When will Penguins scoring pick up? How do they work around it until it does?

The Penguins may have scored enough to beat the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

But that’s a far cry from saying that they are scoring … enough.

The team’s 3-1 victory in Game 2 of its preliminary-round series was a rarity of late. The Penguins had lost their previous seven postseason contests.

For an organization that is normally renowned for being skilled offensively, the Penguins have been anything but that in recent postseasons. They’ve totaled just 25 goals in their last 12 playoff games, nine of which were losses.

With the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Kris Letang and Jason Zucker, that’s not enough finish.

This is a franchise that hasn’t exceeded three goals in a playoff game since Game 6 of the 2018 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

“We were able to generate some pretty good chances (in Games 1 and 2),” Penguins center Teddy Blueger said on Tuesday. “We can do a better job in front of their net. Banging in rebounds. Making it harder for (Carey) Price to see the initial shot.”

If skilled players like the ones on the Penguins roster are supposed to be what separate this club from the rest of its playoff rivals, then these Pens are going to have to come up with other ways to win while the goal-scoring funk corrects itself.

On bad ice in the Toronto hub.

Against a really good goalie in Montreal’s Price.

With a power play that is 1 for 12 so far in the series.

Easier said than done, I guess.

“Our guys have done a pretty good job in managing the puck,” Sullivan said. “Not feeding (Montreal’s) transition game, which is the strength of their game. I think when the opportunity is called upon to defend, I think our team is defending well.”

That all sounds great. And Sullivan’s team may be able to lean on those attributes against a Canadiens team that was 24th in the NHL standings before the league pause in March.

That won’t work against whoever the Penguins end up playing in the quarterfinals of the playoffs — if they survive this best-of-five series against the Canadiens.

Should the Penguins earn two more victories to eliminate Montreal, they’ll get one of four elite Eastern Conference teams in the first round of the “official” postseason in this reconfigured 2020 playoff — the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals or Boston Bruins.

All of those teams are vastly superior to the Canadiens. So those elements Sullivan was describing that the Penguins are doing well will be tougher to accomplish against better competition.

They’ll need more offense to keep up with those franchises, for sure.

Brian Metzer and I discuss that dilemma in our weekly “Breakfast With Benz” hockey podcast.

We also look at the debate surrounding Patrick Marleau, Jared McCann’s problems, and what we’ve learned from the Canadiens roster over the two games of this short series.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss the Penguins scoring funk and how they break out of it