Penguins' big three steamrolling opponents of late

The Pittsburgh Penguins appear to have woken up from their early-season slumber thanks in large part to the most dominant trio of scorers the league has to offer.

Sure, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel recording multitudes of points isn't exactly breaking news at this point in their remarkable careers, but they've all been on a different planet as of late.

In 13 games since the calendar flipped to 2018, including Friday's 7-4 win over the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh's big three forwards have been simply unstoppable.

Additionally, Crosby is currently riding an 11-game point streak, Malkin was recently recognized as the NHL's first star of the month, and Kessel has moved into second in league scoring (62), just two points behind leader Nikita Kucherov.

It's no coincidence that Pittsburgh is one of the NHL's hottest teams, capturing 20 of a possible 26 points so far in 2018 and surging to second place in the Metropolitan Division after sitting in seventh on Dec. 31.