Sully Says: We Gotta Learn from It and Get Ready for the Next One

After an emotional, hard-fought overtime victory against the Rangers on Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Penguins missed an opportunity Tuesday versus Montreal before heading to the Big Apple for two straight games against the Blueshirts.
New York came away with a 4-2 win on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with Chris Kreider tallying twice to give him five goals in the season series thus far. The rematch will take place on Saturday.

After the Rangers opened the scoring early in a lackluster first period for Pittsburgh, Rickard Rakell tied it at 1-1 in the second period after joining Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel when Bryan Rust went to the bench after getting hit with a shot. It was the 400th point of his NHL career, with the captain earning a historic assist on the setup.
His helper ensured he would average a point per game
for the 18^th time in his 18-year career
, with only Wayne Gretzky (19) recording more point-per-game seasons in NHL history.
"It's remarkable. Nothing really surprises you at this point with what he does," Guentzel said. "It just seems like every night, there's something new. So, he's our leader, and that's just what he does. Obviously, we're happy to have him."
Rakell remained on that line for the rest of the night, with Rust moving alongside Jason Zucker and Evgeni Malkin, and Alex Nylander slotting into the spot Rakell vacated next to Mikael Granlund and Drew O'Connor.
The Crosby trio tied it up in the third period after the Rangers retook the lead, with Guentzel getting his sixth goal in six games after he also earned his 400th point in Pittsburgh's last game against the Canadiens. But just like they did on the first tying goal, the Rangers quickly responded, with Kreider finding the back of the net just a couple of minutes later, and cementing the victory with an empty netter.
"Obviously, the first we didn't like," Guentzel said. "But I think if we hold onto pucks down low, they're a fast team who transitions fast, so we just got to take care of the puck… I thought we did that a little better in the third, so that was a positive, but we got to be a lot better."
Tristan Jarry made 31 saves in the game, playing behind a depleted D corps for most of the night, as Jeff Petry left in the first period following an elbow to the face from Tyler Motte and did not return. Head coach Mike Sullivan had no update other than Petry is out with an upper-body injury. Here is what else the Penguins head coach had to say following the loss.
On if he was encouraged by Tristan's play:"I thought it was his best game. He was real solid. I thought he kept us in it early. He gave us a chance. He made some big saves early in the game."
On the Penguins not being able to get it done despite Jarry's performance:"Well, I thought Tristan played well. I thought he took a big step. I thought as a team, we had our moments. I didn't think we brought a level of urgency that we needed to early in the game. I thought we gave up a few too many odd-man rushes, and that just boils down to details. So, I just think we need to bring more urgency. When we do, I think that's when we have an opportunity to be at our best. We didn't have enough guys bringing it tonight."
On if moving Rakell back into the top-six was him just trying to get something going: "Yes. I just didn't think we had enough juice. So we tried to tweak the lines a little bit to see if we could if we could get a spark."
On if it was tough to take Rakell out of the top-six originally, knowing how productive they can be with him there:"Well, I mean, when we go that route, we're loading the top-six, right? They have the ability to be effective. When we have a little balance throughout our lineup, and we get some scoring threats on other lines, it also has the ability - or the potential - for us to be harder to play against, if we can continue to get production through the top-six. Those are the decisions. My sense is that we'll probably move those guys around, depending on how games go, and what the need of the team is at the time."
On if not getting a power play was because the Penguins didn't earn it, or because of the officiating:"I don't know. It might have been the cleanest game of the year."
On limiting their odd-man rushes for a lot of the game - particularly through the second period and the first half of the third - and what happened after that:"I just thought there was more detail to our game, you know? I thought we were in between earlier in the game. When we're in between, I think that's when we run the risk. Part of it is execution, part of it's decision-making. When we have the ability to play on top of teams, we don't allow them to stretch the ice and create those types of opportunities. I just thought we were in between a little bit, and I just think we got to play with more conviction."
On if he's also referring to building momentum after a goal when he mentions urgency:"I just think urgency is a certain level of intensity and tenacity that we need to play with shift after shift. Just trying to play the game the right way. Controlling momentum, managing the game when you score goals. Those shifts after a goal is scored on either side, if we get scored against or we score goals - those are important moments in games. There are opportunities to build on it if we have the momentum. If we don't, we got to get it back. We got to get it back in a heartbeat. So, I just think there are critical moments in the game that we got to recognize, and we might have to heighten the urgency even more in those situations. That's just understanding how to manage games
On how concerning is it that they lacked urgency in a divisional matchup this late in the season:"We know where we're at. These games are important. We're fighting for a playoff spot. We get it. We're trying to maximize the opportunity we have in front of us. Tonight, it was against the Rangers. It was a missed opportunity for us, so we got to learn from it, look by it and get ready for the next one."