andrei Vasilevskiy have been stellar so far, but the Columbus Blue Jackets netminder is the only perennial Vezina Trophy candidate playing at an elite level in the early going.

While Carey Price and Braden Holtby haven't been their typically dominant selves, Bobrovsky is once again proving to be a model of consistency.
- Gold-Smith

9. Jamie Benn

Benn was held off the scoresheet in the Dallas Stars' win over the Calgary Flames on Friday night, but it was the first time since Oct. 17 and only the fourth time all season that he failed to collect a point.

The 2015 Art Ross Trophy winner piled up five goals and nine points in the four games prior to that contest, and while his shooting percentage (18.4) is bound to regress, there's no reason to believe he won't continue to be one of the toughest assignments for opposing defenders. - Gold-Smith

8. John Tavares

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

The New York Islanders captain hasn't looked at all distracted by his contract situation this fall, and he's been on an absolute tear over the last week or so.

Tavares potted a natural hat trick Saturday - his second three-goal game in the last three contests - and he has seven goals and 10 points in his last four games. - Gold-Smith

7. Erik Karlsson

The all-world defenseman hasn't shown much rust after missing the first five games of the season, and he's shown no hesitation in taking on his typical heavy workload despite coming off foot surgery.

Karlsson is averaging over 25 minutes in ice time, and he's posted more than a point in half of the games he's played early on. - Gold-Smith

6. Sidney Crosby

He may be struggling to fill the scoresheet right now, but the Penguins are still a dangerous group with Sid at the helm, and he doesn’t need to be lighting the lamp on the regular to earn a spot among the NHL's most dominant players.

Also, don't forget, No. 87 has 11 points and is just getting warmed up. Until we see a significant decline in his ability, Crosby's earned the right to be firmly entrenched on this list, as few players in the NHL today can play at both ends of the rink like he can. - Livingstone

5. Auston Matthews

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

While the Maple Leafs continue to fall back to earth, Matthews' torrid scoring pace has seemingly no end in sight, with seven points in his last five games.

Few thought Matthews would be able to replicate last season's 40-goal output, but, with eight already under his belt through only 11 games, the 40-goal mark becomes increasingly attainable with each passing game. - Livingstone

4. Connor McDavid

The Oilers might be struggling to bury the biscuit, but McDavid can't do it all by himself. Edmonton's captain has five goals and six assists across 10 games this season while also logging a beastly 22:37 of ice time per game.

McDavid has already shown flashes of his MVP-level play this season, and if his supporting cast can figure it out offensively, McJesus should take his rightful place in the top three very soon. - Livingstone

3. Alex Ovechkin

A blistering start has given way to a bit of a dry spell in the goal-scoring department, but while Ovechkin has tallied only once in his past seven games, his overall point total has been boosted by some helpers.

Overall, he sits second in goals, tied for fourth in total points, and is on pace for one of his most productive seasons in years. - McLaren

2. Steven Stamkos

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Stamkos' comeback has been one of the best stories through the first month of the season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning captain was on a tear when he was sidelined almost a year ago with a devastating knee injury, and he's been even better this time around, leading the NHL in total points.

Known more for his goal scoring over the years, he's been setting the table with regularity for his red-hot linemate, the only player to eclipse him on this list. - McLaren

1. Nikita Kucherov

It's time to acknowledge Kucherov's greatness.

The Russian winger is averaging a goal per game, and Ovechkin is the only other player in double digits this season. He's also contributing more than enough helpers, and his even possession numbers are boosted by his efficiency in the offensive zone.

Dating back to Jan. 1, no player has more goals (39) or total points (69). At the moment, he's the best in the game. - McLaren

(Analytics courtesy: Corsica.Hockey)

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Blake Wheeler scored three of Winnipeg's five goals in the first period and the Jets routed the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1 on Sunday night.

Brendan Lemieux scored his first career goal for Winnipeg on a slap shot from the point at 12:20 of the third. The son of Claude Lemieux made his NHL debut Oct. 20.

Andrew Copp, Joel Armia and Mark Scheifele also scored for the Jets, who chased Matt Murray early. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.

Winnipeg (5-3-2) scored three times in a span of 34 seconds late in the first to break it open against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Penguins (7-5-1), playing back-to-back road games after losing 2-1 in Minnesota on Saturday, were on their heels from the start and didn't score until Evgeni Malkin's fifth of the season late in the second period.

Pittsburgh has been outscored 21-10 in the opening 20 minutes this season.

The Jets have played their best hockey this season in the opening period, outscoring their opponents 16-8.

Copp opened the scoring with his first of the season on a short pass in the slot from linemate Sean Matthias at 1:20.

The Jets remained on the attack but Murray stymied them until 13:58, when Scheifele fed Wheeler at the side of the net for his second goal of the season.

He added another at 17:44 and Murray barely had time to take his stance again before Armia made it 4-0 at 18:07. Murray was pulled and lost in regulation for the second time this season.

The hats rained down 11 seconds after that when Wheeler made it 5-0 at 18:18 with a goal against Murray's replacement, Casey DeSmith.

The Jets lost 2-1 in overtime Thursday at Pittsburgh, one of two overtime losses for them this week following a win at Minnesota.

Winnipeg returned to Hellebuyck's hot hand in goal. He has all five Jets wins this season.

Pittsburgh tried to regroup in the second period and outshot the Jets 15-4, thanks partly to a string of minor penalties on Winnipeg. But the Penguins not get one past Hellebuyck until Malkin scored his power-play goal at 17:02.

Scheifele scored in the third when he one-timed a pass from Wheeler during a 4-on-3 power play at 10:28 to make it 6-1. Lemieux's goal about two minutes later completed the scoring.

UP NEXT

Penguins: At the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

Jets: At the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

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The Vegas Golden Knights are without question one of the best stories around the NHL in the early going, winning eight of their first nine games.

Even Sidney Crosby thinks so after crunching some numbers and declaring the expansion franchise to be no fluke. But is there validity to the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar center's apparent findings?

The answer appears to be no, and here are a few reasons why the Golden Knights are very unlikely to maintain their hot start.

Taking shots

In 5-on-5 play, Vegas boasts a Corsi For rating of 46.9 - good for 23rd, according to Corsica Hockey. What this means is the opposition is regularly recording more shot attempts than the Golden Knights.

For those who rely more on actual shots on goal, there's a disparity here as well, making the situation look even more ominous:

These numbers don't necessarily spell doom, as evidenced by the success achieved to date. However, being on the wrong end of the majority of shots and attempts isn't typically viewed as a recipe for success.

Puck luck

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Here's what is going Vegas' way: The Golden Knights rank first in PDO at even strength, which is calculated by adding a team's shooting percentage and save percentage.

Vegas sits at 106.55, ranking first in shooting percentage (11.93) and second in save percentage (94.62). The latter stat is staggering considering both starter Marc-Andre Fleury and backup Malcolm Subban are out due to injury, leaving Oscar Dansk as the man in net.

In all situations, Vegas maintains its first-place ranking, with their PDO dropping ever so slightly to 106.45 thanks to a very successful penalty kill and an average power play.

It's believed that most teams will eventually land close to 100, with a higher or lower number suggesting luck - positive or negative, respectively - is playing a significant role.

The Golden Knights are on a lucky streak that should eventually cool off.

Home cooking

Finally, we come to the schedule.

Seven of Vegas' nine games have been played at home, where the team has posted a record of 6-1-0.

While both road games have been wins, only one - an opening-night victory in Dallas - carries much weight, seeing as the other came at the expense of winless Arizona.

So what does this all mean?

Calling Vegas a fluke is perhaps too strong, but undoubtedly a lot has gone right for the expansion club. The Golden Knights have been able to roll on despite injuries to Fleury and Subban, and they've been shooting the lights out.

Again, the high shooting and save percentages suggest they've been rather lucky, and it definitely helps to play within the friendly, state-of-the-art confines of T-Mobile Arena.

With 12 of the next 16 games on the road - and no back-to-back home games during that stretch - the schedule between now and Dec. 1 will better demonstrate that the Golden Knights' hot start is unsustainable.

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Leo Komarov reportedly will not be punished for his big hit on Shayne Gostisbehere.

No supplemental discipline will be levied against the Toronto Maple Leafs forward for checking the Philadelphia Flyers defenseman in the numbers from behind Saturday night, according to the Courier-Post's Dave Isaac.

Komarov drove Gostisbehere headfirst into the glass midway through the second period of the Flyers' 4-2 victory over the Maple Leafs.

No penalty was assessed on the play.

Gostisbehere initially stayed in the game and assisted on Valtteri Filppula's decisive goal, but the blue-liner didn't emerge for the third period.

After the game, Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol implored the Department of Player Safety to review the hit, according to Isaac.

Komarov didn't appear to believe he did anything wrong.

Gostisbehere leads all NHL defensemen with 12 assists and 13 points in 11 games.

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