PITTSBURGH — It was the second week of December, and the Pittsburgh Penguins sat in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings at 15-10-3. The team was struggling to string wins together. The Pens were playing a boring brand of hockey. More importantly, they looked like a team that would struggle to make the playoffs for the second year in a row.
General manager Jim Rutherford, 28 games into the season, decided to make a coaching change. He fired Mike Johnston on Dec. 12 and promoted Wilkes-Barre Scranton head coach Mike Sullivan. The team struggled the rest of December under Sullivan, going 3-5-1, and the jury remained out on the coaching change.
Though the Penguins remained on the borderline of the second wild card spot for much of January and February, they was playing much better. They were scoring goals with regularity. They were limiting goals and chances at a much better rate than expected. The power play showed signs of life. And, Sidney Crosby, who was missing in action for much of the first 28 games, was back to playing like the best player in the world. They were a team that was trending upward.
The Pens entered March staring at ridiculous stretch of games. It included 16 games in total, three sets of back-to-back games, 12 games against fellow Metropolitan Division rivals and 10 games against teams within a handful of points of the Penguins in the standings. It was a make-or-break stretch.
While the team could have easily folded during this stretch and dropped out of the playoff race, they instead went 12-4 and vaulted themselves into second place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins went from a team that, at best, looked like it would be cruising for a first round exit in the playoffs, to a team that some are favoring to win the Stanley Cup. While many people factored into this turnaround, such as the players themselves and some of the moves Rutherford made during the season, the biggest spotlight needs to shine on Sullivan.
Consider a few of the things he has been able to do since taking the position. Under Johnston, the Penguins were 11-23-5 against Metropolitan opponents. Under Sullivan, the team is 16-6-1. The Penguins are 38-0-0 this season when leading after two periods, but they have also shown a resiliency to come back when they are down. They have come back from five 2-0 deficits and one 3-0 deficit. On Jan. 23, they snapped a long streak of not coming back to win a game when trailing after two periods. Since Sullivan took over, the Penguins have led the NHL in goals scored. Even with all of those things, the most important thing won’t be found a stat sheet.
Over the last four or five years, the Penguins have been weak-minded. Think of the Flyers playoff series in 2012. The Penguins blew a 3-0 lead in the first game and a 2-0 lead in the second en route to a 4-2 series loss. The Penguins also notoriously blew two 3-1 series leads: one against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011, and one against the New York Rangers in 2014. Sandwiched in between was a 4-0 series sweep against the Boston Bruins in 2013 where the vaunted Penguins offense scored two goals in total.
That’s what makes this turnaround so impressive for this year’s Penguins team. For the first time since the 2009 Stanley Cup team, it feels like this team is never out of a game, expecting to win every one. It doesn’t seem to matter if the opponent is the league leader in points, like the Capitals, or is a team like the Flyers or Rangers who have had the Penguins number recently. The Penguins know they have to stick to their game and not let the other team dictate what happens on the ice.
This mentality starts with Sullivan, who was very adamant on the topic April 3, prior to the Penguins game with Philadelphia Flyers. He was asked about the Penguins winning 5-0 the prior evening against an Islanders team that was slashing and hitting its way through the entire game. “We have to make sure we don’t get distracted from it,” Sullivan said. “We have to continue to play the way we know we can play, to our identity, in order to give us the best chance to win. I think our guys have had that real laser focus and not getting distracted against any of those tactics against us.”
The Penguins also entered the game against the Flyers not needing the two points as much as the Flyers did, who are still fighting for the final wild card spot in the conference. Mike Sullivan was also asked about trying to match intensity when an opponent needs those two points more than the Penguins do. “For us it’s important we continue to play a certain way,” Sullivan said. “to continue to push the envelope and challenge one another to get better.”
It was not just another game for Sullivan, and it clearly resonated with the team. The Penguins went on to rout the Flyers 6-2 with secondary scoring continuing to aid the Penguins. Eric Fehr scored twice and Beau Bennett scored, too. They are the kind of players who will need to score in the playoffs.
The Penguins also fought through many of those distractions Sullivan alluded to in his pregame conference. After the Flyers went down 3-0, they tried to engage the Penguins in numerous physical altercations. Whether it was a late hit in front of the net or a subtle spear of the stick from Wayne Simmonds underneath the mask of goalie Matt Murray, the Penguins skated away and simply scored again.
This Penguins team — even players such as Kris Letang who have been short-tempered in the past and have engaged when a team brings physicality — seems to finally get the message. “We hurt (the Flyers) on the scoreboard,” Letang said. “That’s the way we play. We’re not a team built on toughness. We’re a team built on speed.” It sounds like the coach’s message coming through loud and clear. On the ice, and in the standings.
There is a different feeling around this Penguins team. From management, to coaching staff, to players, this team and organization is feeling it right now. As Sullivan mentioned earlier in the day, they have a “laser focus.” They expect to win every game. The team has tremendous chemistry right now, and the players are having fun on the ice.
It all amounts to bad news for the rest of the NHL. Those pieces that were missing for the past four or five years appear to be in place. It has been quite the turnaround from the way this team looked and felt in early December, and it all starts with Sullivan bringing this mentality to Pittsburgh.
