NEW YORK -- It's not as if this is a regular feature of Mike Sullivan's game plans.
If it were, the Penguins might not do it as reliably as they have, based on how often they've strayed from his instructions during the early weeks of this season.
But for a team that has been wildly inconsistent in so many aspects of the game, they've been remarkably in at least one regard: If there's a game -- and there have been eight so far -- they're going to trail on the scoreboard at some point.
And they will do it by two or more goals for a significant chunk of that time.
Indeed, the most striking unofficial, statistic the Penguins have generated during the first two-plus weeks of 2020-21 is that they have been behind by at least a goal for 251 minutes and 54 seconds.
That's the equivalent of more than four full games, and dwarfs the amount of time they've played with a lead (35:27).
The only thing more stunning than the disparity in those totals might be that the Penguins actually have a winning record, 4-3-1, in spite of it.
"It's good to show the resilience to ... come back in these games, but we have to find a way to have better starts," winger Jason Zucker said. "Get a lead, and play with that lead."
The Penguins have started poorly in most games, but actually have gotten the first goal in three of their eight so far. Whatever momentum scoring then generates is quickly dissipated, however, and the Penguins have trailed at the first intermission seven times already.
They fell behind at the break during a 4-1 loss in Boston Thursday by allowing a goal with 67 seconds to go in the opening period, and ended up trailing the Bruins for 47 minutes, 13 seconds of the 60-minute game.
And that was only their third-longest stretch of playing from behind. They were down for 52 minutes, 33 seconds during a 5-2 loss in Philadelphia in the second game of the season, and the Bruins were on top for 49 minutes, three seconds in their 3-2 overtime victory at TD Garden Tuesday.
A third-period surge allowed the Penguins to salvage a point from the first of their two games in Boston, but letting their opponents play with a lead most of the time is a pretty good formula for long-term failure.
"Obviously, when you're chasing the game, it kind of ruins the flow of the game a little bit," defenseman Cody Ceci said. "You're not rolling four lines as much. Guys aren't getting in a rhythm. It's tougher mentally, too. It's frustrating. That's something we have to figure out here pretty quick, because the longer this goes on, the harder it's going to be to win games. Obviously, with the short season, we can't afford to fall too far behind."