3 Thoughts: Penguins Fighting Back; Sullivan Surprise

The Canadian media has begun the burial process for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Using the 2024-25 iteration and its start, TSN has handed out shovels for the first round of gravedigging.

No, I don’t think we’re there. Not yet.

Let’s be clear, this Penguins team isn’t a Stanley Cup contender, and it will need to scratch, fight, and claw its way into the playoffs. Before their win Saturday, there were seven teams between the Penguins and the second wild-card spot, though the Penguins were just two points back of the spot.

But winning can be, and should be defined differently for this team. They can’t re-sign Sidney Crosby for two more years beyond this one and then let the air out of their floaties. Pittsburgh Hockey Now maintains that general manager Kyle Dubas owes the team some additional help, especially if Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are to become a long-term solution as the first line.

To tank or intentionally languish now would be a betrayal.

There have been some highly unexpected developments in the early season, which could or should provide a smidge of hope for those who aren’t rooting for the Penguins to lose. For those hoping for a crash, burn, and first-overall selection, Crosby and coach Mike Sullivan are actively working against that.

After all, there’s no fast-forward button to get through this season or the next once the losing starts.

Penguins One-Timers

1. Sullivan Surprise

Last season might have been Sullivan’s worst coaching performance. The team floundered for months, but changes were few. Sullivan was caught in the vortex with his players, staring at a situation that should have worked but definitely was not. As the coach and players pounded on the figurative square peg, it never fit into the round hole.

Not until Sullivan made key changes late in the season did the team’s season finally leave the runaway. Alex Nedeljkovic swapped for Tristan Jarry and Ryan Shea for Ryan Graves.

This season, Sullivan has sent a clear message to all involved that non-performance means non-participation, including giving Michael Bunting a seat as his game hit high levels of irrelevance. In the last couple of games, he’s returned to his pesky net-front game.

Nine days ago in Vancouver, Sullivan swapped lines on seemingly every shift during a chaotic 10-minute stretch in the second period following the Penguins giving up three goals in 65 seconds. Like snowflakes that fell in Edmonton the day before, no two lines were the same in the Penguins’ 4-3 loss. Eventually, Sullivan threw caution to the wind, and he almost exclusively played his stars in the third period.

The Penguins dominated but couldn’t get the tying goal, though clearly the coach was happy enough to deploy the strategy on the recent three-game homestand, too.

The comfy and cozy veterans no longer look sated. While the rest of the team is patchwork because Sullivan has loaded the top line, it’s worked. Not only did the Penguins bombard the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens with scoring chances, but far more importantly, the team showed that it can indeed care about playing defense well.

Things will not go well long-term without reinforcements or Sullivan figuring out a way to balance the lineup, but his message got through. It surely did not get through last season, but the coach did what he had to do, even if it meant creating lines in a Yahtzee Cup.

Now, we’ll find out if the team embraced the message or merely did what they must in the short term. There’s a big difference, and this week will tell us a lot.

2. Penguins Cooked? Nope

I see what the Canadian media and many fans see. The unsustainable Penguins lineup, a coach in his 10th season, stars players who are old enough to remember Friends on network TV and a dearth of talent around those stars. The horrendous start was confirmation of all that was wrong.

Game. Set. Match.

However, before building the funeral pyre for the long march to April, some should realize the team might have a little juice left. From Kris Letang laughingly dropping F-bombs in the locker room to Cody Glass marveling at Crosby, the group is different this season. The heavy pall they carried at the beginning of last season is no more.

In many ways, beating two lesser lights last week was perfect. The team was able to work on itself against teams they could beat. They did well and were rewarded. If you’re old enough, their opponents were the equivalent of wrestling’s Saturday morning jobbers who lost to the big stars each week.

Where are S.D. “Special Delivery” Jones or Barry Horowitz these days? Anyway…

Don’t be too dismissive of the Penguins wins. The Penguins have struggled mightily against those teams over the past few years, and good defensive posture and timely goaltending go a long way.

3. Penguins Goaltending

Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic seems to have some sway on the mood of the team. They’re simply a better team with him in the net. While Tristan Jarry completes his rehab assignment in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Nedeljkovic made heavy-duty saves to preserve the wins over Montreal and Anaheim.

Expect Joel Blomqvist to be sent to WBS this week as Jarry is ready to resume his NHL status, and expect many to whinge and dish some hot takes when it happens.

Jarry has been good during his rehab stint. After allowing a terrible goal that yielded a lead, he buckled down over the last couple of games. On Saturday, Jarry allowed one goal, stopping 30 of 31 in a 2-1 win over Hartford. With some irony, he beat Louis Domingue, who filled in for Jarry during the 2022 Round One series against the New York Rangers.

Here’s a pre-hot take: It doesn’t matter how the situation begins. Sullivan has shown no hesitation in giving Jarry the hook and the net to a rookie. Nedeljkovic has also shown that he can affect wins.

Expect Nedeljkovic to take a leading role, at least until Jarry shoves his way past. The competition made both better last season until Jarry’s late-season swoon.

It’s just another reason the Penguins aren’t yet cooked. Not yet, anyway.