Now thoseare the Penguins we know and love. They're back on track after a two-game stretch where their attention to detail and discipline were lacking, and as a result, they gave up 15 goals in a pair of losses.
Heading into tonight, there was never a sense of panic, but they certainly had a sense of urgency - which was palpable from the drop of the puck.
"I think we have a confident group," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think they understand the circumstance. Nobody was happy with the last couple of games, specifically the result, but the process had a lot to do with it. It starts with a competitive spirit, in my opinion, and when you have it and then bring the details to your game, that formula is going to give you the best chance to win."
The Penguins came out absolutely flying, outshooting the Rangers 13-2 at one point in the first period - and they never really let their foot off the gas for the remainder of the night. As Sullivan pointed out, it certainly wasn't perfect. They did give up some quality scoring chances that somehow didn't end up in the back of the net. But nowhere near as many as Tuesday's 8-4 setback, and this time, the Penguins did a better job of not sacrificing defense for offense.
"We knew we had to turn the page quick after that loss," Letang said. "You watch the film, and you can see that we had tons of chances where we could have won that game, but at the same time, it's up for grabs when both teams are kind of loose defensively and try to score a bunch of goals. We know going forward, if we want to have success, we need to play a good defensive game with a five-man unit out there. So I think we tightened up today and we got the result."