The month between the Thanksgiving turkey being served and the Waterford crystal ball dropping on Times Square passes in a blink for many. That’s likely been true for the Pittsburgh Penguins, too, because time flies much faster when you’re having fun.

A very average team with a 9-9-0 record at American Thanksgiving, the Penguins’ 6-3-3 December now has them at 18-13-4, well above .500 with a .571 winning percentage. They’re still just shy of an Eastern Conference playoff spot, tied with two teams at one point out of the second wildcard, but they look like a club that’s starting to figure it out.

The Penguins have won both of their contests so far against the New York Islanders, and they’ve done it by taking a page from the Isles’ book, tightening up their defensive mindset and getting lights-out goaltending from not one but both of their netminders, turning their biggest question mark of the past few years into a position of strength.

“We know whoever’s back there is going to give us stops and give us a chance to win, which is a huge confidence boost for us,” said forward Drew O’Connor.

Goalie tandem Tristan Jarry (2.47) and Alex Nedeljkovic (2.49) boasts one of the NHL’s lowest combined goals-against averages, and the two split the past week’s 7-0 and 3-1 wins over the Islanders. Jarry picked up his league-leading fourth shutout, while Nedeljkovic delivered a New Year’s Eve performance that may well go down in Penguins lore.

No stick, no mask, NO PROBLEM 👏 pic.twitter.com/qhfeiREd1i

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 31, 2023

“It’s been awesome this year, the two of us; we’ve both been playing well and we’re both pushing each other,” Jarry said. “I think that’s how you stay at your best, when you’re able to practice well and do the little things that translate into your game. And the guys are doing a great job in front, just letting us see pucks, keeping pucks to the perimeter, and I think that’s helping both of us a lot.”

Nedeljkovic echoed the Penguins’ attention to responsible play with, and away from, the puck.

“I think as we’ve gone on we’ve gotten better defensively in our own end; we’ve been a little bit more responsible playing in the high ice in the offensive zone,” the backup said. “It’s led to less turnovers and less odd-man rushes, which makes it easy to defend when you’re not giving up so many grade-A chances.”

While giving up fewer grade-A chances to the opposition, the Penguins have been finding more secondary scoring themselves. While Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang continued to lead the team, as they have all season, December saw big points pushes from the likes of defenseman Marcus Pettersson (9A) and forwards Valtteri Puustinen (1G, 6A, 7P), O’Connor (2G, 3A, 5P), finding his game on a line with Malkin, and Rickard Rackell (2G, 3A, 5P).

Lars Eller and Jeff Carter each contributed three goals; of Carter’s four goals this season, three have been game-winners.

“I think [Carter] has been invaluable,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “His demeanor is great for our team from a leadership standpoint; he doesn’t get rattled if we lose momentum or get on our heels. He just knows how to play [and is] a real versatile player for us. A lot of what he does probably goes unnoticed because it doesn’t end up on the scoresheet, but he does a lot of little things that help us win.”

The power play, a disappointing No. 18 of 32 league-wide with a .523 conversion rate before December, also showed signs of righting itself last month, going.654 (No. 7 overall).

“It feels like we’re finding our identity within the team,” Eller said. “I think we’re starting to put more consistent 60-minute efforts together and we don’t have these lapses in our game where we’re giving up so many odd-man rushes. We’re building playing a little bit better defensively and that’s giving us the foundation for creating offense.”

It all adds up to a start to 2024 that isn’t quite where the Penguins wanted to be at this point in the season, but feels like it’s heading in the right direction. They’ll kick off the new year with a big opportunity, hosting the Washington Capitals – one of the teams they’re battling for that wildcard spot – on Tuesday.

“I don’t know you define grittier hockey or ugly hockey, [but] I think it’s beautiful hockey,” Sullivan said. “We’re playing the game hard; we’re competing hard. We’re priding ourselves in a lot of the little things – puck battles, wall play, net-front play – and those are the little things we preach to our guys all the time, and the important thing is that we value it. When we value those things, it places a heightened urgency in those areas of the game and that gives us a better chance to win.

“I think it’s a collective effort throughout the lineup, and it’s a good feeling when you can get results and you make the sacrifices and commitment to the team that’s necessary to set yourself up for that. I couldn’t be more proud of them the last couple of nights, our compete level and how invested we are in trying to win. We’re playing some pretty good teams, so we’re going to have to have this level of urgency night in and night out. And I think a lot of it starts with that commitment to those little things we’re talking about that, in our mind, add up to winning hockey games.”