Nine Wins in a Row

The Penguins extended their win streak to nine games with their 5-3 comeback victory over St. Louis on Wednesday at PPG Paints Arena.
Not only is it the longest active win streak in the league - it ties the Carolina Hurricanes for the longest overall win streak in the NHL this season, and doubles as the sixth-longest win streak in franchise history.

When the players look at this overall stretch that began by defeating Vancouver 4-1 back on Dec. 4 - and has continued on with victories over Seattle (6-1), Washington (4-2), Anaheim (1 0), Montreal (5-2), Buffalo (3-2), New Jersey (3-2) and San Jose (8-5) - what they take the most pride in is doing whatever it takes to get the end result, however it might look.
"Whether we get up early or down early, or we scratch and we claw to fight back and score goals late or things like that, I think our ability to win different ways has been coming out lately," winger Bryan Rust said. "I think that's a sign of good things, and hopefully we can keep building on that."
The head coach has a similar assessment of what his group has been able to do over the past month, pointing out their resilience, work ethic and determination.
"I give our players so much credit," Sullivan said. "I think our team has been competing hard consistently. We're not perfect. We're striving for it, but it's hard to play a perfect game out there. Our opponents are really good as well. They're trying to win as well. And it's a game of mistakes. There are moments in games where we get on our heels and lose momentum, and we're trying to learn through those experiences."
Sullivan said what the coaching staff talks about with their guys a lot is digging in and simplifying the game so that they can get momentum back whenever it does swing to the other side, calling tonight's game a perfect example of that.
Even though the Blues got up 2-0 in the second period and managed to hold onto a lead for most of the night, it never affected Pittsburgh's attitude or enthusiasm. As Sullivan said, they really liked the game they were playing, they just happened to be behind on the scoreboard, thanks in large part to some great goaltending from Blues netminder Jordan Binnington.
But the Penguins kept battling and eventually Sidney Crosby - who was in "beast mode" as Sullivan called it - tied the game at 3-3, with the Blues unsuccessfully challenging the goal for goaltender interference. As a result, the Penguins ended up with a power play, and it took the red-hot Evan Rodrigues all of 12 seconds to give the Penguins a lead they would not relinquish.
"You look at a guy like E-Rod, he's scored big goals for us all year," defenseman Kris Letang said. "Played all the way across the lineup, first line, third line, second line. We have guys that want to be a big part of the game and bring it every night, so the character, I think, is our biggest strength right now. For the rest, it's just going to come with time when everybody's going to be healthy."
That's what makes the potential of this Penguins team even more exciting, as they have yet to field a full lineup with their other franchise center and generational talent Evgeni Malkin still working towards a season debut after undergoing knee surgery.
It's been something special to watch them come together as a group through all of the adversity they've faced since Day 1 of training camp and continue to experience every day with players in and out of the lineup due to injuries and COVID protocol. But everything they've gone through appears to only make them stronger, and they're looking forward to seeing what they're capable of.
"The chemistry on the team is awesome," Rust said. "We got a really good group. Guys are meshing well. We got unbelievable leadership, as we've always had, and I think everyone fits in nicely. Everyone knows their role, on and off the ice. I think it's just…we go out there, we come to the rink every day, we have a whole lot of fun together and I think that goes a long way.
"And I think as far as our team goes, when we get fully healthy here, it's definitely going to be fun to see what we got. I think we got a really good team. I think a lot of us feel like we can do something special."