PITTSBURGH — The bad losses are mounting, the confidence is sliding, rumors of a coaching change are swirling.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, one of the NHL's best teams the past two seasons, are going through what lesser teams endure, and they obviously don't like it. The problem is they don't seem to know how to stop it.

This is a team that only seven months ago came within two victories of winning the Stanley Cup. It has two world-class players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and an elite goaltender in Marc-Andre Fleury.

But the numbers don't lie: seven losses in eight games, a 7-15-1 record in the last 23 games, a losing record (20-19-4) when overtime losses are added.

Anything less than a repeat of their Stanley Cup run would be considered a disappointment for a team that has won 94 games over the past two seasons but, heading into tonight's game at Philadelphia, the Penguins wouldn't make the playoffs if they started now.

"The purpose is to try and make the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said Monday. "We're still in that. Yes, we're disappointed ... we have a lot of adversity. It's easy to get discouraged, but I know what I'm dealing with. They're a good group, good people."

The slump is spurring talk of a coaching switch, even though Therrien signed a three-year extension only last summer. His top players, including Crosby, insist the coach hasn't lost the team.

Therrien is convinced the Penguins have the talent to recover and, if they start soon, the time. What's uncertain is if a team whose top players are all in the early 20s has the temperament, composure and experience to do it.

Surely, this dramatic falloff can't be blamed entirely on star forward Marian Hossa's decision to sign with Detroit, veterans Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts leaving for Tampa Bay, or forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen being dealt to Atlanta late last season.

"This is a stretch that every team goes through during the season," forward Petr Sykora said. "It's gone on a little longer than we wanted. But there's nothing better than starting from the bottom to get on top again."

The Penguins did that two years ago, making the playoffs following four consecutive seasons in which they won 27 games or fewer. They hardly expected to have to do it again this season, especially after they started 12-4-3.

There are many possible reasons for their slump.

The fatigue of playing so many games in two seasons. Goaltending that doesn't rival that of the last two seasons. Little offense outside of Malkin and Crosby — and the stars' own lack of scoring on the power play. An inability to hold leads. Losses to teams the Penguins normally would put away, such as a 7-3 defeat to Toronto and a 6-1 loss to Florida, both on home ice.

On Thursday, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Nashville, only to lose 5-3.

"We're definitely not as confident as we were," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "I guess when you're going through a losing streak like this, you're a little more fragile than usual. You can definitely sense it, the (dressing) room gets quiet and the bench gets quiet. Even in Nashville when we had a two-goal lead, it was going in that direction."