Sully Says: Getting The Win Is The Most Important Thing
The Penguins still had some lapses against Minnesota, but they'll take the two points
After a tough night for Sidney Crosby's line in Tuesday's loss to Toronto - where they went a combined minus-13 in the game - the coaching staff moved Rickard Rakell alongside the captain and Jake Guentzel. Bryan Rust skated alongside Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker.
The switch got the top trio going, as they opened the scoring 8:15 into play, with Crosby getting the goal and his linemates getting the assists. Crosby ended up scoring twice during a four-point night, while Guentzel had a three-point night (1G-2A).
They got on the scoresheet the most, but every trio had its moments. The fourth line was particularly strong, with Minnesota native Ryan Poehling putting Pittsburgh up 2-0, a lead they took into the first intermission.
The Wild came out strong in the second period, scoring two goals 12 seconds apart in the opening 4:43 to even the score. But the Penguins just kept that one-shift-at-a-time mentality that Mike Sullivan always preaches, and the power play - which had one goal in their previous 13 attempts - came up clutch with a 5-on-3 goal from Kris Letang, his first of the season.
"Big momentum swing there, but I think we still felt pretty good," Crosby said. "We don't like giving up goals that close together, and obviously they tie the game up. To respond with that power-play goal, we felt pretty good coming in. So we need that. We've had our struggles there. We have to be difference-makers on the power play, and tonight it was the difference in the game."
After Crosby got his second (also on the power play), the Wild scored shorthanded to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-3. But third-line winger Brock McGinn responded with his fourth goal in five games, and Guentzel followed that up with an empty-netter. Tristan Jarry, who got the nod after Casey DeSmith had started three of the last four, made 19 saves.
Here's what Sullivan had to say after the game, before the Penguins headed to Winnipeg.
On how the Penguins still found a way to get two points despite not getting a complete 60-minute effort (namely that lapse early in the second):"Well, it's important that we got the win. I think that's the most important thing. I think there was a lot to like about the game. We still have some lapses in the game where we hurt ourselves, so to speak. We got to continue to work at getting better at those circumstances. For a lot of the night, we really liked our game. Obviously, when you when you score that many goals, it helps your chances. But I thought the 5-on-3 goal in the second period was a huge goal for our team. Just a huge momentum boost for us. Those guys have been working hard at it. I was happy for them."
On if he appreciates Teddy Blueger, playing in his second game of the year, even more now that the Penguins didn't have him for a while: "Yeah, you know, you take guys like that for granted. When you have them in the lineup, you realize how good they are when you don't have them in the lineup. He's a guy that is just such a conscientious player. He's good in the faceoff circle. He's a great penalty killer. He's a sound defensive player. He's hard to play against, and he has an offensive game as well. So I think he's a real important player for us. He plays really important minutes for us. We put him in tough situations all the time, and he gets it done for us."
On what he thought of the fourth line overall tonight: "I thought they were real good. I thought they brought us a ton of energy. They had a number of good looks. They score a goal. They did everything, and then some, as far as helping us win. When they play that type of game, it certainly makes us a whole lot more difficult to play against."
On the way the penalty kill is performing right now:"Well, I think we're doing a better job just being aggressive when we have an opportunity. Putting power plays under pressure, and not allowing them the time and space to pick us apart, so to speak. I think that's when our penalty kill is at its best. It's taken us a while to get some guys on the same page. I think Teddy coming back in the lineup really helps us in that capacity. He's such a smart player out there. He makes good reads. He has great recognition skills and awareness away from the puck. Those are the types of skill sets that are important on the kill. Hopefully, we can get some confidence there. I think the last couple of games, it's been significantly better. We just got to continue to build on it."
On what he thinks of Ryan Poehling in that area: "Ryan, he's a good penalty killer. He can really skate. He's got a long reach. He has good awareness. He's another guy that we can play in the faceoff circle as well, which is an important aspect. If you can win that first faceoff and get a 200-foot clear, your chances of killing the penalty are exponentially greater. We've got Ryan now, we've got Teddy now, we've got Carts (Jeff Carter) on the right side if we need him. So we've got a number of different guys we can go to that can help us in that regard, and Ryan is one of those guys as well."
On how the power play appeared to collapse around the Minnesota net, and if that's what he wants them to do more of: "We're just trying to get them to simplify the game a little bit. Take some of the thinking out of it and not look for a better play. Let's take some of the thinking out of it. Let's shoot the puck and let's go to the net, create opportunity off the rebound. I think that's when our power play's at its best. In my opinion, we have some of the best players in the game around the blue paint. There's nobody better than Sid, for example. I think Jake excels in that area. So, we got to get the puck there more, we got to get people there more, and I think it just starts with simplifying the game a little bit."
On if he was pleased with Tristan's response to the way that second period started:"It was a tough circumstance, you know? I think he would have liked that goalie handle back. We work on those things a lot. And just that communication with our defenseman and the goalie and that exchange, and how important that is. That's one of Tristan's strengths of his game. He's normally very good in that in that regard. I thought he responded after that and he settled into his game."
