Penguins Keep Apple Picking

WHAT HAPPENED

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The Penguins showed no signs of a holiday hangover, as they came out and dictated the terms right from the drop of the puck. They knew how important it would be to keep playing the right way as they look to keep climbing up the standings, and credit to the for making sure that urgency was present in their game.
"I thought our team played hard, we played with a lot of pace. We had a great start, we were playing on our toes," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "It started with the very first shift. I really liked the energy the guys came with. I thought for the most part, we sustained it through the 60 minutes."
When the Penguins are at their best, a hallmark of their game is utilizing their team speed - both with their ability to change the point of attack by moving or supporting the puck, and by using their physical foot speed to challenge their opponents. That was evident tonight as the first period flew by, with the Penguins building a 10-1 edge in shots to start.
They continued to establish their game for most of the night, and when the Islanders pushed in the final minutes of play to try and get the equalizer, the Penguins handled it well. There was a stretch where Jason Zucker and Marcus Pettersson came up with big blocks; Jarry produced his best sequence of the game by denying Islanders forward Otto Koivula twice with the pad; and Sidney Crosby ended up with a breakaway.
"We created that off our defense," Sullivan said. "This has been a message I think that our coaching staff has tried to preach here since training camp, is just being a team that can create offense different ways. And one of the best ways to do it is to create offense through your defense."

OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

- JARRY KEEPS GOING APPLE PICKING

What an absolutely incredible run it has been for the Penguins netminder, who has stopped 141 of the last 143 shots he's faced. And over this five-game stretch, Jarry has posted a 0.40 goals-against average and a .986 save percentage.
"He's just confident. You can tell," Kapanen said. "He's calm and he's poised in the net, and that gives us confidence. I feel as a group, ever since he's been playing well, we've been playing well, too. He's been a big key for our success."
And Jarry, who tied his career-long stretch by making his seventh straight start, said the big key to hissuccess has been to try and put his best foot forward and make sure he's doing his part to try and help the team.
"I'm trying to get better every day," Jarry said. "I think (goaltending coach Andy Chiodo) and the coaching staff have done a great job just preparing me every game, making sure I'm in the right mindset coming into games."
Sullivan credited Jarry for the work the 26-year-old put in all throughout the offseason and during training camp to put himself a position to be successful.
"And now he's going to take each game as it comes, and he's going to try to put his best game in the ice and he's going to learn through each experience," Sullivan said.
While Jarry didn't bite when asked about whether or not this win had more significance with the way last season ended, saying it was just another game against a different team, Sullivan said he was sure the goaltender found some satisfaction in this one tonight.
"And he should," Sullivan said. "He played extremely well against a good team, and this is a hard building to play in. But I think he's playing his best hockey for us as a Pittsburgh Penguin right now."

- RUST OUT, BOYLE IN

After taking just one lap in pregame warmups, Bryan Rust left the ice with a lower-body injury and was unable to play in the contest, and Sullivan said he is currently being evaluated. It was a tough break for Rust, who had finally broken through for his second goal of the year in Pittsburgh's last game on Wednesday.
Brian Boyle slotted in after spending the previous five games as a healthy scratch, centering a line with Dominik Simon and Danton Heinen. Swiss Army knife Evan Rodrigues, who had previously been in that spot, moved up to play with Jake Guentzel and Crosby.
"He came off early in the warmups and I wasn't on in warmups… cause the likelihood of that happening is pretty low," Boyle said during the first intermission interview with AT&T SportsNet's Dan Potash. "I was just kind of warming up on my own. I had about 10 minutes to get out. Never been through that, but it's another opportunity. Big game for us on the road, so I got excited really quick."

- CAREER-LONG STREAK FOR GUENTZEL

Guentzel earned the secondary assist on Kapanen's goal, extending his point streak to eight games and establishing a new career-long high. He has piled up five goals and nine points over that span. The 27-year-old winger also now has points in every single road game this season (8 GP, 5G-5A-10PTS).
He essentially credited the hockey gods the other day for his production, but Sullivan used the word "honest" five times when talking about what's behind Guentzel's success right now. "He's not trying to force plays that aren't there. He's defending when he needs to. He's on the right side of the puck. He's strong on the puck," the Penguins head coach said. "And I just think when he plays an honest game, he's a talented player, he's going to get opportunities to score. He'll create offense."