Penguins Come Alive with Sullivan

There must’ve been times early in his tenure as Penguins coach when Mike Sullivan wondered what he’d gotten himself into. Especially after watching his new charges fold up like a cheap suit during a dismal 6-2 loss to Boston on home ice a week before Christmas.

Fortunately for the Pens, “Sully” resisted the temptation to pack his bags and jet back to Wilkes-Barre. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work. In the wake of an impressive 5-2 victory over the division-rival Islanders on Saturday night, the fruits of his labor are evident.

Indeed, for the first time in a good long while the gauges are pointing up. The Pens are 4-1-1 in their past six. They’ve won back-to-back games by identical 5-2 scores. The power play—on life support under former coach Mike Johnston (15.6%)—is a smokin’ hot 39% (9 of 23) over the past seven games.

Best of all, the stars are shining again…and scoring. Sidney Crosby, in particular, seems reborn. Sid’s tallied 10 points in his past seven games, including five goals. Evgeni Malkin has 10 points (3+7) over that span as well, including consecutive three-point games. With eight points in his past four contests, Kris Letang’s been ultra-productive, too.

A far cry from three weeks ago when the Pens’ core—especially No. 87—was languishing under the weight of an awkward defense-first system.

Credit Sullivan. Taking charge right away, the Massachusetts native shook up the status quo. He grabbed the team’s attention when he bumped high-profile winger Phil Kessel to the third line during an inaugural practice. Since then he’s breathed new life into a club that had grown stale as a slice of week-old bread. Following a rocky 0-4 start, Sullivan’s got the team playing with pace and energy. The players seem to be having fun, too.

GM Jim Rutherford likewise deserves a nod. Sensing the season slipping away, he dismissed Johnston and gambled on the 47-year-old Sullivan, who hadn’t run an NHL bench full-time since 2006. JR also took a huge step toward shoring up a shaky defense by acquiring mobile Trevor Daley from Chicago for Rob Scuderi, who most observers deemed virtually untradeable due to an onerous contract.

This isn’t to suggest a postseason berth is in the bag. Encouraging as the recent upswing is, the black and gold remains on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Through Sunday they trail Boston by two points in the race for the eighth and final spot. The Bruins (20-13-4) have a game in hand on our boys (19-15-4).

Nor do the Penguins have the luxury of feeling too good about themselves, as Sullivan was quick to point out during a recent interview. They need to keep winning.

Still, while two wins in a row don’t constitute a full-blown turnaround, it’s a start.