How did the Penguins, in the span of four months, go from the brink of irrelevance to celebrating a third Stanley Cup? In the following timeline that weaves its way through this special section, we highlight many of the key dates from an improbable four months.

Feb. 14: A 6-2, blowout loss in Toronto drops the Penguins to 27-25-5. Sergei Gonchar makes his regular-season debut after missing the first four months because of shoulder surgery. Eastern Conference standings at the end of the night:

Team ... W ... Pts.

1. Boston Bruins ... 39 ... 86
2. New Jersey Devils ... 36 ... 75
3. Washington Capitals ... 35 ... 75
4. Philadelphia Flyers ... 29 ... 67
5. Montreal Canadiens ... 30 ... 66
6. New York Rangers ... 30 ... 66
7. Florida Panthers ... 28 ... 64
8. Buffalo Sabres ... 29 ... 64
9. Carolina Hurricanes ... 27 ... 59
10. Penguins ... 27 ... 59

Feb. 15: With the Penguins 12-19-1 since Dec. 4 and on the outside looking in at a playoff spot (5 points out), general manager Ray Shero fires coach Michel Therrien. A 38-year-old first-year coach by the name of Dan Bylsma is brought in from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to fill the job on an interim basis.

Feb. 16: Capping a whirlwind 24 hours, the Penguins lose in Bylsma's debut, dropping a President's Day matinee on Long Island to the lowly New York Islanders, 3-2, in a shootout to fall to 27-25-6.

Feb. 19: In their first game at Mellon Arena under Bylsma, they score three times in the third period -- including the winner by Gonchar -- and beat Montreal, 5-4. It begins a run in which they win 9 of 10 games and earn points in 13 of 14.

Feb. 26: Getting a jump-start on the trade deadline, they deal defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for forward Chris Kunitz (and prospect Eric Tangradi). Says Bylsma: "He's a guy who's going to add grit."

Feb. 27: Begin a challenging five-game road trip by going into United Center and, without an injured Sidney Crosby (groin), beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4, on an Evgeni Malkin power-play goal at 1:36 of overtime.

March 1: Leapfrog Carolina and Buffalo into the eighth and final playoff spot with a 4-1 victory in Dallas. They would not be out of the top eight again.

March 4: Acquire veteran Bill Guerin, 38, from the New York Islanders at the trade deadline. "This is just giving me another chance to compete for a Stanley Cup," he says. Who knew?

March 8: Conclude their five-game trip with a 4-3 victory in Washington and sweep all 10 points on the trip -- the most successful five-game swing in club history.

April 1: Proving they can win at home as well as on the road, they conclude an eight-game homestand with a 6-1 win vs. New Jersey, giving them 13 of a possible 16 points on the stand.

April 11: A team given up for dead just two months earlier goes into Montreal in the final regular-season game and beats the Canadiens, 3-1, to complete an 18-3-4 charge to the postseason and an improbable No. 4 seed that comes a day later when Philadelphia loses to the New York Rangers, 4-3. Malkin scores a goal to finish with 113 points and wrap up his first scoring title.

April 17: Guerin scores two goals, including the winner 18:29 into overtime, to beat the Flyers, 3-2, in Game 2 of their first-round series and give the Penguins victories in both games at Mellon Arena before the series shifts to Philadelphia.

April 25: Eliminate the archrival Flyers with a stunning, 5-3 comeback win in Philadelphia in Game 6 of their first-round series. The Penguins trail, 3-0, in the second period before scoring five unanswered goals -- a run largely jump-started by Max Talbot's fight with Philadelphia's Daniel Carcillo.

April 28: Shero takes the interim tag off Bylsma's title and names him the Penguins' coach. Says Shero: "It just became more and more evident to me ... that Dan was the guy I wanted to move forward with." At 22-5-4, who would argue?

May 2: The Eastern Conference semifinals open in Washington. The Penguins lose, 3-2 -- the seventh time in eight postseason series they drop Game 1 to Washington.

May 4: They lose back-to-back games in regulation for first time under Bylsma as Washington holds serve at home with a 4-3 victory for a 2-0 series lead.

May 6: Kris Letang's goal at 11:23 of overtime beats the Capitals, 3-2, and prevents the Penguins from falling into a nearly insurmountable, 3-0 hole.

May 13: Complete comeback from 2-0 series deficit as Sidney Crosby has two goals and an assist in a 6-2 win vs. Capitals in Game 7. Next: The conference final.

May 14: Carolina knocks out Eastern Conference No. 1 seed Boston in the other semifinal. It sets up Hurricanes-Penguins for the conference title, and gives the Penguins -- an afterthought 90 days ago -- home-ice advantage in a series that could send them back to the Stanley Cup final.

May 21: Evgeni Malkin opens the Eastern Conference final in a big way with a hat trick as part of a four-point game in a 7-4 rout of the Hurricanes at Mellon Arena. It sets the Penguins off on a dominating sweep.

May 27: By Game 4 in Carolina, the only question left was how much damage Bill Cowher had done to his image in Pittsburgh through his support of the overmatched Hurricanes. The Penguins complete a sweep with a 4-1 victory. The rematch with the Red Wings is on.

May 30: Deja vu. For the second year in a row, the Stanley Cup final opens in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. And it opens with a loss, 3-1, this time. But the Penguins talk differently. Says Max Talbot: "We know that if we play [in Game 2] like we did in the second period, we like our chances going forward."

June 2: With the Penguins down, 2-0, the series shifts to Mellon Arena. In a teaser of things to come, Max Talbot scores twice in a 4-2 victory. "It's fun to be there in these pressure situations," Talbot says. They would get only more fun.

June 6: With momentum on their side and the Red Wings supposedly showing their age, the series returns to Detroit tied, 2-2. The Red Wings are definitely not old. Buoyed by the return of Pavel Datsyuk, they hand the Penguins a 5-0 thrashing -- tied for the second-worst postseason loss in Penguins history.

June 9: A text message arrives for Dan Bylsma and the players. "We are a family and in this together. We don't need anyone that is only with us WIN or TIE. I really think this is our year. Let's forget about [Game 5] ... It happens. We will win Tuesday and win the Cup Friday." It is from Mario Lemieux. They do win, 2-1. It's back to Detroit for Game 7. As Lemieux will text later: See you at center ice.

June 12: They do meet Lemieux at center ice with the Cup in hand. With Crosby out for all but one shift of the final 35 minutes, Talbot scores the two biggest goals of his life and Fleury withstands a late Red Wings onslaught. It is the Penguins' first Cup since 1992. Says Crosby: "It's everything you dream of." But could anyone have dreamed it 119 days before on that cold Valentine's Day night in Toronto?