The Penguins’ losing streak, now at eight games after Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Canadiens here in Montreal, has seen the Penguins consistently finding new ways to lose.

There have been full-blown late collapses, as they had against the Sharks and Mammoth. There was a fluke goal in the final second against the Ducks. Bad penalties killed them against the Oilers. Last game, in Ottawa, bad calls played a role, but their inability to push back after any kind of adversity was what really did them in.

There are no moral victories in a shutout loss, a second consecutive shutout loss at that, to extend the skid to eight games. But the way this one ended has the Penguins as optimistic as ever that they’ll break out of the streak soon.

The first period was fairly evenly-matched, but the Canadiens had a two-goal lead at first intermission. Juraj Slafkovsky capitalized on the Canadiens’ lone power play of the game, and then a Rickard Rakell turnover in the offensive zone resulted in Owen Beck scoring off the ensuing rush.

The Penguins were again the victim of their own mistakes in the second period, with Bryan Rust’s turnover on a power play setting up Josh Andersen for a shorthanded breakaway goal.

“They’re a pretty opportunistic team,” Sidney Crosby told me. “You know, we gave them some looks and they buried them. … We made some mistakes, they made some and they capitalized and we didn’t.”

Down three goals and winless in over two weeks could be demoralizing. And we’ve seen the result of this team getting demoralized over this stretch, be it falling apart after their opponent shows any life in the third period, or not being able to respond after a call doesn’t go their way like in Ottawa. But in the third period here, the Penguins showed actual push.

The Penguins dominated the third period, outshooting the Canadiens 17-6 and 32-12 in shot attempts. They could have done more to make those quality attempts — getting more shots from the high-danger areas, getting more bodies to the net front — but it was a sign of a pushback that hasn’t always been the case through this stretch.

The Penguins weren’t able to beat Jacob Fowler, and Anderson added an empty-net goal. But they ended on somewhat of a high note nonetheless.

“We were taking over the game,” Stuart Skinner said of that play late. “So, really like how we responded, especially down three going into the third. How the guys came out was impressive.”

Skinner took some of the blame, saying that if he kept it to “one less goal, maybe it gives the guys maybe a touch more juice going in the second and third.”

Crosby, seemingly, has made an effort to stress the positives in this losing streak. He did that here, praising the team’s effort and stressing that they “worked hard.” But given that there have been some positive takeaways in most of these games, I asked if that makes it more or less frustrating that they still keep managing to lose even when they do show flashes of what they’re capable of.

“I don’t think either,” he said. “I think that’s just the facts. I mean, it’s a long season. There are going to be games where you don’t play well, you;be still got to find ways to win those and hopefully you’re giving yourself a chance. Hopefully we’re giving ourselves a chance more nights than not. I think there were a couple there that weren’t great with with Ottawa and Edmonton, but for the most part we had some pretty good games that we just didn’t get the results. We’ve just got to find a way to turn the page here tomorrow and get back in the win column.”

The mood in locker room after this latest loss felt different. This was the most optimistic the locker room has seemed after any of these losses — it wasn’t that they were happy or satisfied, but it seemed to be a feeling of encouragement based on the way the game ended. They’re capable of playing the right way, and if they actually do that — not just in the third period, not just in the first two periods, not just for the first 59:59 of the game … then they have what they need to finally earn a win.

“We’re just battling through this,” Skinner said. “I’s just a matter of time.”

Crosby didn’t sense any frustration, saying, “We were working hard. Everyone kept pushing. It’s sometimes easy to let up, but we hung in there.”

Part of why the Penguins feel like this third period was something they can build on is just the nature of their schedule. This was the first half of a back-to-back, and they’ll see these same Canadiens in less than 24 hours back in Pittsburgh. They’re hoping they can pick up right where they left off.

“We’ve got to turn the page,” Dan Muse said. “I always say the same thing, but that’s the reality of it. We’ve got another hockey game tomorrow night. We’ve got to get on the plane and go home, and we’ve got to find a way to be better and win a hockey game. And that’s the bottom line. So there’s no time to feel bad for ourselves.”