The Penguins are starting to get some much deserved results under Mike Sullivan. The team has played better since the hire but was failing to earn points in the standings as a result of that improved play.
The last three games for the Penguins have been three of their five best defensive performances of the year.
The Columbus (54) and Minnesota (52) games were also the sixth and seventh best shot attempt generation games for the Penguins as well.
Pittsburgh's Score-Adjusted Fenwick under Mike Johnston this year was 48.7% which was only 21st overall in the league. Since Mike Sullivan was hired as Johnston's replacement on December 12th the Penguins have a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 57.9% which is the best in the league during that sample size.
Mike Sullivan achieved those numbers mostly without the services of Kris Letang who returned to game action last night. Letang had an excellent night registering two assists including one on the power play where he took an active role up top firing a dart to the net front area. Sidney Crosby was down low and created an opportunity for a Patric Hornqvist gimme goal. Letang's first assist was his 300th point of his career in his 517th game.
Kris Letang was also a possession animal against Minnesota. He and Maatta had their way with the Wild
It wasn't all roses for Kris Letang. Minnesota's Jarret Stoll couldn't control his principle point of contact and belted Letang right in his head.
Letang to the locker room after this Stoll hit (2 min minor for illegal check to the head) pic.twitter.com/90uigCK5Uj
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 27, 2015
Letang returned to the game, but anytime there is a potential head injury with Letang there is a pause for concern given his history.
It wasn't a good night for the "trade Sidney Crosby crowd" and yes those animals really exist.
He had a goal and an assist on the evening. It was his seventh multi-point game of the season and pushes his point total to 24. Since Mike Sullivan's hire Crosby has a 5v5 points/60 of 2.60 which is way above the 2.0 first line barometer. He was at 1.60 with Johnston which is third line level stuff. For perspective Crosby was at 2.38 points/60 in 2014-15 when he led the NHL in points per game. This is another positive sign of improvement under Sullivan. We'll see if it sticks.
Matt Murray stopped 25 out of the 26 shots he faced and earned his second career victory. His adjusted save percentage in the NHL is an amazing .950 through three games. That will start to drop at some point as he plays more games but Pittsburgh hasn't missed a beat with Marc-Andre Fleury's concussion to this point. Matt Murray is showing that he is NHL ready right now. When Fleury comes back the team should leave Murray up with the big club and lessen Fleury's workload. Whether or not the team does that is a completely different story.
The team gets right back at it this evening when they visit the Winnipeg Jets.
Winnipeg is last place in the Central Division and is currently eight points out of a playoff spot. This makes for a very interesting dynamic for the team moving forward. They currently have a couple of big name players who have contracts expiring at the end of the season. Those players are Dustin Byfuglien, and Andrew Ladd. Pittsburgh may have a need at left wing and defense but they need to steer clear of these kind of rentals. People talk about teams being in a "win now" window, but what they usually fail to mention is the fact that the team itself is the one that puts themselves in a "win now" window with their asset management. Neither player is a wise long term investment after this season and the Penguins can't afford to spend what little assets they have on rentals.
A victory would give Pittsburgh three wins in a row. Something they haven't accomplished since a six game winning streak was extinguished in early November.
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