The Pittsburgh Penguins are 4-1-1 in their last six games. The process that has been much improved is starting to mesh with the results.
The funny things about Pittsburgh's victory over the New York Islanders is that despite winning comfortably 5-2 it could be argued that their even-strength play was the least effective of the Sullivan era.
Pittsburgh gave up a Sullivan high 68 shot attempts at even-strength against the Islanders which is the second worst mark to the 70 they gave up to Dan Bylsma's Sabres. The Penguins only generated 41.38% of the shot attempts against the Islanders. Score effects can explain some of it but not all of it. Here is what things looked like when weighed with those score-effects.
While Pittsburgh may have not been at their best during even-strength action they dominated play on special teams. Not only did Pittsburgh score twice during their own power plays but they stole a goal on the Islanders lone power play attempt when Matt Cullen scored shorthanded.
Pittsburgh is nine for 33 on the power play since Mike Sullivan took over which is a 27.2% success rate. Under Johnston the power play was 15 for 96 and 15.6%.
Kris Letang added three more points and that makes 18 points in the last 18 games. That is mighty impressive for a defenseman in the current NHL climate.
Sidney Crosby scored two more goals and that makes five goals in five games for him. The first goal was a prime example of the Crosby down low and Malkin on the right half wall working to perfection. His second goal is the template for how Phil Kessel can start getting involved on the power play. Crosby did not one time the puck but instead curled and skated into the pocket that was left available.
Crosby doesn't have the same wrist shot as Phil Kessel. The Penguins have to work on getting Phil that same look. When you can have super deadly options on both sides of the power play the penalty killers have no chance.
Also on Sidney Crosby:
The small change that helped fix Sidney Crosby this season (and maybe the Penguins). https://t.co/C4Gj3z5kdc
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) January 3, 2016
Evgeni Malkin's three points on the night give him 37 on the year and he is now in the top ten for total points on the season. Geno is only four points away from being the fourth leading scorer in the league (Taylor Hall 41 points).
Phil Kessel scored the Penguins first goal of the evening and his play has been better since the coaching change as well. Under Johnston Kessel had a 5v5 points per 60 of 1.4. Under Johnston it is at 2.1. His Score-Adjusted Fenwick under Johnston was 49% while under Sullivan it is at 53.7%.
Marc-Andre Fleury was not eased back into action following his return from a concussion. He faced 40 shots stopping 38 of them.
In a non-related game note Micah Blake McCurdy said something interesting about younger players in the league today and I thought I would pass it along considering I touched on the Jonathan Drouin situation yesterday.
A fun thought experiment when you think about not playing young talented players. Pick one to think about, how about Drouin, in the news. Consider how much better he'll be at his very best than he is now; take a guess how old he'll be at his peak. Sometime later, as he gets old, he'll worsen until he's about as good as he is now. Will you play him then? If so, why not play him now?
Allan Walsh, agent for Jonathan Drouin, admits his client had asked for a trade
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 3, 2016
Said differently, coaches play players on the back end of the aging curve all the time. Why not on the front end?
— C. Tompkins (@Null_HHockey) January 3, 2016
Food for thought when thinking about Matt Murray.
Speaking of Murray he stopped 30 out of 31 shots in his return to the AHL. The only man to beat him? Penguins legend Dustin Jeffrey.
Pittsburgh does not play until Tuesday night when they will host Rob Scuderi's Chicago Blackhawks for the first of a home and home split which will take place on consecutive days.
Rob Scuderi started off in Chicago getting upwards of 15 minutes per night but in Chicago's last contest he was down to 6:52. Will Rob Scuderi see 15 minutes of total ice time between the two Pittsburgh games combined?
Thanks for reading!