"Less than a year ago, a lot of people regarded this group as the best third line in hockey.

Not anymore.

And with good reason.

A couple of good reasons, actually.

Like how Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy didn't play together this season until a couple of weeks ago, at least in part because Staal missed the first 39 games while recovering from a foot infection and broken hand.

What's more, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin removed from the Penguins' talent pool because of injuries, it's rather silly to think of any unit centered by Staal as a No. 3 line.

Labels, though, are easy to apply and peel off. Results are what make reputations, and Staal and his linemates have produced some pretty fair ones during the six games in which they've been reunited.

The Penguins are 4-2 since then, and all three members of the line have complemented good overall performances with solid offensive production. In those half-dozen games, Staal has three goals and four assists, Kennedy one goal and three assists and Cooke one goal and two assists.

"All three of us are excited when we're out there together," Cooke said. "It's fun. It's exciting. You feel like you're going to be successful every night."

That's understandable, because they usually are. Have been most of the time since they started playing together, for that matter.

But even though Staal, Cooke and Kennedy had worked together a lot before this season, it was striking how little time they needed to mesh upon being reunited after being apart for about eight months. Might as well have been eight hours.

"For whatever reason, it doesn't matter when it is or how long they haven't played together," said assistant coach Tony Granato, who oversees the Penguins' forwards. "It just seems to come back automatically where there's a chemistry."

Chemistry is something every effective line has: Unless its members know what to expect from each other, the unit probably is destined for failure. And a quick breakup.

The Cooke-Staal-Kennedy line, though, seems to have something that transcends chemistry. It's more of a synergy, in which each member's game is elevated by the others and the total of the group is greater than the sum of its parts."