Sully Says: "I Thought There Were Momentum Swings on Both Sides"

After a loss last night against the Winnipeg Jets, which Head Coach Mike Sullivan stated was "not our best", the Penguins were looking to get back in the win column on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Penguins played with more poise on the puck in this contest, and the trio of Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, and Jason Zucker was buzzing all game. Zucker in particular had two opportunities in the opening frame to put the Penguins on the board, but both clanged off the post behind Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen.

The Hurricanes had a few spurts of fantastic puck possession in the Penguins' end throughout the first period, but the Canes really seemed to get the momentum flowing following a tally from Brady Skjei. Skjei was able to get himself a little bit of room to maneuver around the top of the faceoff circle and wristed one past Casey DeSmith to put the home team up 1-0.
Under two minutes into the second period, Drew O'Connor was able to draw a holding call, giving the Penguins a chance on the power play. The best opportunity was probably a Malkin pass to a net-side Sidney Crosby, but unfortunately, it didn't connect. The Canes then took the puck the other way for a short-handed opportunity, but nothing came of that.
Around the midway point of the middle period, Sebastian Aho took the puck from low to high in the Penguins' zone and laid a pass into the middle of the ice, where Jalen Chatfield was able to rip one into the net. Carolina's lead was extended, 2-0.
With only 1:50 to play in the second, Evgeni Malkin was tripped while trying to drive to the net, putting the Penguins back on the power play. 26 seconds after that, former Penguin Jordan Staal was called for tripping Casey DeSmith as the Penguins were regrouping in their end, giving the Penguins a 5-on-3 through the end of the period. Chances were there, but in the end, nothing materialized.
The third period was all black and gold. "That's how we should have been playing the whole game. Playing fearless and on our toes," said Bryan Rust following the game. Malkin deked Brent Burns and had a scoring opportunity only 14 seconds in, and shortly after that, Zucker had a chance of his own while moving from Andersen's glove side to blocker side through the slot. Nevertheless, Andersen weathered the storm.
Rickard Rakell got the Penguins on the board with a power-play tally 7:48 into the period. Andersen had gloved a puck on net and tried to toss it up and bat it out of harm's way with his paddle. Rakell didn't let that happen, batting the puck with the shaft of his stick into the Carolina net.

The Penguins had power-play opportunities with both 6:21 and 1:02 remaining in regulation, and while chances were there, no pucks found their way into the net.
Here's what Coach Sullivan had to say following the loss…
On the Penguins start to the game compared to their third period:
"I don't know that I agree with you that we didn't come to play. I thought we competed pretty hard. We were playing against a good hockey team. I thought there were momentum swings on both sides. We know they're a team that-they play a pretty simple game. They play a north-south game. They throw a lot of pucks in. They're one of the leading teams in the league as far as dump-in rates, and that's the game they play. And then, they're going to try to suffocate you with their forecheck, and they're good at it. And so, they had their moments when they had momentum. I thought we had some looks. There's a fine line."
On how the team could have potentially generated more offense in the first 40 minutes:
"We're trying to play the game the right way. We're trying to establish some offensive zone time. We're trying to use the width and depth of the offensive zone. We gotta get pucks through, we gotta go to the net. There's different ways to create offense against a team like this. You don't get a ton off the rush, and so, we gotta find ways to create different ways. That's the challenge when you play a team like Carolina."
On what the difference is between the power play now and the power play a few weeks ago:
"I just think some of it is execution, some of it is decision making. I know how much these guys care, and they have the ability to be really good. They've shown that for long stretches. I just don't think we're executing quite as well as we were when we were on the hot streak there, when we were one of the best power plays in the league there for a long stretch. And I think the solution to it is, we just have to simplify the game again and go back to establishing a shot and getting a net front presence and trying to create offense off of that. I think that's when our power play is at its best."
On Ty Smith, specifically on the power play:
"I think he's had stretches where he's done a pretty good job up there. I think there's been other times when it's been a struggle."
On Casey DeSmith's game tonight:
"I thought Casey battled hard. I thought he battled hard and gave us a chance tonight."