Jim Rutherford knows that Evgeni Malkin didn't get a point in his first three games this season.
That Malkin's next assist will be his first in 2020-21, and that he still hasn't made it onto the scoresheet at even strength.
And yes, Rutherford is aware that Malkin's early-season slump comes in the wake of a productive, promising performance during the preseason, when Malkin seemed ready to build on the bounce-back season he had in 2019-20.
Rutherford also has a pretty strong feeling about why Malkin has sputtered through most of the Penguins' first four games -- and it isn't necessarily an indictment of anything Malkin has, or hasn't, done.
The problem, Rutherford suggested Wednesday, is that Malkin's wingers, Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust, are not skating the way they must for the unit to operate at peak efficiency.
"I think it's the chemistry of the line," he said. "In training camp, they had the real good chemistry, the confidence. It's a line that will work, but the important part of it is that skating (is critical), and not trying to get too cute. That's the adjustment the line has to make. The wingers have got to skate the way they're capable of skating. Move, move, move. Keep the tempo up. As the games have started here, these first few games, it hasn't been the same as it was in training camp."
Rutherford said "I have an idea" why the line has underperformed through the first week of the regular season, but declined to elaborate.
He added, though, that he does not anticipate that the sluggish start will have a major impact on Malkin's confidence, and that he has "no" concerns that the line will be unable to perform as expected.
"It's a natural thing that it affects everybody, somewhat, but he's got enough experience, is strong enough, that he's fine," Rutherford said.
The second line's subpar performance is hardly the only issue that has emerged during the Penguins' first four games.
Slow starts, a recurring problem in recent seasons, have been the norm in 2020-21.
The Penguins have allowed 10 first-period goals -- that's twice as many as any other team -- and, not surprisingly, have trailed at the first intermission in every game.
"You can't play that way all year," Rutherford said. "That's a tough way to play. But it's a pattern we've been in the last few years. There are lots of nights over the last few years where we wait to see how the game is going to go, then we decide we're going to play. 'OK. this is how it's going to play. Let's go, let's play.' It's a tough way to go through a year, to chase the score. And there's really no excuse for it."
Correcting that, he said, is an issue for the players, not Mike Sullivan and his staff.
"The preparation is there," Rutherford said. "The preparation is always there. The players are always prepared for the opponent."