Sully Says: "We'll Feel Good About This One"

It was quite the Sunday Funday at PPG Paints Arena, as the Penguins earned a 7-3 victory over Tampa Bay. They were absolutely dominant in the second period, entering the middle frame down 2-1, and exiting up 7-2.
"I think legs are a little lighter for everyone when that happens," center Teddy Blueger said. "The crowd was into it. We got positive momentum, positive energy. Everyone's feeding off each other. Kind of encouraging. So I think going forward, especially at home, if we can create that kind of atmosphere and can build off those kind of momentum changes, I think it'll go a long way for us."

After Drew O'Connor opened the scoring in the first, the Lightning responded with a pair of late goals to take a lead into the first intermission. After that, Evgeni Malkin - who is now four minutes away from overtaking Kevin Stevens as the franchise's all-time leader in penalty minutes - came out of the box after getting called for tripping 4:11 into the second, and scored on a breakaway.
A little later, Sidney Crosby converted on the power play… which was the first of five goals Pittsburgh scored in a 4:27 span, the second-fastest five goals in Penguins history. He was followed by Blueger, Jeff Carter, Jason Zucker, and Brian Dumoulin.
It was especially good to see Blueger, netting his second of the year and first since Dec. 6, and Dumoulin, recording his first of the season, get in the goal column.
"I think it was just overall a good team effort," Blueger said. "Everyone contributed, so that feels good. We've been playing pretty well; we've been getting chances. Just a matter of capitalizing. And sometimes, with how it goes, you have to fight through it. It's obviously a good feeling to score at any time, but especially when you haven't done it in a while."
The feeling leaving this game was much different compared to the last game at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday, when the Penguins fell to Edmonton, 7-1 - which was their fourth straight setback. Following that loss (where the fans voiced their frustration), general manager Ron Hextall placed winger Kasperi Kapanen on waivers on Friday, with head coach Mike Sullivan saying change is inevitable when a team doesn't live up to expectations.
But Hextall and Sullivan both felt their team would respond - "the reality is that the solutions are in our room, and we've got to stick together," Sullivan said - and the Penguins did. First, they came away with a resilient 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday in St. Louis, before returning home and skating out to this terrific 7-3 win on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
"We gotta focus on the now, and right now, obviously we've got to build on these two," Dumoulin said. "I mean, we played really well in St. Louis. We played well tonight. We got to continue to try to build. We can't focus on what the last two months was like. We got to believe in this group. We got to have a good feeling in this room. We got to trust each other, work for each other and continue to just play playoff hockey and play our hardest and just play for each other."
Here's what Sullivan had to say after the game.
On if scoring seven goals like that against a pretty good opponent is cumulative, and if he felt like that outburst was coming:"Well, what I will say is, I think when you look at the last handful of games that we've played - we've generated a fair amount of scoring chances, and I don't think our team got rewarded for the amount of quality of looks that we've had. Tonight, we had some looks, we were able to finish them. So maybe, in that regard, from a process standpoint, just trying to play the game the right way, trying to get to the net, trying to make it hard on the goaltenders that we're playing against as far as picking up sight lines and just getting to the blue paint and making it hard. I think we've generated a lot of quality looks here over the last handful of games, so you know, it's nice that our guys got rewarded tonight for it, for sure. I do think that from a process standpoint, we can continue to play that way and get those types of looks. Eventually the puck's going to go in the net for us."
On how it's said tough streaks like the one they experienced sort of end before they actually end, and if it feels like the beginning of something this weekend:"I think it's something that we can build on, for sure. I think every game is a new challenge. But certainly, I think our team can take a lot of confidence out of the last couple of games that we've played. Every game in this league that we play is a tough challenge. So, the fact that we beat two pretty good teams, I think our guys need to take away a positive feeling. I think for the most part, we played the game the right way. I think we were trying to defend when we had to. Our goaltenders made some timely saves when we broke down or made some mistakes. But from a process standpoint, I just think our intent was where it needed to be. I thought our energy, our effort, things of that nature, were all where they need to be for us to have success. Those are things that we can build on. One of the things we talked to our players about before the St. Louis game was just doing the little things consistently well. Our coaching staff believes that's an important aspect of winning games. We're not asking players to move mountains out there. We've got to focus on the task at hand, stay in the moment - but do the little things consistently well. Protecting the netfront, knowing the responsibilities on faceoff losses, the wall play, controlling the net fronts at both ends of the rink, being strong in puck battles… we could talk about what those little things are forever. We talk about this stuff daily throughout the course of the year, and players know what we're talking about. I think that has to be part of the mantra here moving forward."
On if he was pleased with the game management in the third period: "For the most part, yes. We had a couple of moments where I thought we could have made some better decisions so we don't put ourselves in difficult spots. So, for the most part, I thought we managed the game pretty well. That's an important aspect of winning, is understanding just situational play. When you have a lead, you don't necessarily have to manufacture things. We want to continue to try to score, but we have to do it the right way. Our decision making, I think our calculation of risk, changes based on situational play. We don't necessarily have to manufacture things. We want to make sure when our opponents do get the puck, they've got to start below their goal line. I think that's an important takeaway in just managing a lead. When the plays are there, we want to make them, and we want to continue to try to score and play on our toes. But I do think our calculation of risk needs to adjust, so that we don't give teams easy offense or easy looks or give them an easy opportunity to get back in the game. I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job tonight."
On if the message after losing the Edmonton game was specific to those aforementioned little things, or if it was more about how to persevere through a tough situation, and if he trusts the players to figure that part out:"No, we do. We talk about stuff like that all the time. That's the human aspect, I think, of coaching. So, I'm not going to share the details of the conversations we have with our players. I think that's between the players and our coaching staff. But we have those types of conversations with our team on a regular basis throughout the course of the year. For me, it's an important part of coaching, the human element. The X's and O's are the X's and O's, but my experience of coaching in this league is the most important aspect of what we do is trying to help our guys get the right headspace. And I think when we do that, I think a lot of the other stuff follows suit."
On when the little things develop into this type of night, if that reinforces the way they need to play:"I think so, because it provides evidence that when we play a certain way, we can have success. I think anytime as a coaching staff, when you're trying to preach a certain message or you're trying to get across a certain message to the group, it's important that you have success, so that there's tangible evidence that if we play the game a certain way, then success will follow. I think we can build on this weekend. We've got a lot of tough challenges ahead of us. We'll feel good about this one tonight. But tomorrow's a new day. We'll get ready for the next one."