By Dave Holt / Sports editor

The Pittsburgh Penguins have dropped four consecutive games and are in the Atlantic division basement. It’s not because of bad luck or injuries. No, the reason for the slide is passion.

Actually, a lack of it.

The 2006-07 Penguins didn’t find themselves as a team until around the all-star break, but that was last year. That team didn’t have expectations and played with a sense of reckless abandon. There was desire in last year’s team. And it showed on the ice, especially at home, where the Penguins finished 17-2-2 in their final 21 games.

That was a desperate hockey team.

This year is completely different. They are, to put it simply, sloppy. Though maybe lazy is the better adjective. But any way you look at it, this isn’t even an OK hockey team right now.

Here’s a breakdown of the Penguins through the first month of the season.

Offense C+

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been magnificent in the offensive zone. Crosby is on a 17 game points streak and, with a goal and an assist against the Devils last night, is now tied with Henrik Zetterberg for the NHL scoring lead at 27 points. Malkin isn’t far behind with 24. Petr Sykora has chipped in with seven goals, but other than that, the offensive production has been inconsistent.

The odd-man rushes that the Penguins generated time after time last year are few and far between. And when they start to cycle well, no one ends up shooting the puck at the net. It’s hard to score when you’re not shooting the puck and actually getting it to the net. No one stands in front of the net to disrupt the goaltender.

They just don’t put any pressure on opposing teams, and it’s showing up on the scoreboard and in the standings. The Penguins have scored more than two goals only twice in their last eight games. The two games they did, a 4-2 win at Minnesota and a 5-0 New Jersey, are the only games they have won in that stretch.

The lone bright spot has been the power play, which has produced 20 goals. But even that has failed them in critical situations.

Defense D-

There were opinions circling around in the offseason that this team didn’t do enough to upgrade the defensive corps. That seems to be true.

Free agent acquisition Darryl Sydor is a minus six in the first 18 games. Sergei Gonchar is a minus five and Ryan Whitney a minus three. In fact, only three players — Rob Scuderi, Adam Hall and Maxime Talbot — that have seen significant ice time are on the plus side.

Laziness is especially prevalent in the defensive zone. The Penguins are not physical in their own end. They constantly let opposing players stand in front of the goaltender and do not make them pay for it. That has led to countless goals this season. It’s no wonder they’re three games under .500.

That laziness has led to taking penalty after penalty, and inopportune ones at that. Last night in New Jersey, the Penguins took three penalties in a row. Luckily, the penalty kill was up to the task. Which, in the previous game at Philadelphia, it wasn’t. The Penguins gave up four power play goals.

Penguin fans have to be sick to their stomachs.

Goaltending B-

Marc-Andre Fleury and Dany Sabuorin have played well at times this season, but soft goals and lack of help around the net has cost the team tight games. Fleury has a .893 save percentage — terrible for a team’s No. 1 goaltender. Both goalies need to steal games for the team to keep treading water until the Penguins make a turnaround.

The only way that is going to happen is to start playing aggressive, passionate hockey again. The same kind of hockey that earned them 105 points last year.