Will Successful 4 Nations Event Inspire Penguins for Stretch Run?

You would be hard-pressed to find many who found the recent 4 Nations Face-Off anything other than entertaining and wildly successful. Those few Pittsburgh Penguins who were involved conveyed their experience effusively. With the tournament and the break in NHL games over, reality now smacks the Penguins in the face.

With 25 games left and a precipitous hill to climb to even get a sniff of a playoff spot, can the Penguins — those who were part of the tournament, and the majority who were not — use what they saw and have described as hockey at its best as inspiration to coax them to capture that level of play in the stretch run?

“The people that watched it, probably,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said Friday with a little shrug. “It was pretty fun to watch.”

That’s, well, a fair point. However, even outside of those who participated in the tournament — center Sidney Crosby, who captained Canada to the championship; coach Mike Sullivan and assistant David Quinn, who were on the bench for runner-up Team USA; and Team Sweden players Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell — there seemed to be a buzz about the tournament and the high level of hockey on display.

Sure, some players with kids took their families to Florida, and others traveled to various places during the NHL’s break for the tournament. Those not involved in the tournament reconvened and got back to practice Tuesday, so it stands to reason that the players at least watched Thursday’s championship game, a 3-2 overtime win by Canada over the USA.

Even Karlsson wasn’t sure, though, about any carryover.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We haven’t played yet. But I don’t think it will be that difficult. This is what we do on a regular basis. I think that it will be fine.”

The Penguins jump back into things with back-to-back home matinees against Metropolitan Division foes, Saturday against the Washington Capitals and Sunday against the New York Rangers.

At the very least, the Penguins understand the overall impact of the tournament.

“For sure. That was great hockey,” forward Michael Bunting said. “That whole tournament, I think, was a success for the whole NHL. We got a lot of new fans that maybe weren’t hockey fans before. That’s what it’s all about.”

Bunting seemed to be of the mind that the Penguins could benefit more from the break than from the rush of seeing the international best-on-best hockey that was played at such a high level.

“I think everyone’s refreshed after that break and excited to come back,” Bunting said. “These last few days have been good, and the guys are energetic and excited to play hockey again. We have a big stretch coming up. Those are huge. We’ve got to go on a run here and make the most of it.”

Rakell seemed hesitant to speak for his teammates and what they could take from the tournament — but he certainly benefited from being there.

“I think it was a great experience for everybody. I think everyone was surprised at how much fun it was playing, and then the competitiveness, everything. I had a blast,” Rakell said. “I think just playing with that kind of tempo and atmosphere. It’s as close to a playoff atmosphere as you can get. I think anything you can carry over, playing with those kind of emotions and desperation, I think that would be one of the things that I’m going to try to carry over.”

As for the others?

“Everyone here has their own way to try to enjoy the break and come back as good as we can,” Rakell said. “It felt like a long time, though. It feels like a long time since we played (NHL) hockey. Definitely excited to get back and just play here with the Penguins.”

Letang, despite his quip about the impact on the Penguins, understands the overall impact of the 4 Nations.

“I think for the hockey world it was a great experience,” he said. “They played the best of each of those countries. The level of play was pretty high. You just look at the people we’re talking about, how intense it was, how passionate the guys were. I think it’s just good for the game.”

Sullivan, who also has been tabbed to coach the Americans at the 2026 Olympics, was nearly emotional over his experience, and that’s despite losing in the title game.

“It was some of the best hockey that I’ve ever witnessed. The pace of play. The physicality. The emotion on both sides. It, for me, was just remarkable,” Sullivan said. “I thought it was an unbelievable event. It was an incredible celebration of hockey. If you’re a hockey fan or hockey purist, it was hard not to get excited about those games … and how invested those players were.”

Now his task is to try to get his Penguins players equally invested or close to it, as that’s probably about their only path to the postseason. He arrived back in Pittsburgh just a little too late to be at practice Friday, so his transition will be a pretty stark one with the afternoon game Saturday.

“It was strange getting off the plane. You’ve got to take one hat off and put the other one on,” Sullivan said. “But once you get into the rink … I just said it’s like ‘Groundhog Day.’ You just kind of go back and do your thing. So here we are.

“We’re excited about getting after it with the Pittsburgh Penguins group. We’ve got some important games coming up that we’ve got to get ready for.”