 The Penguins began the regular season on October 5 visiting the Carolina Hurricanes . The team played their home @-@ opener against the Anaheim Ducks on October 6 in front of a standing @-@ room @-@ only crowd of 17 @,@ 132 , the first of 41 sellouts over the course of the season . Through November 21 , the Penguins acquired a record of 8 – 11 – 2 , going 2 – 6 – 1 against Atlantic Division teams in November including a four @-@ game losing streak , their longest of the season . Following a Thanksgiving Day shootout victory against the Ottawa Senators , the Penguins won seven of the next eight games , including the franchise 's first sweep of a Western Canada road trip . Beginning on December 23 , the Penguins compiled a point streak of ten games , including eight consecutive victories , the longest winning streak for the Penguins in nearly ten years . In January and February , the team was 16 – 6 – 5 , climbing the conference standings with the help of goaltender Ty Conklin and center Evgeni Malkin . During the final full month , in March , the team was 10 – 4 – 1 , and 7 – 0 – 0 at home in Mellon Arena . The team concluded the regular season with a home @-@ and @-@ home series against the Philadelphia Flyers , with each team winning a game . 
