NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh Penguins face the New York Islanders on Monday at UBS Arena in their biggest game since losing in overtime of Game 7 against the New York Rangers about 15 miles away in May 2022.

There is no shortage of storylines: the health of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins’ recent goaltending and defensive woes, and their long history of nightmarish endings whenever the Islanders are involved in their playoff dreams.

While those are indeed compelling, here’s another: Will the Penguins lose their minds at the referees?

The drama that has been boiling all season is ready to overflow.

During Dan Muse’s first season as head coach, the Penguins have been shorthanded 213 times and on the power play 205 times. You would expect that to be flipped, given that the Penguins have had the puck about 51 percent of the time this season and that penalties most frequently occur when the opposition has the puck.

At the same time, Muse has challenged for goaltender interference nine times this season. Nine times. He is batting 0-for-9. Perhaps even more frustrating for the Penguins, their opponents have been successful in four of their five challenges this season.

In challenges involving the Penguins this season, they have been on the losing end of 93 percent of them.

The Penguins don’t seem to believe there’s some conspiracy against their team. But many of the people I’ve spoken with in the organization over the past week do think something is going on.

The tensions came to a head on Saturday afternoon when Dallas Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel ripped Erik Karlsson’s stick out of his hands directly in front of an official, at a point when Dallas had received five power plays to one for the Penguins. Bichsel scored a moment later. The PPG Paints Arena crowd erupted, not just because of this play, but because of cumulative frustration from all of the calls that have gone against the Penguins in recent weeks. Moments later, Justin Brazeau and Ville Koivunen were hauled down. No calls.

The Penguins, from future Hall of Famers to healthy scratches, have been privately seething about officiating in recent weeks, far more than at any point in my 17 years covering the franchise. So, if there’s no conspiracy, what is happening?

Here are some of the theories I’ve heard in conversations with team sources.

1. The Penguins have no owner.

Oh, they do, but in name only. Fenway Sports Group is selling the Penguins to the Hoffmann family, but the deal isn’t done yet. But as one Penguins employee said to me over the weekend, “It’s not like Fenway is around or vocal in the first place, and certainly not now.”

When teams believe something is going on between their players, coaches and officials, it isn’t uncommon for ownership to speak with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and others who oversee league officiating.

It’s extremely unlikely that FSG is saying anything to the NHL about officiating. The group didn’t have a warm relationship with Bettman before it decided to sell the Penguins. Now, FSG is on the way out anyway.

The Hoffmann family has no power yet and can’t say a word about officiating.

2. The Penguins don’t have a CEO.

When Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle owned the Penguins, their CEO, David Morehouse, was always the first to contact the league when there was an issue, and he did so enthusiastically. He had power.

The Penguins have no one with that power these days.

Lemieux rarely spoke with the league about its officiating, and for a reason: He had a contentious relationship with the league as a player, to the point that he stated the league’s poor officiating as the primary reason for his first retirement in 1997 at age 31. The guy who once called the NHL a “garage league” because of its poor officiating seldom spoke to the league about it during his days as owner.

But Burkle and Morehouse did all the time.

3. The Penguins’ most powerful person right now is Kyle Dubas.

It is widely believed that Dubas, the team’s president of hockey operations and general manager, was the one who instructed the team’s media relations department to print out the rulebook to highlight rule 69.1 to the media after a recent game against the Winnipeg Jets. This came only days after Dubas met with other league general managers, Bettman and other league officials to discuss the goaltender interference controversy that is sweeping the league.

Against Winnipeg, Karlsson was shoved into goaltender Artūrs Šilovs during a goal — a pretty clear infraction by the Jets. The play was reviewed, and Winnipeg was credited with the goal. The Penguins were incensed after the game in the locker room. Apparently, Dubas was, too.

Dubas’ decision to highlight the rule probably didn’t go over so well with the league.

Penguins officials have told me they believe Dubas is unpopular among the NHL’s officiating staff based in Toronto, where Dubas had a very messy, public departure from the Maple Leafs.

4. Muse is a first-year coach.

The Penguins are absolutely convinced that Muse, because of his relative youth and friendly nature, doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt.

After a recent game against Carolina, a veteran Penguins player told me that referees are “literally afraid” of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour and that refs have no such feelings about Muse.

A few times this season, Muse has requested to speak with officials and received only a one-handed wave in return.

5. The Penguins have a long history of feuding with NHL referees — more than most teams.

From the franchise’s legends alone:

• Lemieux frequently publicly discussed his disdain for the NHL and its officials.

• Jaromír Jágr was suspended in 1992 for shoving referee Ron Hogarth during a game on Super Bowl Sunday in Washington — the very same game that led to Lemieux’s comments.

• Sidney Crosby still carries a reputation for being a whiner with referees because he argued with them as a teenager.

The Penguins have had more star power than any NHL franchise since the late 1980s, and the NHL is perceived to refuse to protect its star players. The Penguins and the NHL are oil and water in this sense.

Again, the Penguins don’t believe there’s a conspiracy against them. That seems a bit extreme. But they do think their history, their first-year coach, their GM’s past and their high-level leadership void are all combining to tip the scales against them.

It’s a story every day in the locker room. It’s a story every day among team officials. And now, it’s a story to me because I’ve never heard it so loudly from the Penguins.