Sully Says: Penguins Had Good Moments, But Breakdowns Ended Up In The Net

After a successful three-game road trip where they picked up five of six points, the Penguins returned home for a rematch with the Maple Leafs. After Pittsburgh skated to a 4-2 win on Friday at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto got a 5-2 win on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena.

The first period was actually pretty evenly played for a while, but the opportunistic Leafs got on the board twice in the final eight minutes. They also scored on their first shift of the second, just 11 seconds in, but the Penguins battled back with a great response.
Evgeni Malkin's line came out flying on the second shift, with Rickard Rakell deflecting a shot from Jason Zucker to get Pittsburgh on the board. Sidney Crosby then scored an unassisted goal to give the Penguins a pair of goals in a span of 1:22 minutes, and cut the deficit to two.
Unfortunately, the Leafs managed to get a big late goal, and the Penguins weren't able to find the back of the net in the third. Casey DeSmith, making his third start in four games, made 28 saves. Down at the other end, two-time Penguins Stanley Cup Champion Matt Murray - playing in this building as a member of the opposing team for the first time - stopped 35 shots.
Teddy Blueger made his season debut after missing the first 15 games of the year with an upper-body injury suffered in training camp, centering the fourth line with Ryan Poehling on his left and Josh Archibald on his right. Kasperi Kapanen came out of the lineup.
Here's what Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan had to say after the game.
On his assessment of the top line, with Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust going a combined minus-13 in the game: "Obviously, they've been such a good line for us for so long. I think the last few games, it's been a bit of a struggle for them. But it's not from a lack of effort. We're trying to help them through the process. But the standard is so high, the expectations are so high, because they've been such a good line for so long. They usually control the game for the majority of the time when they're out there. So we as a coaching staff are trying to help them through the process, we're trying to work through it with them together. Just giving them some things, some insights, maybe that we see that might help. But obviously, we think they're capable of a lot. So we're going to work through it with them."
On what he saw from Blueger, and his thoughts on the fourth line as a whole: "I thought he was really good. I thought he was good in the faceoff circle. He was sound defensively. I thought he had good poise with the puck for someone that that's missed as much time as he has. That first game is never an easy one from a timing standpoint. It's hard to simulate the intensity of an NHL game in a training environment. And so, I thought he had a real strong game. I thought his line was really was really good for us as well. They got a number of defensive zone starts against Toronto's star players. They did a real good job checking them when they were out there. I thought they were good on the forecheck. They had some O-zone time. They helped us build some momentum with some of their energy shifts, and that's what we're asking them to do."
On if there is any particular concern on his part at the starts and finishes of periods, as there seems to be a lot of goals allowed in the first and last minutes: "Yes."
On if there's a lack of urgency as a whole with the team: "Yeah, I'm not sure what that means. I think we have moments in the game where we're playing really well and we gain momentum. We generate scoring chances, we're playing on our toes, we're dictating the terms out there. And then there are lapses in the game where it seems like when we break down, the breakdowns are egregious, and they're hard to recover from. And I think those are the areas we've got to chink those out of our game, so to speak. So that if there are some breakdowns, depending on what zone it is or whatever, we have support built in. I just think there's been moments in some of these games, where for whatever reason, we get away from it. It seems like in those moments, it ends up in the back of our net."
On if he saw any encouraging signs on the power play, whose second chance of the night featured a lot of chances: "I thought they had a real good one there. They were shooting the puck and generating a fair amount. That's the semblance of the power play, I think, that they're capable of. They did everything but score on that particular power play. And so, I do think that's encouraging from our standpoint, and they can build on that."
On the key to the push from their team in the second period after they fell behind 3-nothing, but battled back to get within a goal and kept pushing, with Murray making some key saves to keep the Penguins from getting the equalizer: "I just think their resilience. After the first period, we were down two to nothing, but we didn't think we were playing that badly. We just talked about how there was a lot of hockey left, and we just got to stay with it. Let's get the next goal. Let's get it within striking distance. And so, I thought the guys did a good job responding. We give up that goal early in the second period, but we responded from there. For the majority of the second period, we generated double digits in scoring chances. We were close to scoring more. I just give the credit to the players, just their resilience and staying with it."
On how it's been a few weeks since Rakell and Rust switched lines, and how he would assess the impact that change has had on both lines: "I think Geno's line has been really good. I think Sid's line has had its moments. They've had some games where they've been really, really good. I just think as of late, they haven't been at their best for whatever reason. But I think Geno's line has been really good lately. So, we know we have options there. We talk about them daily. We're going to try and put the best combinations together that give us the best chance to win."